Gods of War

Starring:Steve Reeves, MylÃ¨ne Demongeot, Sergio Fantoni, Daniela Rocca, Philippe Hersent, Alberto Lupo, Daniele Vargas, Miranda Campa, Gianni Loti, Anita Todesco, Ivo Garrani, Sergio Ciani, Franco Fantasia, Carlo Lombardi, Ignazio Balsamo, Gian Paolo Rosmino, Walter Grant, Carla Marlier, Liana Orfei
Director: Jacques Tourneur, Mario Bava, Giorgio Rivalta
Studio: Peter Pan
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Andrei Konchalovsky's expansive television mini-series production of Homer's epic poem gets off to clumsy start as he tries to squeeze the Trojan War into a mere half hour, but once the arrogant but honorable Odysseus (strikingly played by Armand Assante) and his loyal crew begin their doomed voyage home, this film turns into a fantastical adventure. Integrating often-stunning special effects with inventive art design, Konchalovsky achieves a beautiful look on a limited budget as he follows the 10-year ordeal of Odysseus from his battles with the Cyclops and the magical Circe (Bernadette Peters) to his secret homecoming and his confrontation with the treacherous Eurymachus (Eric Roberts). Isabella Rossellini appears as his spiritual guide, the goddess Athena, with Greta Scacchi as Odysseus's faithful wife and Vanessa Williams as the seductive Calypso. The rest of the cast includes Geraldine Chaplin, Jeroen Krabbé, Christopher Lee, and Irene Papas. The production was shot on location in and around the Mediterranean, making for a lush, lovely visual experience. --Sean Axmaker

Average customer rating:

great movie
Very disappointing from the book
Awesome
A Civil War Masterpiece
Earnest but disappointing

Gods & Generals
Starring: Jeff Daniels , Stephen Lang , Mark Aldrich , Robert Duvall , and George Allen (III)
Director: Ronald F. Maxwell
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009OOFA
Release Date: 2003-07-15

Amazon.com

The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically respectable 220-minute historical pageant. In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996 novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville), Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure, this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film - but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A sweeping epic charting the early years of the Civil War and how campaigns unfolded from Manassas to the Battle of Fredericksburg, this prequel to the film Gettysburg explores the motivations of the combatants and examines the lives of those who waited at home.

Customer Reviews:

great movie.......2007-05-17

This movie put me into the Civil War spirit of the moment. I was completely caught up in the sadness and the glory of the war. Points that I never new were brought up such as Robert E. Lee turning down the offer by Lincoln to be the commanding general for the Union Army.

I will continue to purchase other movies about the Cival War. This was a tremendously important part of our history.

Very disappointing from the book.......2007-05-07

If you read the book, don't buy this movie for you will be very disappointed. While the movie does have it's own value entertainment, it does not follow the book very well at all. The movie does not develop the characters at all, especially the relationships between the various Generals for both sides. The book particularly hit on the close relationship between Hancock and Armistead that was never even mentioned in this movie. I actually ran into Jeff Shaara in Gettysburg a few years ago and expressed my disappoint in the movie and he expressed his disappoint in how the movie was portrayed also. It would be nice if they finished the series and did a screenplay of "The last full measure" but it would need to be a mini-series or at least 3 hours long.

Awesome.......2007-05-02

Awesome movie. (Even though Jackson was a tad nutty)
I would always recommend it to anyone!

A Civil War Masterpiece.......2007-05-01

About twenty-five years ago, when I was in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve, "Soldier of Fortune" used to get passed around. As I watched this film I couldn't help but remember a t-shirt that was always for sale within the magazine's pages: "GOD GUNS & GUTS MADE AMERICA GREAT." That seems to be the message of this historical epic, except that, here, the message is that they made the Confederacy great too.

The film starts out with Robert Duvall, as Robert E. Lee, expressing his sympathy for the Southern cause to a Federal official offering him a high position in the Union Army. The film portrays the Confederates as being moved not as much by support for slavery, but against what they see as an armed invasion of their lands by their own countrymen. We also get to hear the Northerners side of it, and neither side is demonized in this film.

It's not about good guys and bad guys: The film tries to show that both sides had moral reasons for going to war; that men on both sides were brave and honorable; and that Christianity and God loomed large in the hearts of Confederates and Unionists alike. For example, when asked why he is so fearless, "Stonewall" Jackson replies: "My religious beliefs teach me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death. I do not concern myself with that but to be always ready whenever it should overtake me."

The film ultimately tilts to the Southern side, only because it focuses more on Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson than anyone else. The film takes us from the dawn of the War right up to General Jackson's death by friendly fire at Chancellorsville.

It is a long film - very long - and those with short attention spans may not be able to last to the end. But it is to the Civil War what Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" was to the last day of Christ's life on earth: A Masterpiece.

Earnest but disappointing.......2007-03-24

It seems that most reviews of G&G are either five stars or one star -- people either love it or hate it. I'm somewhere in between. As a reenactor who participated in the filming, I was counting the days until it was released in theaters. I must confess that I was disappointed by the finished product (the best thing about it was seeing myself on screen a few times!).

First, the GOOD:

The film's greatest strength is its excellent portrait of people of faith. Christians are usually portrayed in the media as either uptight hypocrites, ignorant redneck simpletons, or demented serial killers. It's refreshing to see a movie that honors faith and shows the Bible and prayer in a positive light.

Stephen Lang does an excellent job portraying Jackson, perfectly capturing both the fiery warrior and the pious, loving husband and father. By the way, in person he's a heck of a nice guy. I also think that Duvall makes a better Lee than did Martin Sheen, although he doesn't get much screen time.

The battle scenes are generally good (except for the CGI), and the music is effective. Some would say the score is maudlin, but I thought the emotion was appropriate, and I liked the full orchestra better than the more synthesized "Gettysburg" soundtrack. G'burg's main theme is more memorable, though.

Now for the BAD:

As other reviewers have pointed out, the dialogue sounded stiff and wooden. Ron Maxwell did take much of it from letters of the period, but that's the problem. Writing (and even speaking to some degree) in the Victorian period tended to be flowery and overly sentimental, something that Michael Shaara took into account when he wrote "The Killer Angels" (he mentions it in the forward). It's no wonder that everybody in G&G seems to be giving a speech.

The book on which G&G is based is not the easiest book to turn into a film; unlike "Gettysburg", it covers several years instead of a single battle. Nevertheless, the film is a poor adaptation. The first hundred pages of the novel are completely skipped, and Maxwell devotes way too much screen time to Jackson. Hancock is a major character in the novel, but here he's hardly more than a bit player. His relationship with Confederate general Armistead is one of the most moving elements of Gettysburg, and Maxwell wasted a golden opportunity to expand on it. Even General Lee gets shortchanged.

Although the film is generally accurate, it presents a skewed vision of the issues surrounding the war. "Gettysburg" was more balanced, highlighting the issues that honorable men on both sides cared about. G&G on the other hand is a valentine to the "Lost Cause". For example, we see a montage of Southern men preparing to leave home and gear up for war. We get to see their wives, children and sweethearts, but we never see anything like this for the Northern side other than Chamberlain's wife Fanny. At the same time that the South was mobilizing, thousands of Northern men were lining up in droves to defend the Old Flag and the Constitution. They were just as sincere and passionate about their cause, but we see none of that in this film. Slavery is glossed over completely, and even made to look downright pleasant.

The one problem that dwarfs all the others is pacing. Anyone who has watched TV or movies much has a sense of the timing or rhythm of a scene, but whoever edited this film had no "feel" whatsoever. In G&G, some scenes open and nothing happens for a full minute of screen time. The camera pans around the room as the characters sit placidly sewing or sipping punch. The whole film practically screams "EDIT ME!" I don't mind a slower paced movie ("Unbreakable", for example), but G&G absolutely crawls.

Died-in-the-wool Civil War buffs like me can enjoy the film to some degree, but I'm afraid everyone else will find it a tedious bore. For sentimental reasons, I give "Gods & Generals" a generous three stars.

Average customer rating:

Gettysburg / Gods and Generals
Starring: Tom Berenger , Martin Sheen , Stephen Lang , Richard Jordan , and Jeff Daniels
Director: Ronald F. Maxwell
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GW8OA0
Release Date: 2007-01-02

Description

Key battles of America's Civil War thunder across the screen in two richly scaled, rigorously authentic, powerfully compelling epics based on acclaimed historical novels by Michael Shaara. The tide of the war changes during three fierce days of combat at Gettysburg [Disc 1], the gripping saga of the tactics, command errors and sacrifices behind the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. Gods and Generals [Disc 2] reveals the spirited allegiances and fierce combat of earlier Civil War struggles, framing its tale with the fateful clashes at Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. These sprawling films remind us of the people, passions and heroism that fanned the flames of a country at war with itself.

War Gods of the Deep/At the Earth's Core

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War Gods of the Deep/At the Earth's Core
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Gods of War
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War Gods of Babylon & War Goddess
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ASIN: B000FILUXI
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Description

Based on testimony from the Nuremberg Trial of chemical giant I.G. Farben, this is the story of the collaboration between international corporations and Nazi scientists, whose research contributed to the death of millions. The film focuses on a chemist who embraces political neutrality, closing his eyes to the fact that poison is being produced in his factory - poison to be used in the gas chambers of the concentration camps. Featuring the electronic sounds of Oskar Sala (Hitchcock's The Birds), the film is powerful in its depiction of the moral dilemmas of the war, as well as of Cold War propaganda.

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Chinese Gods
Starring: Bruce Li
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ASIN: B00005UQ6T
Release Date: 2001-11-01

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Saiyuki, Vol. 7: The Gods of War
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ASIN: B00011ZBQ6
Release Date: 2004-01-06

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War Gods of the Deep
Starring: Vincent Price , Tab Hunter , David Tomlinson , Susan Hart , and John Le Mesurier
Director: Jacques Tourneur
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Release Date: 2001-11-20

Amazon.com

Vincent Price and Tab Hunter star in this entertainingly silly adventure. Very, very loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's "City in the Sea," War-Gods of the Deep starts off just right, with a stormy night and a huge old mansion by the sea. Before you know it, everyone is charging through secret passages and swimming around in enormous diving helmets. The plot zips along nicely, and the cast of pros knows just what to do with it. By this point in his career, Vincent Price could do tragic brooding menace with both hands tied behind his back, but he still puts his all into it like a champ. David Tomlinson also does a great job as half of a comic relief team--the other half being an uncredited chicken. This may not be a story for the ages, but it's not a bad way to spend an evening. -Ali Davis

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