There have been two major attempts at recreating the largest artillery barrage in the Western Hemisphere and both have been lacking.
Earlier this year, the History Channel released a CGI-intensive special on Gettysburg. The previews were gritty and continuously dropped the names of the executive producers, Tony and Ridley Scott. With movies like Gladiator to their credit, I had high expectations. Overall, I was disappointed.
What did I expect from a made-for-television history special? At a minimum, I hoped that the Scott brothers would finally demonstrate what 150 Confederate cannons along with 115 Federal cannons look and sound like with the power of CGI and Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Ridley Scott went over the top with trebuchets and siege towers in his 2005 Kingdom of Heaven film. Surely, the man can CGI more cannons.
The descriptions of the Confederate bombardment prior to Pickett’s Charge on the third day of Gettysburg are intense, to say the least. With cannons lined from the Peach Orchard to Chambersburg Pike, the span of guns was more than two miles long. There are claims the ground shook three miles away and the sound of the guns was audible as far as Pittsburgh, roughly 150 miles away.
The Scott brothers failed to produce any such effect. Instead, we see about seven Confederate cannons and that might be generous.
On the receiving end, there are a whopping three Federal cannons.
Ted Turner and Ron Maxwell did a more convincing job in the 1993 Gettysburg film. They lacked CGI and still managed to give the impression of at least dozens of Confederate cannons.
Their secret was sweeping shots and crafty editing, something lost to the Scott brothers.
Forget Hollywood though. The best visual I can give folks is the battlefield itself. By getting in front of a Seminary Ridge to where the cannons lined up and pointing out the scope of their arrangement, you can start to get a sense of what the largest cannonade of the Western Hemisphere was like.