Re: Combat films

On Thu, 16 Mar 2000 20:17:55 PST, "Brian Bilderback"
<bbilderback@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>However, I think that, 
>like SPR, the great thing about this movie is not it's historical or 
>technical accuracy or inaccuracy, it's the portrayal of the humans
involved 
>in the events that stay with me, nt the events themselves. 

I think Speilberg got that part of the film from his chief technical
advisor,
Stephen Ambrose. I read Ambrose's book "D-Day"	(I have yet to read
"Citizen
Soldiers") and it's an easy, thought provoking read. EVERYONE on this
list
should read it. 

>(Although I felt 
>Shaara was a tad too harsh on Lee, especially on the personal level.)

He was. Lee was definitely off his game that day. I'll never forget the
revelation I had at Gettysburg the first time I visited. I looked across
the
field from Cemetary Ridge to Seminary Ridge and thought, "What the Hell
was
Lee thinking?" when he ordered Pickett's Charge (more accurately termed
Longstreet's Assault). The next day, I stood on Seminary ridge near the
jumping off point of the North Carolina regiments and though, "Damn.
From here
it looks feasible." It really did...

Shaara didn't put enough blame on Longstreet. He put a little too much
on Lee.
He should have put more emphasis on the crap that Sickles did to the
right of
Little Round Top (which would have blunted his literary assertion that
Little
Round Top was the "all or nothing" break point for the Union, rather
than just
the most precarious of about 4 locations along the Union line on Day 2).
If he
recognized Sickles, though, he'd have to recognize Longstreet's screw up
on
the second day that had Longstreet jump off too late to take Little
Round Top
unopposed. Shaara was too hard on Ewell, and all but ignored A. P.
Hill's
corps. 

A very good piece of literature; a very poor piece of history. I'm now
going
to start reading Shelby Foote's novel "Shiloh", having just visited that
battlefield. I have a suspicion that Foote will be more accurate in his
novel.

Allan Goodall		       agoodall@interlog.com
Goodall's Grotto: http://www.interlog.com/~agoodall/

"Surprisingly, when you throw two naked women with sex
toys into a living room full of drunken men, things 
always go bad." - Kyle Baker, "You Are Here"