Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

denis888 That was a very interesting episode in the US Civil War when two huge ironclads, Merrimack and Monitor, clashed nearby the Cpnfederate coast, where the Union Navy was blockading the land. This TV film is rather simple as for special effects, but still, they are very well done for this decent take. Virginia Madsen is a real gem here, she is extremely feminine, beautiful, but also very smart, brave, cool and courageous in spite of all the danger, even gallows. The plot itself is very good, too, and it is a pity that the film is not long enough to make it a longer, better, greater epic a la Gettysburg. Even that, Ironclads is a very good piece of work. The scene of execution of a spy is a real powerful moment, showing real courage and valor, and the main sea battle is tense, terse, brutal, fast and ferocious, just as any real battle is. The Black slaves characters are very sympathetic, too, with Beatrice Bush really shining as Opal. The whole movie is never boring, and really very deep in depicting both sides of the war. Why only 8? Not enough character development, still, and some scenes were made real cheap.

St. Louis Assassin . This a One of Kind Civil War movie Firt let me say that Virginia Madsen never looked as Beautiful as she does in this movie.But this is the only Civil War movie that I've seen that deals with the naval battles. I think that this movie is very well crafted, and the cinematographic is wonderful. My only complaint about this movie is the dialog. At times the dialog is down right silly. However the actors do a great job with their roles The battle scenes are very well done.If you are a history buff.. you will absolutely love this movie. It has no boring parts. Its just good. I hope someday it will be released on DVD, because my VHS copy is starting to show signs of wear and tear

JAMES BROOKS What can you say about a made-for-TV Civil War epic from Ted Turner's TNT Network ??? Well, considering that the money went into the great ships pictured in the battle, you aren't going to expect much of a story, beyond the basics.Of course, you do get a good cast of veterans (E.G. Marshall and Fritz Weaver in key roles), as well as some new faces (Reed Diamond)And it certainly doesn't hurt to have Virginia Madsen wearing a 'bussle', and for once, keeping it and the rest of her clothes on !!! NO SARCASM MEANT HERE, THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!! Whether this movie sinks or not, it is quite an accomplishment for her to play the role of the Southern belle with style and dignity, and still makes a play for two handsome swains from BOTH sides, without even revealing her petticoat !!!Of course she has to play the field, being a Union spy, and sometimes work gets in the way of a little romance, especially when she must shelter a Union sailor who is posing as a deserter, in order to transmit vital secrets about the Confederacy's new 'super weapon'.As a result, she almost gets her pretty little neck stretched for her near the end, as well as losing both of her romantic interests.Unfortunately, there aren't much fireworks beyond the big battle scene between the Monitor and the Merrimack (or Virginia), due to the need to be 'politically-correct' about certain subjects.But from what we have here, we learn something about a crucial event in American history, as well as being a harmless way to waste a Sunday afternoon, or whenever.

JeffCNN The problem with making a movie like this, though, is that the finale, the crème-de-la-creme of the movie, the battle between the two souped-up ships, must be done well. Disappointingly, this scene in Ironclads is obviously done completely with little model ships in an overgrown tub. There's no tension, little explanation of what exactly is going on and what the timeframe is of the stand-off.The film takes quite a few liberties with the surrounding story, as all true stories do when converted to a movie, such as the Union traitor and most notably that of Betty Stuart (Madsen), a Virginia belle.It resorts to making a possibly-decent movie involving an interesting story on the ironclads to preaching about the evils of slavery. It was out of place in this historical drama, and was a cheap ploy to bring in the women viewers. It only succeeded in lessening the positives about the film.