SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

josiahkwhite It's certainly not a movie I'd recommend if it's your first Civil War movie. Start with a crowd pleaser like Glory instead. The movie has a lot to say about war and peace, but it's hardly a good introduction to anti-war movies. Start with a winner like Hacksaw Ridge instead. This movie isn't in the same league with either of those great war movies.About the only other valid criticisms you could make are: 1) The first 3/4 of the movie is a bit slow moving, and could have been more dramatic. 2) The quality of the sound was a bit lacking, which is unfortunate when the use of dialect already makes the words a bit hard to follow.As other reviewers have said, it's great especially because it's different from most Civil War movies, showing the way a war can tear a country apart almost as much on the home front as it does on the battlefield.But part of the reason I loved it so much is that I find myself in agreement with the film's disparaged "Copperhead." While slavery is unbelievably cruel and inhumane, ending slavery in 1865 just wasn't worth the terribly high cost in blood. Brazil was the last country where slavery was legal in the Western Hemisphere, and they ended it in 1888. So even if the Civil War had never been fought, slavery in the South would almost certainly have ended by then anyway. If America had split into two countries, why would this have been so wrong? This is a controversial point of view -- then and now -- but I was pleased to see it argued with such conviction in a very watchable movie.

mark.waltz Brothers fight, and sometimes they kill. That is the sad comment on the civil war that had more than just slavery as an agenda. For a young country with only 70 years of presidents behind them, much drama and unrest had grown in a short period of time, and many different ideals were being fought for. This wasn't just through war. This was in individual communities, among family members, and within families, between fathers and sons.There are many ironies in the arguments being made within communities, within families, and between fathers and sons. It's a community at war, those who support Abraham Lincoln's fight to emancipate the slaves and those opposed to his methods. Democrats argue against the Republicans, and vice versa, making statements quite timely today. The beauty of the land long before highways and huge cities destroyed much of it is breathtaking, and the countryside of upstate New York state is breathtaking. Copoerheads, the phrase for anti-war believers, describes several of the main characters, passionate about their beliefs, feeling betrayed by their own families, yet considered traitors by their neighbors. It makes for great war drama, and turns this into another war between northerners living together, yet torn apart against the right of free speech and basic constitutional rights. Many of these issues are potent today as the land of the free finds itself divided once again.

Peter Schaeffer My daughter and i saw this movie a few days ago. We loved it. It is a great period piece exploring Northern opinion during the Civil War. One town in the North (upstate New York), is divided between Southern sympathizers and fervent abolitionists. Note that this is not a war movie in the traditional sense of the phrase. No great battles are depicted and no leading generals are in sight. This is a political and emotional story of the war on the homefront.All of the characters are well drawn and express their views without restraint. The movie is built around a love story between a boy (Casey Thomas Brown as Casey Brown) whose father (Billy Campbell as Abner Beech) opposes the war and a girl (Lucy Boynton as Esther Hagadorn ) whose father (Angus Macfadyen as Jee Hagadorn) is a religious abolitionist fanatic. The boy volunteers to join the army, along with many other young men from the town. With the young men off at war, conflicts threaten to tear the town apart and in some respects do.The war itself is far away, but shows up as casualty lists are posted in the newspapers (and eventually as the dead and wounded return). The scenes of family members scanning the lists of dead, wounded, and missing looking for their sons, brothers, fathers, etc. are as sad, as they historically accurate.The battles in the town end with both tragic and positive consequences. The movie if beautifully filmed and well acted. A great piece of American history. Well worth seeing.

denis888 I love Ron Maxweel's films, his sheer scope of grandeur and historical accuracy, his impeccable taste and his keen eye on details. His two master works, Gettysburg (1993) and its prequel Gods And Generals (2003) made him a true genius and placed him the Pantheon for ever. Pity, that there will be no third part of Shaara's trilogy. This one is no sequel, instead, this is a separate entry. The theme is the same - Civil War, this time, small town in New York state, with all its gossips, tragedies and fun. The smoldering conflict of copperheads and unionists is shown well. There is a big problem, though, as for the first 90 minutes the movie is terribly slow and ploddy, but then all of a sudden it begins to gallop as wild beast. Seems like Ron decided to make it shorter and thus cut much of footage. Who knows? The scenery is lovely, and the play of all actors is just marvelous. All young and old actors made their jobs absolutely great. Billy Campbell is a real winner here, as loud, proud man, he shines all the film. His delivery is just awesome. Brian Downey is excellent in his cameo as a priest, while Peter Fonda did his job equally as well. They all did well and real raw, as life truly is. Pity, some errors still stay and that did not allow the film to become another Ron masterpiece