The length, the "excessive" language, etc.
I know many people who think the way you do... I can totally understand it. But, I like the film... I think it excellent... (even the death scenes).
If you are interested, you should listen to the commentary that accompanies the movie on the DVD. I found it very informative.
I don't think Maxwell made the case for lingering so excruciatingly long on this one death among all the other deaths of the war.
Actually, Maxwell (in the commentary) makes just the opposite point. He says that this one death represents them all in the film. That all the deaths of the known and unknown are tied together as this heroic man succumbs not to his wound but pneumonia. (Military experts now suggest that when Jackson was dropped, he developed an anuerism (sorry about the spelling) and that is what killed him)
Maxwell goes on to say that he made a sweeping epic patterned after Greek tragedy/drama. Jackson is the Achilles of the Confederate Army. When he dies, the cause dies with him. Many in the South (at the time of his death) knew that something (they couldn't figure out what) had changed... that a shift had happened. Looking back at the end of the war, they knew that the tide had turned with Jackson's death.
Anyway, I appreciate your opinion. You are not alone in it. But, don't mind me as I disagree with you 110% LOL!
I agree. The commentary on DVD is perhaps more informative than the film itself because it shows how our contemporarys reacted to the understanding of the how and why of the Southern perspective.
The film is excellent and should be studied in high schools.