Gods and Generals

Gods and Generals (2003) is a sweeping war drama about the opening campaigns of the American Civil War — watch it online on iFILM. Writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell, who made Gettysburg, adapted Jeffrey Shaara's novel and centers the story on Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, played by Stephen Lang across nearly four hours of screen time.

The film opens before the first cannon fires at Manassas and follows Jackson through Fredericksburg, where a stray bullet from his own side ends his career. Jeff Daniels returns as Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain; Robert Duvall steps into the role of General Lee. Maxwell shoots both armies with the same weight — officers praying, soldiers writing letters home, families left to wait.

Filmed partly on the actual battlefields with thousands of re-enactors, the production functions as a prequel to Gettysburg and the first chapter of a planned trilogy based on the Shaara novels. Stream Gods and Generals (2003) online on iFILM.