The Crossing

TV Movie
2000
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

2.2K

YOUR RATING

Period Drama Biography Drama History War

A dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the Hessian forces at Trenton.A dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the Hessian forces at Trenton.A dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the Hessian forces at Trenton.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

2.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total

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Trivia
The friction between General Washington and General Gates portrayed in the film was very real. In fact, Gates was allegedly involved in a conspiracy known as The Conway Cabal, a plot to oust George Washington as Commander-in-Chief in 1778 and replace him with himself. Gates' name surfaced again in the Newburgh Conspiracy, another plot to oust Washington in 1783.

Goofs
The weather, as portrayed, does not match the severe conditions during the actual battle. When the attack on Trenton began, it was a near whiteout blizzard - a factor which allowed the Revolutionaries to approach the town unobserved.

Quotes
Gen. Horatio Gates: Surrender. This revolution is over.
Gen. George Washington: So we surrender. We weigh the pros and cons and reason prevails. But you see, sir, I am an unreasonable man as well as a poor soldier. But you are right. My men are not soldiers. They are lads. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. They run away. They fear the Hessians as they fear death. All this is true. Yet they have put their trust in me. They could have deserted. Thousands have. But these lads have not. They remain with me. And I, not you, General Gates, *I* command this army, and if I, a bumbling Virginia farmer, should decide to lead them into Hell, they will follow me into Hell.

User reviews68

Review

Featured review

8/10

Well Done; A Must-See For American History Buffs

I won't vouch for the absolute historical accuracy of what gets portrayed here, but as one take on George Washington's attack on Trenton (the title refers to the crossing of the Delaware River for the attack) it works. Certainly not everything portrayed happened (how can one know exactly what went on over two hundred years ago) but the details of the crossing and the battle were accurate enough from what I know of U.S. history, and the movie itself was dramatic and held my attention from start to finish.

Kudos to Jeff Daniels, who offered a completely believable performance as Washington. Daniels is proving to be quite adept at these kinds of historical movies ("Gettysburg" leaps to mind, and of course now "Gods and Generals.") A good, if lesser known, supporting cast also made valuable contributions to this picture.

In short, I wouldn't use this as a source material for an essay on the Battle of Trenton, but I would certainly recommend it as a very good movie.

8/10