For a time in the 1990s, Ted Turner's TNT channel ran a spat of Civil War inspired films. Coming early in the decade, Ironclads told the story of the historic battle between ironclad ships the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (aka the Merrimack). It's a dramatic story, one that would seem perfect for screen treatment.
Or, so one might think. To tell that story, the filmmakers employed an entire fictional spy story centered around Betty Stuart, a Southern belle (Virginia Madsen) who works alongside a disgraced Union Quartermaster's Mate (Reed Diamond) to learn and smuggle information about the Confederate ironclad northward. To make matters more complicated, Betty is in the midst of a romance with the Virginia's first officer Catesby Jones (Alex Hyde-White), which tests her allegiances to home and country even farther as Lieutenant Guilford (Philip Casnoff) of the Confederate navy seeks out a spy. Not the most sweeping fictionalization ever, granted, but does it serve the story?
Ultimately, no. The spy story elements and the romantic elements offer up plot complications about as predictable and embarrassing as the southern accents on display. When combined with dialogue that often leans towards the cringeworthy, it feels like a distraction from what the film's titular subject. And the cast, bless their hearts, does the best they can with a less than perfect script. All of which is a shame since there are accounts of Civil War-era espionage deserving of being put on screen, incredible tales that don't need inventing people and events around a historic battle.
In fact, Ironclads is at its best when it's focused on the two warships. The actual design and building of the two vessels, with particular focus on the Union's Monitor and its designer John Ericsson (an underused Fritz Weaver), effectively becomes a subplot in a movie supposedly dedicated to them. Even here, though, the dialogue is often little more than functional or expositional. With the likes of Weaver, EG Marshall, and James Getty in the cast, that seems like something of a shame.
Thankfully, the movie has one definite saving grace: the depiction of the Battle of Hampton Roads. Taking up much of the back half of the running time, it's got everything that a Civil War buff could dream of seeing. There are recreations of the two ironclads, both inside and out, giving viewers an idea of the incredible conditions under which the men on bought sides fought. Indeed, one might never have had a sense of just how claustrophobic and cramped they were, cannons blazing and smoking filling the air inside. A combination of sets, built at something akin to full scale, as well as some superb miniatures, work to complete the depiction of this epic battle that changed naval warfare forever after. It is here, rather than in the cliches of espionage and romance, that Ironclads finds its best moments and highest drama.
If only the rest of it had lived up to that standard, Ironclads would rank with Gettysburg as one of the best screen depictions of perhaps the defining conflict of American history. Instead, it spends much of its length trapped inside a dull melodrama and made by exposition. In the final analysis, Civil War buffs will find much to love about Ironclads, but anyone else will be bored to sleep by it.
Or, so one might think. To tell that story, the filmmakers employed an entire fictional spy story centered around Betty Stuart, a Southern belle (Virginia Madsen) who works alongside a disgraced Union Quartermaster's Mate (Reed Diamond) to learn and smuggle information about the Confederate ironclad northward. To make matters more complicated, Betty is in the midst of a romance with the Virginia's first officer Catesby Jones (Alex Hyde-White), which tests her allegiances to home and country even farther as Lieutenant Guilford (Philip Casnoff) of the Confederate navy seeks out a spy. Not the most sweeping fictionalization ever, granted, but does it serve the story?
Ultimately, no. The spy story elements and the romantic elements offer up plot complications about as predictable and embarrassing as the southern accents on display. When combined with dialogue that often leans towards the cringeworthy, it feels like a distraction from what the film's titular subject. And the cast, bless their hearts, does the best they can with a less than perfect script. All of which is a shame since there are accounts of Civil War-era espionage deserving of being put on screen, incredible tales that don't need inventing people and events around a historic battle.
In fact, Ironclads is at its best when it's focused on the two warships. The actual design and building of the two vessels, with particular focus on the Union's Monitor and its designer John Ericsson (an underused Fritz Weaver), effectively becomes a subplot in a movie supposedly dedicated to them. Even here, though, the dialogue is often little more than functional or expositional. With the likes of Weaver, EG Marshall, and James Getty in the cast, that seems like something of a shame.
Thankfully, the movie has one definite saving grace: the depiction of the Battle of Hampton Roads. Taking up much of the back half of the running time, it's got everything that a Civil War buff could dream of seeing. There are recreations of the two ironclads, both inside and out, giving viewers an idea of the incredible conditions under which the men on bought sides fought. Indeed, one might never have had a sense of just how claustrophobic and cramped they were, cannons blazing and smoking filling the air inside. A combination of sets, built at something akin to full scale, as well as some superb miniatures, work to complete the depiction of this epic battle that changed naval warfare forever after. It is here, rather than in the cliches of espionage and romance, that Ironclads finds its best moments and highest drama.
If only the rest of it had lived up to that standard, Ironclads would rank with Gettysburg as one of the best screen depictions of perhaps the defining conflict of American history. Instead, it spends much of its length trapped inside a dull melodrama and made by exposition. In the final analysis, Civil War buffs will find much to love about Ironclads, but anyone else will be bored to sleep by it.