TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

classicsoncall There's a telling moment near the end of the picture when Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright) tells Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire) that he finally felt free when his good friend George Clyde (Simon Baker) died. Clyde became Holt's sponsor when his slave master died, but didn't have the means to also look after Holt's mother and sister. Holt's loyalty to Clyde and vice-versa made for a compelling character study of two men who became friends, one black and one white, during a period of the country's history when such a relationship was unimaginable.The relationship among the four principals in the story falls along similar lines. It's through Jake Roedel's eyes however that one gets a sense that in a conflict in which neighbor turns against neighbor, there's almost never a right or wrong, but opponents who take sides solely by accident of birth. In that respect, Maguire's character goes against the grain somewhat; born of a German immigrant with strong Unionist tendencies, Jake takes up with the Southern cause because his upbringing took place in Missouri, and everything he knows about life makes him a Confederate sympathizer.With the setting of the story taking place on the Kansas-Missouri border, it was only a matter of time before the name of William Quantrill came up. His role among the loose confederation of marauders and thugs known as the Bushwhackers had only a peripheral presence here, though the actual raid that took place in Lawrence, Kansas in 1863 was given prominent treatment. Much of what appears on screen offers a hint of the carnage they wrought on the community, but not so much the horror. The actual massacre left two hundred dead men and boys in a virtually defenseless community that fell victim to Quantrill's brutality.That brutality makes it's mark on the nineteen year old Jake Roedel, who can barely comprehend what men of otherwise normal preoccupation are capable of doing to each other. His conflicted comment on what he witnessed is expressed as "just bad luck citizens finding out just how bad luck can be". Kind of simplistic actually, but as good a description as one can come up with when dealing with the horror and randomness of war's devastation.

Gael Ranger Truly superb film. Poetic and realistic. Not easy to pull off.Regardless of what you think about each side's politics, for me the movie describes well what particular young men of one side of the conflict were like.The relationships were complex. I pick up new meaning each time I see it.Regarding the way the actors spoke, I think Lee was suggesting that speech patterns in 1860 Missouri were certainly different than today. I am sure they were. Each scene develops in an organic way that many directors just don't know how to do. Very special movie.

HawkHerald This movie is about a group of Confederate Bushwhackers, guerrillas who were independently organized into groups of small bands, and the band shown is this movie is made up of friends Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire) and Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich), wealthy farmer George Clyde (Simon Baker of The Mentalist), and freed slave Daniel Holt (Jeffery Wright). Their band has a less friendly relationship with other Confederate bands due to Jake's German ancestry, his father had been a staunch abolitionist who served in the Union Army and most other German Missourians were abolitionists, and the inclusion of a former slave. They're given food and shelter by sympathetic local farmers and a young war widow, Sue Shelley (Jewel Kilcher), catches Jack's eye becoming his lover and pregnant with his child. During a brutal retaliatory action after Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, Kansas, Jack is injured and eventually dies. Jake and Daniel take Sue and flee Missouri eventually making their way West.This is a brutal disturbing movie about a previously untold, on film at least, part of the American Civil War where your enemy may have lived as far as the next farm. You couldn't be sure who were your friends were sometimes and the wrong beliefs may have gotten you lynched. It's easy to see that the Jake Roedel's character doesn't believe in the institution of slavery but rather the principles of freedom and independence. He goes along with the Bushwackers against his dad's wishes due to so many of his friends taking up their cause. His life changes and not all for the good with the choices he makes, but by the end he's made peace with the man he was and now is.

ma-cortes Interesting movie based on a novel by Daniel Woodrell and professionally directed by Ang Lee . It deals with Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire) and Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich) , two friends living in Missouri when the Civil War bursts out . Jack Bull's dad is murdered by Jayhawkers , so the young men join the Bushwhackers to fight Union soldiers . Bushwhackers are irregulars loyal to the South led by Black John (Jim Caviezel) and the violent Pitt Mackeson (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) , besides George Clyde (Simon Baker). One of them is an African-American , Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright), beholden to the man who bought his freedom . They are a little-known band of Civil War fighters known as Bushwhackers . They skirmish then spend long hours hiding. Sue Lee (Jewel), a young widow , brings them supplies . She and Jack Bull become lovers and when he's grievously wounded , Jake escorts her south to a safe farm . Later on , there takes place the looting and burning of Lawrence , Kansas , actually occurred on 21 August 1863 also known as Quantrill's Raid . As his friends die one after another, Jake must decide where honor lies .Exciting film based on historical events set during American Civil War (1861-1865) in which the Bushwhackers use guerrilla warfare to destroy Yankee targets and led by men set on revenge, make a raid into Kansas. The picture efficiently describes the atmosphere of violence in which Women and Blacks have few rights, confrontation among bands and bloody battles . Emotive and evocative musical score by Mychael Danna . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Frederick Elmes. Very good production design , including breathtaking attacks and battles ; the scenes of the Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, Kansas were filmed in Pattonsburg, Missouri , Pattonsburg was flooded out during the great flood of 1993 and the town was relocated leaving many empty buildings and homes available . The motion picture was well directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback mountain , Sense and Sensibility , Hulk , Crouching tiger , hidden dragon). The flick based on real deeds , these are the followings : The Lawrence Massacre, was a rebel guerrilla attack during the U.S. Civil War by Quantrill's Raiders, led by William Clarke Quantrill, on the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas. The attack on August 21, 1863, targeted Lawrence due to the town's long support of abolition and its reputation as a center for Jayhawkers and Redlegs, which were free-state militia and vigilante groups known for attacking and destroying farms and plantations in Missouri's pro-slavery western counties .By 1863, Kansas had long been the center of strife and warfare over the admission of slave versus free states. In the summer of 1856, the first sacking of Lawrence sparked a guerrilla war in Kansas that lasted for months. John Brown might be the best known participant, but numerous groups fought for each side in Bleeding Kansas.By the beginning of the American Civil War, Lawrence, Kansas, was already a target for pro-slavery ire, having been seen as the anti-slavery stronghold in the state and more importantly, a staging area for Union and Jayhawker incursions into Missouri. Initially the town and surrounding area were extremely vigilant and reacted strongly to any rumors that enemy forces might be advancing on the town. However by the summer of 1863, as none of the threats had materialized, citizen fears had declined and defense preparations were relaxed.Quantrill himself said his motivation for the attack was, "To plunder, and destroy the town in retaliation for Osceola. That was a reference to the Union's attack on Osceola, Missouri in September 1861, led by Senator James H. Lane.The attack was the product of careful planning. Quantrill had been able to gain the confidence of many of the leaders of independent Bushwhacker groups, and chose the day and time of the attack well in advance. The different groups of Missouri riders approached Lawrence from the east in several independent columns, and converged with well-timed precision in the final miles before Lawrence during the pre-dawn hours of the chosen day. Many of the men had been riding for over 24 hours to make the rendezvous and had lashed themselves to their saddles to keep riding if they fell asleep. Almost all were armed with multiple six-shot revolvers.Lawrence in ruins as illustrated in Harper's WeeklyBetween three and four hundred riders arrived at the summit of Mount Oread, then descended on Lawrence in a fury. Over four hours, the raiders pillaged and set fire to the town and killed most of its male population. Quantrill's men burned to the ground a quarter of the buildings in Lawrence, including all but two businesses. They looted most of the banks and stores and killed between 185 and 200 men and boys .