Andersonville (1996)

I love this movie so much

Perfect cast and a good story

One of my all time favorites.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

For a long time, I was rather suspicious about this movie, despite my lifelong interest in the US Civil War theme. The movie seemed to be bland, long, vapid, without stellar cast, or rather grim. Than, I watched it. It lasts for almost 3 hours, and yet, it is one of The best movies I have ever seen for along, long time. This movie must be shown to all those who like to think that was is fun and action. Nope. War is all hell. it is dirt, deprivation, hunger, blood, suffering, angst, death, despair, pain and mud. Thus yellow, think, fat stick yellow mud is a great symbol of the movie and a great reminder of the ultimate destination of all warheads - soil. Grave. Death. The movie is long, but never wastes a second of a precious time. The brilliantly made casting, with such greats as Willaim Macy or Mr. Forrester among many, helps to build a great tension and produce a lasting impression - war is all hell. The terrible fate of Andersonville prison camp inmates is shown so brutally vivid, so real, so true to life that nothing of an illusion remains whatsoever. War is all hell. This is a decent portrayal of sheer pain and tragedy of more than 12 000 Union soldiers who dies there. And those who survived, Who fought and survived. I like this tremendous film, it is Highly Recommended

I believe this is one of the best and most fair-minded Civil War movies ever made. The actors all give a first-rate performance, and the director keeps the movie focused and on track, without laying blame to either side. Most of the movies facts are historically accurate and the dialog reproduces (in my opinion) the attitudes of the times.The Raiders were a historical reality, and the trial and subsequent execution were unique during the Civil War. While many parts of the movie are memorable, the most poignant scene is at the end when one of the major characters is buried in the cemetery. The camera zooms in on the white-painted headboard with his name, and then pans back to show you the real, present-day cemetery - with this particular headstone name in the center. Seeing nearly 13,000 headstones of real-life prisoners who died at Andersonville really puts the film in perspective.

John Frankenheimer pain stakingly chronicles prisoners of war struggling to survive in an ill run Confederate prison camp during the Civil War. New prisoners are savagely introduced to the pecking order in this small pit of hell. Strong images support the story line for this well written and produced epic. Featured cast members in this trial of humanity are:Frederic Forrest, William Sanderson, Jarrod Emick, Jayce Bartok, Cliff De Young, Justin Henry and William H. Macy. It is hard to find fault in this glimpse of the notorious place called Andersonville.

"Andersonville" is John Frankenheimer's most pivotal step in his quest to regain a perch on Hollywood's "A" list of directors, and he is in true Frankenheimer form in this latest of TNT, Civil War-oriented mini-series. Quite simply, it's about a group of Union soldiers and their span of a year doing hard time in the most infamous of Southern prison camps, and one of the most infamous of prison camps in recorded history, Andersonville, Georgia. Andersonville the prison is literally a fenced-in cesspool of humanity: it's grossly overcrowded, there's not enough food to go around, there's no shelter from the heat or cold, the creek used for drinking water is the same used as a latrine by the camp's entire population, and, on top of all this, there's a vicious gang of marauding prisoner's that prey on their weaker counterparts, taking their clothing and what little food they may have for themselves. I began watching this film expecting a smaller, tamer, less original version of "The Shawshank Redemption", and at several points you'll think likewise: we witness acts of both harsh brutality and stirring compassion, and follow our hero's as they decline physically and struggle to succeed morally. But the period setting and the freshness of the subject make it appealing more often than not. What's interesting about this big-budget, well-hyped production, though, is that the entire cast are relative unknowns, the lead role being held by a young Broadway actor named Jarrod Emick, who's acting demonstrates he is just that: a Broadway actor. He projects his voice and over-emphasizes words as though onstage, and when a dramatic monologue is in order, his facial contortions rival the worst case of constipation one can imagine. The length of "Andersonville" is a problem, as after awhile it just runs out of stuff to say, and appears to be chipping away at the minutes until the conclusion. After all, how many scenes can one sit through of watching deteriorating men rot away in sheets of rain or stifling holes in the ground . . . look for a deliciously vicious role by Frederick Coffin as the evil prison gang's leader, and William Sanderson as his cowardly right hand man. There's also a small role by William H. Macy as a Confederate prison inspector who discovers the camp's horrors and condemns it . . . great score by Gary Chang.