During his life, Shaara had worked intermittently at a screenplay version of The Killer Angels, but he never completed it. Although in the mid-1970s the Vietnam-weary public lacked interest in any more battle involving American casualties, the novel has taken on a life of its own, and it continues to inspire readers with its enormously powerful reaction to America's most crucial battle. Producer Ted Turner turned The Killer Angels into an enormous film, Gettysburg, released in 1993, first for TNT, then in a theater version (four hours plus intermission), and finally in video. Writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell received mixed reactions to his adaptation of The Killer Angels.

Stanley Kaufmann, voicing the consensus of most critics and viewers, noted the ineffectiveness of Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee, praised Jeff Daniels for the best portrayal in the film, and grudgingly observed that "Despite the mushy interludes, it fascinates &mdash...