Produced by Tony and Ridley Scott and narrated by Sam Rockwell for the History Channel, Gettysburg examines the events that took place in the small Pennsylvania town of the same name during the first three days of July in 1863. Of course, it was here that Confederate troops surrounded the town, hoping to eliminate what remained of the Union soldiers. If they were successful, the South could claim victory. However, the ensuing battle would result in casualties numbers never experienced before, and change not only the course of the Civil War, but America as a country.
The documentary begins by explaining how and why Confederate and Union soldiers ended up in Gettysburg in the numbers that they did. Wisely though, rather than keeping the focus on the broad subject of all the soldiers, the documentaries main focus stays on the stories of eight soldiers—Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Dawes, Sergeant Amos Humiston, Colonel James Wallace, Brigadier General William Barksdale, Brigadier General Joseph R. Davis, Private D. Ridgeley Howard, Private Joseph C. Lloyd, and Assistant Surgeon LeGrand Wilson. By doing so, we get to know more about the smaller stories ‘everyday soldier’ that made up the bulk of the Civil War fighting machine rather than the hero’s and major events that are included in nearly every history book on the subject. However, it should be noted that actual tactics, and the political side of things aren’t covered as well as one might like.
Though Gettysburg was directed by Adrian Moat, there’s no escaping the Scott brothers influence. These guys are behind some of adrenaline fueled blockbusters of the last thirty years–Top Gun, Black Hawk Down and Gladiator—are just a few that come to mind. So it should come as no surprise that just a few minutes into the film, a Union soldier splits open the skull of a Confederate with his rifle stock. Blood erupts from the battle wounds, splattering the camera’s lens. War is messy business, and it’s not watered down for the purposes of this documentary.
Similar to Black Hawk Down, nearly all the battlefield reenactments are shot in a shaky manner that puts us right there with the soldiers. If you don’t like that style of filmmaking, other than the talking head interviews, Gettysburg might not be your cup of tea. The coverage of how Union troops dug in to Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Ridge to use the terrain to their strategic advantage against the flanking Confederate troops who greatly outnumbered them is interesting. There isn’t a lot of discussion regarding similar efforts on Little Round Top, however, which seems an odd choice.
Gettysburg does a good job of explaining the importance of the slave trade to the American economy at the time and solidifying how and why the sides for and against this would take up arms over it. The film is aided by some very intelligent commentators who provide some welcome insight into these events.
At ninety-four minutes long, it’s just not possible to cover everything that occurred during three days of intense conflict. While those well versed in Gettysburg may be turned of by this documentaries obvious omissions, the material The History Channel has provided here is quite good, and could serve as a primer to encourage a novice to study the subject further.
Gettysburg comes to Blu-ray via a 1.78:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. In general, the transfer looks very good. Much of the reenactment footage is shot shaky cam style so you don’t get a lot of the clean detail you otherwise might. Shot on digital video and transferred to Blu-ray, there are obviously no debris or digital anomalies.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix on this disc is quite good. The narration comes out of the front channels, while the rears are used to bring life to the battle scenes. Bullets will zip past you from time to time throughout the movie and explosions give your subwoofer a good rattling. Directional effects and bass response are strong, without burying the narration or interviews in sound effects or the score.
English subtitles are provided.
Other than a Standard DVD, there are no special features.
