Ted Turner doesn't do anything small, as he proves once again with his first foray into theatrical filmmaking — the 41/2-hour "Gettysburg," which at times seems longer than the Civil War. Or at least the battle at Gettysburg.
It is well-documented that Turner's favorite movie is "Gone With the Wind," and "Gettysburg" is his own Civil War epic, based on Michael Shaara's 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Killer Angels," about the battle at Gettysburg, a three-day siege that proved to be the war's bloodiest.
But Turner, or more specifically, screenwriter/di-rector Ronald F. Maxwell and his editor Corky Ehlers, forgot one of the most important lessons of "Gone With the Wind" — that the general audience is likely to be more interested in the people than the war itself.
Further, they could learn a thing or two about integrating multiple storylines into a workable whole from the makers of "The Joy Luck Club," which successfully intertwines the youth and adulthood of no less than eight specific characters — and does it in less than half the time.
"Gettysburg" seems more interested in Civil War details that will appeal to history buffs but which in the long run may leave mainstream audiences cold.
There are a few rich characters here, however, and Maxwell gives equal time to both sides of the conflict, with the South dominated by Tom Berenger as Gen. James Longstreet, who ultimately finds himself at odds with his commanding officer, Gen. Robert E. Lee (Martin Sheen), over strategy. We also meet other Confederate generals played by Stephen Lang, Richard Jordan and others.
On the Yankee side, the most prominent character is a colonel who was previously a schoolteacher, played by Jeff Daniels. Also among the Federals are Daniels' lieutenant brother (C. Thomas Howell), his blustering sergeant (Kevin Conway) and, in an extended cameo, Sam Elliott as a general who, more or less, determines where this battle will ultimately be fought.
Most of the performances are excellent, especially Daniels (who proves once and for all what an underrated performer he is), Sheen (who, for a change, pleasantly underplays his role) and Elliott (whose screen presence seems to naturally dominate every scene in which he appears). But Berenger, who has the nominal lead here, is woefully stiff — and his beard, though apparently authentic, looks almost comic, as if a beaver crawled under his chin and died. (Howell's facial hair is only a tad better.)
There is also some startlingly impressive wartime choreography at work here, huge confrontation scenes actually filmed at the Gettysburg National Military Park battlefield, with the climactic charges among the most thrilling ever put to film. And the extensive use of re-creators — Civil War buffs who perform as extras, wearing their own uniforms and carrying their own props — pays off.
But there are also some serious problems here — and most have to do with pacing. The film has a stop-and-go mentality that never manages to pick up speed. First comes a lengthy God-and-country speech, then a rousing battle. Then, another sincere monologue, then another call to arms. And so, it goes, with stories that are not artistically or even interestingly intercut and with direction that is very unimaginative.
The result is simply that it's impossible not to notice the picture's unwieldy length, despite an intermission at its center. The best sequence, and it's a lengthy one, is the battle at Little Round Top, which concludes the film's first half. After that, the film itself seems to very slowly proceed downhill.
In fact, some of the speeches and marches here seem to go on forever, so that audience members are more likely to be squirming in their chairs and looking at their watches than cheering the heroic efforts of the movie's characters.
The result is not without interest, but the sheer length is a ridiculous indulgence.
That "Gettysburg" was originally intended as a television miniseries comes as no surprise. But, in the prophetic words of Entertainment Weekly in its movie preview issue (Sept. 3), "Once a TV movie, always a TV movie."
"Gettysburg" is rated PG, and the violence is fairly bloodless, though the body count is, of course, enormous. There is also some profanity.