The other film that absolutely astonished me for its trueness to the book, quality of production, and, amazingly, historical accuracy, was Gettysburg, another Turner Production. I never thought Michael Shaara's The Killer Angel's, his magnificient historical-novel about the Battle of Gettysburg from a mostly Southern point of view, would ever be translated so faithfully or eloquently to the screen. Aside from some, IMHO, questionable choices in the interpretation of Gen Robert E. Lee (Martin Sheen's or the director's, or mutual agreement, I don't know), the picture was truly majestic! (George C. Scott was originally signed to do Lee, which would have been a treat to see, but he got sick and had to bow out...looking forward to Robert Duvall's "Lee" in Gods and Generals this Fall). Of course, as someone mentioned earlier, this was a 4 hour movie so they had ample time to do the book justice.
And I still think Jeff Daniels deserved the Supporting Actor Oscar that year for his Col. Chamberlain...think the usual Academy prejudice toward new upstart independent studios robbed him of it (Gettysburg was the first time Turner Productions ventured a theatrical release).
