10 Blood-Stirringly Epic Cinematic Charges

7. Gettysburg (1993)

The Charge: Pickett’s Charge

Overall, this film is a bit hit and miss. It has the aesthetic of a 1990s TV serial rather than a major motion picture, as well as dodgy production aspects such as obviously fake moustaches and beards, which only cheapen the overall look of the film further.

Despite this, Ronald F. Maxwell’s four and a half hour epic tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest battles in the American Civil War, in a grandiose manner, even if it does look a little cheesy. The depiction of Pickett’s Charge, for example, can be described as nothing short of epic.

Nearing the films climax, out of desperation General Lee (played by Michael Douglas) orders an attack on the Union lines. After a failed artillery barrage, Major General George Pickett (played by Stephen Lang) leads the infantry assault. Bombarded by cannons and rifle fire, the Confederate troops are decimated as they march across the open field.

Somehow, they manage to reach the Union lines and bloody hand to hand combat breaks out. The scene is well over twenty minutes long, the longest charge on this list, and even though it is also the slowest charge, it is a truly breathtaking piece of cinema.