History Film / GodsAndGenerals

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favoring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence - he figured that if God wanted it to end then it would end in God's time, and if God didn't want it to end then it wouldn't. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, which was a year after [[spoiler: Jackson died]]. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave. The film also leaves out his BunnyEarsLawyer tendencies, like the fact he kept one hand raised at most times to "keep the blood balanced" and was known to sometimes refuse to fight on a Sunday, considering it a sin.

%%* {{Prequel}}: To ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}''

* {{Backstory}}: To the characters who appear in ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}'' but not the film's protagonist, Jackson, [[spoiler:who dies]].

!!''Gods and Generals provide examples of:

%%* CulturedWarrior: Chamberlain.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favoring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence - he figured that if God wanted it to end then it would end in God's time, and if God didn't want it to end then it wouldn't. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, which was a year after [[spoiler: Jackson died]]. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave.
* HollywoodTactics: Fredericksburg has a scene where Union troops repeatedly advance across an open field towards the Confederate troops, who are crouching behind a stone wall. Obviously this works out in the Confederacy's favor.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson-devout Christian and genuine FourStarBadass.

* RuleOfDrama: In order to emphasize the tragedy of brother fighting brother, the number of Irishmen serving on the Confederate side is somewhat exaggerated-in actual fact the C.S.A. had company-sized Irish units, while the Northern Army of the Potomac had an Irish Brigade. As the film relates its story of Virginians successfully defending their homes against Northern invaders, the attempted invasion of the North in 1862, the defeat in the battle of Antietam (seen by many historians as the real turning point of the war) and Lincoln's subsequent Emancipation Proclamation are all left out, at least in the originally released version. The film in its original edition also minimizes the Unionist part of Virginia's population, e. g. that it was Virginian general Winfield Scott who had suggested to Lincoln to appoint Robert E. Lee as his field commander or that quite early in the war the western third of the state seceded from Virginia and later set itself up as the new state of West Virginia in support of Lincoln's government.

* WorthyOpponent: Harrison views Chamberlain as this after the two meet. [[spoiler:He decides that, if the Union army has such men in their ranks, then the Confederates will need all the help they can get, thus prompting him to take a hiatus from acting and become a spy.]]

!Tropes include:

* AnyoneCanDie: TruthInTelevision.

* ChickMagnet: John Wilkes Booth in the Director's cut.
* CulturedWarrior: Chamberlain.
* {{Determinator}}: How Jackson gets his nickname.

* EpicFilm

* FriendOrFoe: [[spoiler:How Jackson meets his end.]]
* GreekChorus: John Wilkes Booth and Henry T. Harrison in the Director's Cut.
* HappilyMarried: The Jacksons and the Chamberlains.

* {{Prequel}}: To ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}''

* CaliforniaDoubling: {{Averted}}. The movie was filmed entirely on location in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.

''Gods and Generals'' is the prequel to the 1994 film ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}''. The film focuses on Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, from the outbreak of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar until his death from friendly fire at Chancellorsville. It also features the back story for Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who appeared in Gettysburg and is once again played by Jeff Daniels.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favoring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence - he figured that if God wanted it to end then it would end in God's time, and if God didn't want it to end then it wouldn't. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, which was a couple of years after [[spoiler: Jackson died]]. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave.

* {{Backstory}}: To the characters who appear in ''{{Gettysburg}}'' but not the film's protagonist, Jackson, [[spoiler:who dies]].

* {{Prequel}}: To ''{{Gettysburg}}''

As of 2012, two versions of the film are available to the public: the 3.5 hour version that was released in theaters in 2003 and the 5+ hour Extended Director's Cut that was released to 2011. Opinion varies on which one is better, but general consensus sides with the latter.

* AFatherToHisMen: Jackson

* BillingDisplacement: Jeff Daniels (Chamberlain) for the Theatrical Version; despite being the top-billed actor, Stephen Lang (Jackson) had far, far more screentime than him. In the director's cut, however, both characters get about an equal amount, and either one of them could be seen as the film's protagonist, so the trope is averted here.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Averted. The movie was filmed entirely on location in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favouring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence - he figured that if God wanted to it to end then it would end in God's time, and if God didn't want it to end then it wouldn't. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, which was a couple of years after [[spoiler: Jackson died]]. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave.
* LeeroyJenkins: Some of the Rebel troops do this at Manassas. The Confederates under Stonewall Jackson arrive on the scene and a couple of young guys tell their company, "Come on, we can take 'em!" and charge the Union lines. The rest of the company follows, with the commander basically forced to order a charge retroactively. Looking on, Jackson remarks that "it's good to get your dander up", but correctly predicts the company will be slaughtered.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson: devout Christian and genuine FourStarBadass.

* RuleOfDrama: In order to emphasise the tragedy of brother fighting brother, the number of Irishmen serving on the Confederate side is somewhat exaggerated - in actual fact the C.S.A. had company-sized Irish units, while the Northern Army of the Potomac had an Irish Brigade. As the film relates its story of Virginians successfully defending their homes against Northern invaders, the attempted invasion of the North in 1862, the defeat in the battle of Antietam (seen by many historians as the real turning point of the war) and Lincoln's subsequent Emancipation Proclamation are all left out, at least in the originally released version. The film in its original edition also minimizes the Unionist part of Virginia's population, e. g. that it was Virginian general Winfield Scott who had suggested to Lincoln to appoint Robert E. Lee as his field commander or that quite early in the war the western third of the state seceded from Virginia and later set itself up as the new state of West Virginia in support of Lincoln's government.

* HappilyMarried: Jackson and his wife, Chamberlain and his wife.

* BootCampEpisode: Part two of the Director's Cut (it's divided into 5 parts) laregly focuses on Chamberlain's basic training.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favouring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence - he figured that if God wanted to it to end then it would end in God's time, and if God didn't want it to end then it wouldn't. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, which was a couple of years after Jackson died. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave.

* RousingSpeech: Several, perhaps especially Jackson's "you are the first brigade" as he leaves the 1st Brigade to take command of a corps. At this point we haven't even seen a lot of Jackson's relationship with the brigade, but Stephen Lang delivers the speech so stirringly it still feels like Jackson loves these men to the point where he's almost sad to be promoted.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favouring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence. He did get in trouble for teaching Sunday School lessons to slave children, with his defense that "The Lord intended all his children to be able to read his word", but he still believed they could read it fine while remaining in slavery. The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, a couple of years after Jackson died. Also in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman as in the movie, but a slave.

* AscendedExtra: Jackson's role in the film is ''greatly'' exaggerated over his importance in the book from which the film was adapted, taking away screen time from the much more central characters of Lee and Chamberlain.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Jackson is portrayed as favouring an eventual abolition of slavery in the South, for which there is no historical evidence. (The first Confederate general to suggest freeing slaves in order to have them fight against the Yankees was Patrick Cleburne, "the Stonewall of the West", in early 1864, when Jackson was long dead. And in real life, Jackson's cook was not a freeman, but a slave.

''Gods and Generals'' is the prequel to the 1994 film ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}''. The film focuses on Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, from the outbreak of TheAmericanCivilWar until his death from friendly fire at Chancellorsville. It also features the back story for Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who appeared in Gettysburg and is once again played by Jeff Daniels.

* LittlestCancerPatient: Jackson's young friend Sara. [[spoiler:She doesn't get better.]]
* ManlyTears: When [[spoiler:little Sara dies]], Jackson breaks down and weeps openly, not just for [[spoiler:her]], but for all the people he's seen die so far in the war; [[spoiler:Sara]] simply happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back.