Top 10 American Civil War Films - Historian Reaction
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- čas přidán 10. 03. 2023
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I should note that "Spaghetti Westerns" were often filmed in other European nations like Spain, but produced and directed by Italians (thus the name)
And starred Italians and other European actors and actresses
you took my reply away - so you get the posting here as answer 🙂
@@chancellor1055 And every actor was speaking his or her native language during filming.
@@PaulMcElligott very true
@@PaulMcElligottI believe it was called the ‘tower of babel shooting style’ but I may be wrong ( I learned that from once upon a time in Hollywood)
One of my favorite random facts is about Robert Gould Shaw (so greatly portrayed by Matthew Broderick) and the aftermath of his death. The Confederates would return the bodies of fallen Union officers, but in the case of Shaw, they buried him in a mass grave with his black troops. This was meant as an insult, but Shaw's family openly declared it as an honor and that "We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers. ... We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company."
That is proof that there were people living in the 19th century that weren't racist!
I loved Day-Lewis's voice of Lincoln. I've heard that those who wrote about Lincoln's voice in his day wrote that he had a somewhat high pitch and squeaky voice which Day-Lewis seems to have presented in this movie, unlike the deep and low voice that so many other portrayals by other actors have done.
He also kept his Kentucky accent throughout his life, as did Mary. That's a kind of southern accent with a slight drawl.
I remember when Gettysburg came out, Shelby Foote praised Martin Sheen's perfomance as Lee, saying we tend to portray Lee as all stoic and made of marble, and Foote thought that Sheen's performance did a better job capturing what he was really like in a battle. Take that for what it's worth.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a phenomenal film. I can appreciate how it showed Union soldiers and commanders in a more realistic light. They were the good guys but a lot of them weren’t angels.
@geraldh3932 I know, but the film isn’t saying those are admirable qualities.
@geraldh3932 but the movie wasn't made by white supremacists and they didn't even know that the book was. The important part is at the end of the movie is about love and tolerance
If you choose to see Gone With The Wind for Hattie's performance, you will NOT be disappointed. The energy she brought to Mammy still sticks out to me as one of the best parts of the movie.
McDaniel then was escorted, not to the Gone With the Wind table - where Selznick sat with de Havilland and his two Oscar-nominated leads, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable - but to a small table set against a far wall, where she took a seat with her escort, F.P. Yober, and her white agent, William Meiklejohn. With the hotel’s strict no-blacks policy, Selznick had to call in a special favor just to have McDaniel allowed into the building.
@@grizzledmillennial4765 Yeah that was an absolute travesty. She and other African Americans did not deserve that kind of treatment. So disrespectful.
This film also captured the strain and anxiety of the civilian population. The "hard war" made survival more difficult for both Whites and Blacks. Also, the slaves obviously looked forward to the freedom that came with advancing union armies but there was great uncertainty about what those soldiers would be like. The film expresses all that.
Just gotta say. As a kid who remembers when the wall fell in Europe your ability to explain not only the history but how you felt about history as you watched it unfold is completely refreshing for some reaction channels. Your ability to provide insight and relevant information is what makes your channel stand out. Keep it up!
Hattie's Acceptance Speech...
HATTIE McDANIEL:
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science[s], fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored guests. This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of the awards for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel. And may I say thank you and God bless you.
I think "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is also a very good anti-war movie, not so much because it is about the US Civil War but because of Sergio Leone's own experiences in Italy during WW2. It reflects the "ugly" aspects of warfare in general, like the drumhead executions of enemies or deserters, the maltreatment of POWs, the futility of fighting for specific "strategical" objectives, etc.
The part near the end where Blondie let's that young, mortally wounded kid drag on the cigar gets me every time.
@@Nosliw837 Yeah, me too.
@Gerald H I agree. And the fact that this was a real bridge that was really blown up (twice), makes it even better.
Fun fact in gettysburg the guy who plays Pickett is the same guy who plays the antagonist in avatar. “Your not in Kansas anymore, your on pandora”
He also played stonewall Jackson in God's n Generals
He was the good guy in Avatar
I wish there were more Civil War movies like Lincoln. We always talk about and see the battles (in movies), but rarely the politics and diplomacy that was going on behind the scenes. The Lincoln movie only dealt primarily with the Passage of the 13th Amendment, and the politics behind it, and I found it so fascinating to see just that small portion of the Civil War be brought to the screen. I would love to see more movies or series exploring the politics and the factionalism within the Union during the Civil War Era, and how Lincoln dealt with it.
There are a few. Copperhead (2013) and The Conspirator (2010) are both largely political and social history movies. Gangs of New York is...loosely based on the Draft Riots of 1863 and its definitely about factionalism.
@@celston51I always found it funny that Daniel Day-Lewis plays the lead in both Gangs of New York and Lincoln. Makes for a epic double feature.
I always liked how Red Badge of Courage showed how unnerving hearing the Rebel yell coming towards you must have been.
Speaking of Clark Gable, my father was in the Army Air Corps during World War Two and was stationed at the same base as Clark Gable. We have a photo of my dad and Clark standing together in front of one of the bombers at the base. My dad got introduced to him because of his drawing skills- he did cartoon type portraits of his fellow soldiers and celebrities and did some of Clark that gained the attention of his commanding officers. We have some of those drawings still in our family photo collection. (Except the one of Clark, it disappeared before he came home.) Damn!😢
I'm Greek but your videos and Grand Tactician: Civil War got me hooked on the American Civil War
Awesome!
I am also Greek and his reaction videos got me hooked on the Civil War!
@@kostopius4739 There's a lot of great men, tactics, and lessons to be learned from the struggle.
Stephen Lang's casting as Pickett was a great choice too, as Lang is an avid reader of history. I think he portrayed the "dashing cavalier" attitude and persona that Pickett was known to have exceptionally well.
I had to rewatch Glory after seeing this video and it turns out Robert Shaw's letters to his family are actually available to read online which is fascinating to me. They even have the letter sent to his family informing them of his death at Fort Wagner.
In Glory, that end where they are line up and march/charge to the fort and the bells start ringing… gets me every time. What a great movie, it deserves the top spot for sure.
As for Ricard Jordan in The Hunt for the Red October, my favorite line was again from the end, “Andrei, you’ve lost another submarine?”
A fun fact about the Red Badge of Courage: Stephen Crane (the author) never served in the war himself (in fact, he was born in 1871), but the story was praised by Civil War veterans for its accurate depiction, not just of battle, but of the different emotions that the men experienced in battle. Many veterans would express astonishment upon learning Crane himself had never served in the war. A wonderful video, as always, Chris. Best of luck and blessings!
Glory is the only choice for #1. Set during the Civil War, about the Civil War, showing the Civil War. Great acting, great themes. I like the list and have seen most of the movies. Like you, I have not seen Gone with the Wind. Got it for Christmas one year and watched the bonus features, but not the movie yet. 😮
Chris, I love how your passion can be felt in this video and commentary.
The scene in Glory showing the 54th Regiment just before the climatic battle is one of the best in any film of all time.
Hattie McDaniels did win the Oscar, but she was also black so she could not enter the premier through the front gate. Clark Gable almost didn’t come to the premier because of it.
I remember watching glory in my 8th grade American history class. Since then I’ve probably rewatched it over 20 times. Absolutely fantastic movie, no doubt it should be number one.
Fun fact: The Outlaw Josey Wales is Atun-Shei's favorite Civil War film.
Glory is the best American Civil War film I've ever seen.
Hi mate loved your channel.
I should just say that I had a very minor part in the making of Cold Mountain.
I used to do US Civil War re-enactments and a sound crew came to record us firing some volleys for use in that movie.
I love the line in Gettysburg where a lady asks "Is there to be a disturbance in our town?" To which one of Buford's officers replies "Nothing the cavalry can't handle, ma'am."
Buster Keaton's "The General" certainly is one of the great film classics in cinematic history. Keaton was an absolute madlad. He insisted on doing all effects in reality, even the scene where the locomotive falls into the river. So what you saw in that scene where the bridge collapses - that's a real locomotive, a real collapsing bridge and one of the most expensive (in relative terms) movie effects of all times.
Scheiße, I was about to comment that movie when I saw this comment. But YES, "The General" is a fantastic movie, one of the best of the silent era, and Buster Keaton's best achievement! The stunts and action are phenomenal in all of Keaton's movies, but this one in particular. It is unfortunate that it failed at the Box office however. A must see!
Buster Keaton makes Tom Cruise look like a amateur.
@@briangarrow448
"Tom Cruise? Never heard of him. Anyways, back to having walls falling on me."
Buster Keaton's Ghost Probably
The Outlaw Josey Wales has to be one the best civil war movies in my view.
@@deteon1418 Sadly, I doubt most people would take a silent movie on the Civil War seriously, especially because of Birth of a Nation.
A few thoughts:
1.) Throwing Dances With Wolves into a Civil War top 10 is a stretch.
2.) Hollywood needs to give us a modern treatment of The General. And I want Chris Pratt to be involved somehow.
3.) What? No “Gods and Generals”? 😂😂😂
A movie that you should watch thats based off of history is Ridley Scott's "The Duellists". I know that it doesn't have anything to do with the civil war, but if anyone can appreciate the history behind it, it would be you and the community.
Love the content and the work you put in the videos! Keep it up!
Can we also just talk about Gettysburg's soundtrack? We watched that movie in high school as part of our Civil War unit and then visited Gettysburg, and just hearing the soundtrack brings back all those memories. What a movie.
Ride with the Devil is a criminally underrated Civil War film. That it didn't even make the honorable mentions gives me the sads.
So glad I'm not the only one that commented about RWTD. One of my favorite movies.
Glory has been my favorite movie since I first saw it back in '89. Can't even count the number of times I've seen it.
I am really really glad that you take recommendations from the comments, i have a recommendation but it's for a series with 6 videos in total, it's one of the best history series in all of CZcams and i really hope you check it, it's called Rome Strikes Back by Epic History TV, the series is about Justinian's wars of reconquest and is Soo good for multiple reasons:
1- the production quality is simply amazing with very beautiful maps and battle set-ups + excellent natation of Charles nove.
2- the series is centered around a very brilliant general (one if the most brillant in history like Julius Caesar and Hannibal) but also is very humane in his approche to war
3- you didn't cover that time period a lot in your channel so it's a good opportunity to do what this channel is all about "learning History together"
I really hope you check it.
Though I can never argue with Glory being #1, my personal favorite didn't even make the list. You absolutely MUST see Ride With The Devil, directed by Ang Lee and starring Tobey McGuire, Skeet Ulrich and Jewel. Amazing film, intense and absorbing, about the border war in Missouri.
10:31 Dances with Wolves was a commonly played movie in our house in the early 2000s, typically on a Sunday afternoon. However, there were days when I would try to cram Gods and Generals and Gettysburg in one after another after school. A combined eight hours of Civil War movies. Good times!
Daniel Day-Lewis is English, however you were close... he does hold Irish citizenship, as his father was born in Ireland, though as an Anglo-Protestant. If I recall correctly, however, his first real big shot film that propelled him to stardom was his portrayal of an Irishman in "The Father" (heavily recommend, a true story), so I can see why you would think he was Irish... he's very convincing to me, an Irishman myself.
"Ride with the Devil" is one of my favorite movies(which happens to be a civil war movie.) No one has heard of it. But it will surprise you. Fantastic story
I wasn’t aware that Gettysburg had so much criticism. I watched it a year ago, and have rewatched it multiple times since. It has become one of my favorite war films, though I understand it isn’t for everyone.
Fun fact, the Army of the New Mexico, the Confederate Army that participated in the New Mexico Campaign, was composed almost entirely of Texans. So almost every Confederate soldier you see in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a Texan. So I feel the same pride watching Texan units fight the same way you feel when an Ohio unit fights. (Btw I am not a pro-Confederate. I just like seeing Texan units represented in movies).
An someone from Michigan and Wisconsin I feel that way about the Iron Brigade!
A lot of spaghetti westerns were also shot in Spain. The finale of The Good The Bad and The Ugly was filmed in desert in Spain.
Yeah. See my pinned comment.
@@VloggingThroughHistory just saw it! Yeah that’s really accurate.
Excellent as usual!
I LOVE historical movies!🍿 more of these please 🙏🏼🤩
They are called spaghetti Westerns because the director, the producers and a big part of the cast were Italian. They were filmed in southern Spain (most of it) because it's a very dry and desert like area.
A Jonathan Frakes shoutout? Excellent!
Only a few minutes but truly missing is the opening scene from movie Free State Of Jones, gritty, dirty trench warfare without even seeing the enemy.
As a civil war buff who has seen nearly every movie about the Civil War, I must nominate Ride with the Devil as an honorable mention. It's such an underrated movie, capturing the savage reality of neighbor vs neighbor on the Missouri-Kansas border.
Gods and Generals should have at least gotten an honorable mention.
I absolutely love Elliot as Buford, but the same criticism for that casting can be made as Hood. John Buford was 36 at Gettysburg. Sam Elliot was 50
Hey Chris! Have you ever reacted to the Lazerpig channel? That would be interesting!
In 1939, my Great Aunt took her teenage nephews (my father & uncle) to the GONE WITH THE WIND Premiere in Atlanta Georgia. They saw all the actors and Margaret Mitchell. It was my mothers favorite movie.
You should look into Hattie McDaniels Oscar story. She was excluded from a lot of stuff and was (apparently) almost banned from coming to the ceremony.
I still haven't seen Glory. On my to-do list now.
Glory was one of the first american civil war movies I have ever seen and remained to be my second favorite CW movie since then. It looses to "The General" which is my number one movie ever. Never was movie making that creative, brave and artistic. Keaton invented techniques which are still used to day and he wrote cinema history with this masterpiece.
I am glad you called out Richard Jordan's portrayal of Armistead in Gettysburg. He is fantastic in that role and under-appreciated in general, I think. That movie did an amazing job of humanizing the men on both sides of the battle.
We watched Andersonville in my history class in High School. Very good movie!
It's scary how much Matthew Broderick looks like Robert Gould Shaw...he could be a distant relative...Glory was so inspiring but devastating at the same time
Once again a great episode! A couple of things I would like to add.
"Shenandoah" was actually made into a (mediocre) Broadway musical in 1974, starring John Cullum.
Matthew Broderick appeared on PBS's "Finding Your Roots", where they uncovered a Civil War Veteran ancestor who fought in the battles Broderick portrayed.
re cameos in Gettysburg, and this one really surprised me when I found out about it: James Bond himself, I mean, George Lazenby as General Johnston Pettigrew,
I actually don’t hate how PG Gettysburg’s violence is. Normally I’d want more graphic stuff, but that movie being so sanitized made it super accessible for people of all ages and allowed it to be shown in classrooms. Tons of people’s interest in the war was piqued because of that movie, and they probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity if there were guys holding their intestines or getting limbs blown off
The General is so great, especially that stunt where Buster is on the train as the wheels are turning; that stunt was so dangerous that one mistake and he’s chopped liver lmao
10:18 I love Dances with Wolves and the score is just amazing.
Been watching your videos for a while now and love the history you show and your knowledge! I’m also an Ohioan 💪🏼. I see you mainly discuss though WW2 and CW.
I have a bunch of historical newspapers (printed same day, in the respective cities/countries), would you like me to send you pdfs of them for your videos (depending on the era you discuss)? Just thought
Apologies up front, because I know you’ll have many folks chiming in with their favorite Civil War film, BUT allow me to suggest that RIDE WITH THE DEVIL starring Toby McGuire and Jeffrey Wright is a must see ACW film. Taking place in divided Missouri it follows the irregular Confederate militias and their fights in Missouri and Kansas. It particularly portrays the moral dilemmas of people forced to choose a side and the eventual disillusionment of defending the indefensible.
So glad to see a few people acknowledging this GREAT movie.
I believe that Hattie McDaniels was not allowed to sit in the theatre during the Academy Awards show. She was segregated to a back room. Her parents were slaves.
I recently found out through Ancestry and my aunt that I had a great great uncle who was a captain in the First Minnesota company B. He was wounded at Bull Run and Gettysburg, where he was third in command of the regiment. His name was Mark William Downie. Had some controversy about him, but an interesting character. There was a great article published in the Stillwater(MN)Gazette about him(where he lived after he emigrated from Canada) if interested
My great, great, great grandfather, entered Gettysburg a lieutenant and exited captain in command of the First Minnesota, given the amount of casualties the regiment sustained in the battle, officers included. His name was Henry C. Coates. We have copies of the letters he wrote back home to the Minnesota governor and legislature describing the actions of the regiment at Gettysburg, including the heroic but costly charge to help save the Cemetery Ridge position as ordered by Hancock on the second day. So I have seen the name of your great, great uncle before.
Damm good review loved it
Hi keep up the good work I enjoy your videos. Paraphrasing you "If you haven't seen Gone with the Wind what are you waiting on go watch it right now".
I remember watching North and South when it first came out in 1985 I was 14 and I loved it. At 43 I finally read the books they are SOOOOO much better. When it came to the handling of Orry my opinion of the mini-series took a nose dive.
Love your insight into historical films. However you made a slight error when explaining why The Good the Bad and the Ugly was called a "spaghetti western."While some scenes were filmed in Italy, most were filmed in Spain. That they were directed by Italian Sergio Leone is why they were dubbed the spaghetti western.
Really enjoyed this one! I've seen almost all those movies (some when my father dragged me and my mother to the theater 😆) I have the DVD of Glory and have seen that one several times. Wonderful movie. I'll have to look up the others to see if I can re-watch them.
My history advisor at the university of Central Arkansas Dr Gregory JW Urwin was a technical advisor for Glory. When in school he had a group of African American students who would do performances and such in uniform. He and those students were also in the movie. Still my favorite professor
Nice collection of Civil War movies and I agree that Glory is the top one!
little side note: I got your reaction from Oct 5 2021, where you react to this content creator, about the WWII top 15. Here you are reacting to their top WWII movies, and wearing a Mayflower shirt as well. ;-)
14:42 I remember when me and my father went and bought a movie on VHS (in the late 80s) and watch 39’ movies. When I come by to my fathers home he sometimes watches a 39’ film on the tv and we both say, “Another smash in 39’ “. Now I’m back home and you say equivalently the same thing in 4 digits.
The greatest scene "from" Gone With The Wind was Carrol Burnet's stairway scene.
Hey Chris. Long time fan first time comment. I love your content. Me being a Conservative Christian called into the ministry and a resident of the Youngstown area there was an instant connection. You were talking about The Great Locomotive chase. But have you ever watched the movie. It's a Disney movie with Fess Parker. I remember watching it at my pastor's house when I was little. It was one of my favorite memories with him.
Both Shenandoah and The General were filmed in my home state of Oregon. The General was filmed in the hills just east of my home town of Cottage Grove.
Hey, Chris! Atun Shei films made a video on why he Loves the Outlaw Josey Wales.
Glory is the best Civil War movie hands down. So good. Doesn't shy away from the brutality like other films and captures the racism and and how everyone handled at the time so well. Fantastic movie.
Interesting video. Also, nice mustache
You MUST see Gone with the Wind! And Hattie will steal your heart! My all time favorite movie is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
It is still the greatest shame of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences that not only did Glory not win best picture, it wasn't even nominated!
I go nutz over all your civil war videos.
Great video and commentary. One minor clarification that may have already been mentioned. Richard Harris was Irish, having been born in Limerick. Daniel Day Lewis' father was Irish but he himself was born in London. I'm curious about your criticism of Martin Sheen's portrayal of Lee since it was one of the high points of Gettysburg to me.
Armistead and Hancock were best friends. They attended West Point together and fought in the Mexican War together. Armistead refused to carry a weapon during the engagement. He walked down the fence at the top of the ridge for fear that he would fire on his friend. Armistead died that day.
If you haven't seen Gone with the Wind you really need to. It's a fantastic movie.
Hey! Not sure if this is feasible because of what happened with the other review video of this guy that you did a reaction to, but I'd love you to Atun Shei Films's "Fixing Gettysburg" series. It might be less problematic than the other one :).
Before beginning this video, I'd like to mention my all time #1 war picture.
It's GETTYSBURG (1993). For four hours you can time travel to experience this three day disaster. No victor at Gettysburg.
My great Aunt was once the number one Gone With The Wind collector in the world and I had the pleasure of visiting her warehouse where she holds all of her merchandise. One of the most interesting pieces, for me, had to be a photograph of Hattie McDaniel with her distinct signature. Still one of the coolest things I got to see up close and actually hold.
History and Film are two of my top interests so I really like this idea.
I can relate to this.
At the time Glory came out I was living in PG County MD and had such a profound effect on me. It sparked my desire to learn more about Civil War history. Living so close to so many battlefields and Washington DC had a huge influnece but probably even more so was growing up among descendants of people who had been enslaved and gained their freedom because of these events but also played such a huge role in these events as well
I was at the filming of "The Blue & The Grey". I had friends in the film including Pete (an Apache American) who had a speaking part with Stacy Keatch. I saw Gregory Peck as Abe. Shanandoah had a serious flaw...of a few. The family would be hunted as guerillis for the train sabotage even after the war.
I realise why Gone With The Wind is seen less favourably today, but I have to say I still really like it. I've seen it several times, and I would gladly watch it again.
Hey I know you like historical music like Sabaton and I wanted to recommend a band that has an album that uses alot of historical events/concepts. They are called The Raven Age. And here are some songs I think you would like to react to.
Scimitar - About the crusades from both perspectives
Fleur De Lis - About Joan of Arc
And my personal favorite: Grave of the Fireflies - About the firebombing of Japan during WW2
Hah I was quoting Glory alongside with you. I saw it in the theatre and it left an indelible mark on me.
Imma be honest Chris, I think you can do without the mustache. It makes you look a bit older 😂 great job on the videos !!!
i cant tell how much i love the dollers trilogy
Shanondoh and Josey wells are the two I’m familiar with. Cool vid bro.
Hi, Chris, second time watching, I'm getting lazy I'll just repeat my Patreon comment, but I'll rephrase it. That was very good it would be good to see their WW1 and WW2 lists if they've done them.
Recommendation: A short fun reaction would be to the comedic song from 2005 from Jonathan Coulton The President. He explains every president in ine sentence. A nice mix between historical and goofy.
Dances With Wolves is one of my favorite movies. I'm 39 amd enjoyed it as a kid