Then that sequence repeats . . . for nearly four, rump-testing hours.

Needless to say, this adaptation of Jeffrey Shaara's best-seller is one of the biggest disappointments in recent cinema, a stodgy, dull, Southern-apologist rehash of the first half of the Civil War — actually, the first three years, just before the Battle of Gettysburg.

And at the end, there's a tease that indicates this film is part of a "trilogy," which includes the infinitely better 1993 TV movie "Gettysburg." But if this prequel is any indication of what we can expect, let's hope the third part never comes to pass.

Jackson's story is contrasted with that of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), another academician who became a Civil War hero — as a colonel for the Union Army.

There are numerous problems with this film, but among the most serious are writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell's stilted dialogue, which is so flowery you'd swear it was written by Shakespeare. Also, attempts to tell the North's side are fairly cursory.

The film is also badly paced (read yawn-inducing), and the battle scenes look as if Maxwell simply took his crew to a Civil War re-enactment event.

But it does feature a solid cast. You couldn't find a better choice to play Robert E. Lee than Robert Duvall. And Daniels lends the material a certain dignity that it otherwise lacks.

"Gods and Generals" is rated PG-13 for wartime violence (shootings, hand-to-hand combat, explosive mayhem), gore (not excessive), use of racial epithets and mild religious-based profanity, and brief drug content (anesthetic use). Running time: 220 minutes.

E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com