# What is the greatest Civil War movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186 "2010-09-27T05:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/1 "2010-09-27T05:20:51Z")
Since we’ve got one about Vietnam movies. I don’t feel like posting a poll, partly because I don’t want to get hung up on whether, for instance, **The Good, The Bad and The Ugly** is really a CW film; likewise, **Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge**. Just name whatever you like and say why. For me, I can’t say anything other than **Gettysburg**. From first shot to last, it’s a visual masterpiece, and the Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the war, so it’s most worth focusing on. I have to give some props to **Andersonville** and **Glory** , though. And **Gods and Generals** fell just a teeny bit short of the mark (then again, it’s mark was **Gettysburg** ). And it’s true but you may not believe it: I’ve never seen GWTW all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/2 "2010-09-27T05:27:28Z")
_The General_ starring Buster Keaton, 1926. My favorite, anyway. Best Civil War silent movie, best Civil War comedy for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/3 "2010-09-27T05:37:08Z")
While I think \*\*Glory \*\*is also an excellent movie, I have to agree with the OP about **Gettysburg** , if only because it’s such a faithful adaptation of such an incredible book. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/4 "2010-09-27T05:57:27Z")
I might get flak for this but _Cold Mountain_ was great. The opening battle scene was really, really awesome. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/5 "2010-09-27T11:06:34Z")
There’s also **[The Red Badge of Courage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043961/)** and **[The Birth of A Nation](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004972/)**. I like Gettysburg, too. [QUOTE=Jackmannii] The General starring Buster Keaton, 1926. My favorite, anyway. [/QUOTE] I found the The General to also be an education in trains. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/6 "2010-09-27T11:24:59Z")
As much as I like **Gettysburg** , I still think **Gone With the Wind** has to take the title for “greatest Civil war movie”. It depicts an awful lot about attitudes toward vthe war and how it affected the lives of several people. I’m still awed by how uncharacteristically downbeat and accurate the film was. In an era when _Frankenstein_ was extensively rewritten to avoid offending the audience (and they still redid the ending after filming, to make it a Happy Ending, and then still went further and covered up the possibly offensive “Now i know what it feels like to be God” with a fortuitous thunder crash), Gone With The Wind gave us a heaping helping of The Late Unpleasantness, complete with devastation and destruction. They avoided the Happy Ending and even gave us the "Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn"They gave us a hospital full of suffering and dying men and amputations, and even though it was suggested more than depicted graphically (as it would be today), it was no less intense for all that, and uncharacteristically true to life for a Hollywood depiction in 1939. It’s true that, as has been argued, its depictions of its black characters is a white fantasy (stereotypical black mammies, Topsy-like pickaninnies, blacks who stayed with their masters rather than running away during or after the war), but these are not only as depicted in the book, it’s what you’d expect of a tale told from the point of view of a white plantation lady (as Scarlett O’Hara was). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/7 "2010-09-27T12:45:47Z")
While I agree **The General** is the best silent comedy about the Civil War, **[Hands Up!](http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com/handsup.htm)**, starring the criminally overlooked Raymond Griffith (in top hat and tails, even when in a coal mine), is a clear second choice. As for the greatest, I’d probably give **Glory** the edge over **Gettysburg**. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/8 "2010-09-27T13:12:55Z")
I second **The Red Badge Of Courage**. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/9 "2010-09-27T13:25:20Z")
Glory. I enjoyed Gettysburg, but it’s just too flawed in too many ways. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/10 "2010-09-27T14:11:54Z")
**Gettysburg**. It’s the only one I will watch multiple times a year. **RickJay** , **Gettysburg** is a lot less flawed than any other Civil War movie out there. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/11 "2010-09-27T14:35:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > _The General_ starring Buster Keaton, 1926. My favorite, anyway. > > Best Civil War silent movie, best Civil War comedy for sure. Great call there. I have to give props to _Gone With the Wind_ also. Of course, it’s a homefront movie, so it’s kind of hard to compare it to a battle movie, but I like it a lot better than all of those. I think _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ is as much a Civil War movie as _Gone With the Wind_ is, and it’s a damned smart one. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/12 "2010-09-27T14:40:50Z")
If you are willing to stretch “Civil War” to include its aftermath, I’d like to nominate **The Outlaw Josie Wales.** ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/13 "2010-09-27T15:58:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As much as I like **Gettysburg** , I still think **Gone With the Wind** has to take the title for “greatest Civil war movie”. It depicts an awful lot about attitudes toward vthe war and how it affected the lives of several people. I’m still awed by how uncharacteristically downbeat and accurate the film was. I’m surprised GWTW hasn’t dominated this thread. It’s certainly far more revealing of American perception of the war than the others. Honorable mention for The Beguiled, Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/14 "2010-09-27T17:31:04Z")
While I loved **Gettysburg** , it had a whole lot of speechifying which sort of brought the movie to a halt in many places, especially towards the end. And some of the glue on beards were just laughable, Longstreet’s being the worst. No, I have to give the laurels to **Glory** , as I thought it to be the most realistically lifelike depiction. The dialog seemed much more natural. For those of you who think **Gone With the Wind** ’s portrayal of blacks is bad, you might try watching the Shirley Temple movie **The Littlest Rebel**. Holy crap! That is downright painful to watch! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/15 "2010-09-27T17:50:23Z")
I came in to suggest **Gone With the Wind** , but I see that, as usual, \*\*CalMeacham \*\*got here first. He even gave all the reasons I was going to give. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/16 "2010-09-27T18:19:05Z")
Gettysburg has my vote. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/17 "2010-09-27T18:21:16Z")
The Outlaw Josey Wales. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/18 "2010-09-27T18:25:41Z")
Did anyone mention _Gangs of New York_? Not completely indicative of the war itself, but timely nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/19 "2010-09-27T18:28:10Z")
Another vote for **The General** , with an honorary mention to _Ride with the Devil_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186/20 "2010-09-28T01:02:24Z")
**Glory** has it all over \*\*Gettysburg, \*\*which tried way to hard to be Worthy. GwtW, seriously? It’s a film set in the CW but that doesn’t make it a CW film. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-civil-war-movie/555186.md?page=2)