Some of the best Civil War films
Billy Campbell stars in the movie "Copperhead," an independent American film directed by Ronald F. Maxwell about an upstate New York farmer (Billy Campbell playing the character Abner Beech) who is opposed to the war, who wants an immediate peace settlement with the Confederacy. The title refers to Northern opponents of the American Civil War, known as Copperheads. Credit: Film Collective
"Copperhead," which opens Friday, is not your typical Civil War film. It features no battles, and is about an upstate New York farmer (Billy Campbell) opposed to the war: He wants an immediate peace settlement with the Confederacy. And though it's the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, director Ronald F. Maxwell's film is one of very few projects, along with Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," to tackle the war.
That's because, says Maxwell, "when it comes to historical film, like other genres of film art, it must originate from an individual filmmaker's passion and vision in order to have integrity and validity. Committees and corporate programmers aren't good at this sort of thing."
Here are some of the best films made about the Civil War.
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) Fess Parker stars in this based-on-facts story about a Union raid into the heart of the Confederacy.
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