Other Union soldiers are depicted better when feuding over a bridge with a Confederate army commanded by Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley—who incidentally really did engineer a failed campaign from Texas into the American Southwest in 1862 in an attempt to take Santa Fe, gold resources along the Rockies, and cut off California—but all parties are ultimately presented as moronic, fighting over a bridge that neither side truly needs. Movies about The American Civil War: 8 movies, sorted by rating. The American Civil War (1861-65) was a catastrophic moment in US history. There's not really any good or bad in the American Civil War, it's just 2 sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, one of the more famous ones is this 1966 Italian documentary which is nothing more than an exploitation film, showing the filmmakers transversing the African continent, visiting a perpetual stream of civil wars and genocidal conflicts. With Al Pacino, Sid Owen, Nastassja Kinski. Nonetheless, the film captures the tenor and philosophy of the Union and Confederate leaders very well (save for Martin Sheen’s strangely enfeebled Lee), and has moments of true transcendence, such as the Union bayonet charge led by Chamberlain at Little Round Top, and moments of agony, like the Confederate decimation on the third day during Pickett’s Charge. It also allowed Scorsese to showcase a major incident during the Civil War that is often overlooked due to its ugliness: the Draft Riots of 1863. The legendary story of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), a Georgian Southern belle forced to survive the Civil War by any means necessary, Gone with the Wind transcends its potential melodramatic underpinnings and nightmarish cycling through directors to achieve a vision of plantation gentility, Northern carpetbagging villainy, and Southern apology. But for its era, Gone with the Wind featured major progress from Hollywood and even earned Hattie McDaniel an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, the first time an African-American was ever recognized (though she was not allowed to attend the film’s earlier Atlanta premiere due to segregation laws). It is heavy handed, and not the film’s best segment, but like so much else with the Civil War, it feels torn between its loyalties. Eventually, the banality of violence is brought to a tipping when William Quantrill leads all of the above on his infamous ride to Lawrence, Kansas where stationed Union soldiers, free black citizens, and just about any male old enough to pick up a rifle is executed. Focused on Lee’s first and only effort to invade the North, which ended in ruin after three days of battle near the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg, the four-hour picture was originally intended to be a miniseries. These films show the problem of slavery in America and how humanity was at stake that time. Here are a few movies based on American slavery that … Either too long or too short (again, the editing is chaotic), Gangs of New York is still a marvelous film that allows Scorsese to explore the immigrant experience that is mostly forgotten about when it was the Irish who endured Nativist prejudice and violence, as opposed to the filmmaker’s own Italian roots from the more cinematically represented early 20th century (or what Hispanics are facing today). The best sequences in the film involve Debbie Reynolds running off from her frontier-settling sister to the pains of “Greensleeves,” becoming a riverboat dancer and falling for Peck’s sheepish gambler. Nonetheless, it represents an interesting reason as to why there are so few true blue Civil War movies in the latter half of the 20th century: a genuine distaste for the subject. At least that was the project’s reputation when Harvey Weinstein gave the Goodfellas filmmaker carte blanche (save for final cut) to make whatever picture he wanted. The war movies Glory and Enemy at the Gates on Netflix. Crane’s narrative instead focused on the psychological effects of the war from the perspective of a universally poignant young soldier, who is depicted as a human and not a Yankee carpetbagger. Inarguably one of the best films on this list, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly also is quite arguably a Civil War film. The first is when Washington’s Silas Trip stares down his colonel for having him whipped due to abandoning his post to find shoes. By studying only a narrow timeline, Lincoln casts a large shadow about the political brilliance of its subject while demystifying the time and acrimony in which he lived. Hence why this 1951 film is considered a mutilated classic in some circles. Share movies about the american civil war. Cold Mountain: (2003) IMDb score: 7.2 Winner of 1 Oscar. In the following century and a half, the effects of the war, and the original sin that propagated it, are still felt every day in the news, and with every election cycle that sees familiar lines of division amongst the states that participated in America’s bloodiest conflict. The American Civil War was fought between the north of the United States and the south. A British-made film about the War of Independence was never likely to succeed with American audiences, but the box-office failure of this expensive, high-profile film did not necessarily stem from nationalistic prejudice. The Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. Thus, a number of the best movies set during the Civil War are really set “around” the Civil War. Based upon Daniel Woodrell’s Woe to Live On, Lee and screenwriter James Schamus turned the camera on the oft-forgotten about border wars of Missouri and Kansas. A dense drama, it deserves more recognition than it has known. Rather than attempting to chronicle Lincoln’s entire life, or even his whole presidency, which Goodwin meticulously researched for her biography, Spielberg and Tony Kushner zeroed in on a narrow window between Lincoln’s reelection and his second inauguration. Adapted from Charles Frazier’s 1997 book of the same name, Cold Mountain was a prestige picture intended to bleed Oscar gold. Gone With the Wind (1939) Genre: Drama, Romance, War About: Love, The American Civil war. Thus, he claimed to understand the American Civil War, but scoffed at the concept that only the “losers” of the conflict committed such mistreatment to prisoners of war. Until now my top Civil War series was the ubiquitous Ken burns production but I think this series it better if you actually want to understand the war rather than just look at old photos. It has even occasionally found its way to … The result is a fascinating, frustrated mess. 1. After it got the axe mid-production at ABC, Ted Turner picked it up initially for TNT, but eventually persuaded a distribution deal out of New Line. She even finds time to pine for her supposed best friend’s husband during all these years. The top 30 films, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Civil War” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. He has long been proud of his geek credentials. As a North Carolinian myself, it is admirable to see a Southern Civil War experience far from the plantation life that is reminisced or mocked in so many other narratives. More a general commentary on the stupidity and pointlessness of war during the era when America was just ramping up its Vietnam madness, the Civil War in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly does not bear broad similarities to any specific event. The film didn’t live up to such lofty aspirations, but it did net Zellweger her much sought-after Oscar. Netflix:-Dances With Wolves (1990) Genre: Adventure, Drama, Western About: The American Civil war, Indians. Raised on cinema classics that ranged from…, Watch The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on Amazon, Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes Will One Day Cross Paths in AEW, Goldberg's Return on Raw Highlights WWE's Legends Problem, The Jane Doe Murders Review: Compassionate True Crime Doc Provides Closure, Captain America: Civil War Blu-ray Special Features Reveal Where Thor Was, Marvel's Civil War: 12 Versions of the Story, Introducing A Brand New FREE Quarterly Magazine From Den of Geek, How EVE Online Is Changing Players' Lives for the Better. Rating: R; Available on Netflix; This film was nominated for five Oscars and won three of them It tears the family apart, and forces a father to find his son after he is injured on the frontline. Robert Gould Shaw commanded the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry into only one full-fledged battle before he lost his life (and the 54th lost over half their numbers). The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. Don’t worry Rhett, you still got the last word. Long before the sleep-inducing, Stonewall Jackson-worshipping Gods & Generals, Ronald F. Maxwell had much better success at recreating a Civil War saga with Gettysburg, an epic version of the battle that turned the tides of the Civil War. “What are the best movies about the American Civil War?” We looked at 236 of the top Civil War films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question! Not exactly John Ford’s best film, Horse Soldiers is one of the few times the legendary director ever directly dealt with the Civil War. In what I consider to be the most underrated film on this list, and certainly its director’s most overlooked picture, Ang Lee studied an American conflict from an outsider’s perspective for Ride with the Devil. The film was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta and was the first collaboration between Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. There’s our list. It’s worth following over that wall. It was mainly fought on grounds of the fact whether it was okay to boycott slavery. The term became more eminent when the Americans started to slave the black people during the American Civil war. Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil. It has even occasionally found its way to the big screen. Votes: 287,621 | Gross: $198.68M. He knows where his fate lies. Enjoy, for an excellent Civil War oriented binge watch (or re-watch) over your favorite American holidays. Despite taking place during the Civil War, Spielberg is content with rarely visiting the battlefield here, and instead focuses on Lincoln’s genius in a Capitol submerged in discontent and disdain. It could even be argued that Civil War-based classics like “Glory” or “Gettysburg” are outliers. David Crow is the movies editor at Den of Geek. … While the film is mostly a comedy about staying above violence and familial life bearing many similarities in all generations, be it the 1950s or 1860s. War movies have attracted audiences since the earliest days of filmmaking. But it makes for a powerful backdrop in one of the best Westerns ever made. This African American unit fought bravely in an effort to win freedom for themselves and all slaves. I am not sure how accurate the Bushwhacking/Jayhawking is to Indiana in this era (please let me know if you are well versed), but whatever the historical accuracy, this is a wonderfully poignant family dramedy that makes great use of its setting. Set in a New York that was only beginning to fall into the clutches of Boss Tweed, most of the film takes place during the height of the Civil War in 1863. As the first generation forced to deal with the draft, the working poor were understandably galvanized to frenzy when they’re youth are conscripted at gunpoint to join the Union army while the sons of New York’s rich and elite could buy their way out of the draft for $300 (about $5,000 by today’s standards). A multitude of experiences led to that fateful day outside of Fort Wagner, both for escaped slaves and free men, and all are explored and viscerally felt here. But with Day-Lewis’ performance and Spielberg’s heartstring pulling, it makes him all the more monumental. 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