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Article: Hollywood's fascination with the Civil War. (Column)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- January 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TED TURNER's Civil War epic, "Gettysburg," has received mixed reviews at best and has been all but ignored in various critical articles on the current movie season. The problems are obvious. It is a four-and-a-half hour, originally made-for-TV miniseries turned into a bloated theatrical release whose emphasis on historical detail is not sufficient to divert viewers from often inert acting and direction.
The intimacy of Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels, the source for the film and one of the best historical novels in recent years, often is lost in the picture's sprawling and overdrawn set pieces. Still, "Gettysburg" plays an important role in reiterating the ...