I know, I know, it would have been more appropriate to do these last week during the run-up to the Oscars. But The Great White Shank has never bothered with worrying about that kind of trifling thing. Besides, I didn’t think of it then.
Anyways, continuing the theme of some of my all-time favorite movie scenes, here is Jeff Daniels from Gettysburg, pleading his case to a bunch of fellow Maine gents whose enlistments just ran out and their regiment was folded. Before Gettysburg I never realized how good an actor Jeff Daniels was. In Gettysburg he was fantastic.
There was great, great acting throughout this movie. Check out Martin Sheen’s portrayal of General Robert E. Lee and this scene where he dresses down Jeb Stuart for disobeying orders, or this scene where he questions his generals for not pushing the fight earlier in the day. His deliberate, forceful, and caring nature makes for a fabulous performance.
…or this scene with Kevin Conway and Jeff Daniels as they discuss the issue of slavery. Very moving to me.
…or this scene with Daniels revealing to his spent division the need to charge the Rebs. I love the way he simply commands without yelling, “Charge.” It’s the highlight of the film. Awesome!
Gettysburg is just a priceless piece of film; a new, extended edition on Blu-ray is due on July 5th of this year, restoring all the scenes deleted on the original DVD that were included in the original VHS version. Can’t wait to get it.
I don’t know if it was his own mustache or one makeup helped him with but Daniels bears a strong physical resemblance to Chamberlain. Good casting.
Comment by Rob — March 3, 2011 @ 10:11 pm
The whole movie has great casting – I didn’t even include Tom Berenger – his portrayal of Longstreet is his best performance out his career (even if his makeup beard appears a bit much and uneven at times) and Richard Jordan (who never gave a bad performance, ever), Sam Elliot, and Stephen Laing were fantastic as well.
While the movie was exceptionally well done and was critically acclaimed, it was a tough move to see in theaters because of it’s length I think it ran somewhere around 3 1/2 hours so they had a ten-minute intermission. But for home viewing with the pause button at the ready, you can’t beat it. It is a masterpiece, both in terms of acting and story-telling.
Comment by The Great White Shank — March 4, 2011 @ 9:38 am
I only saw it the one time it was on TV. It was well done but the things I remember most vividly are the bayonet charge down Little Round Top, that scene with Lee and Stuart (Wonder how that went down in real life), and Jordan leading his men into battle (I think he died either right before or right after this movie was completed).
Comment by Rob — March 4, 2011 @ 10:11 am