Before I talk specifically about this movie, I was very surprised in 1990 during the Academy Awards ceremony. Denzel Washington got the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Glory"--even though I felt that Morgan Freeman did a better job in this film. On top of that, Freeman had also turned in a masterful performance this same year in "Driving Miss Daisy". Now I am not putting down Washington's acting--he was fine. But to me, it was more Freeman's film and he stood out furthest among this nice ensemble cast.

The biggest reasons I liked the movie so much were because it had a deeper message than just war and because it tried to get things right historically. As far as the message goes, it was about racism and black men proving themselves during the Civil War. This was very uplifting and exciting to watch. It also was lovely because as a history teacher, I so often HATE how historical films get all the facts wrong. Here, while it isn't perfect, it is sure close!! I'd say more, but frankly there are already a ton of reviews for this film--suffice to say as a recently retired history teacher, I couldn't recommend the film more.

Glory is the story of the men and commander of the 54th Massachusetts, the first black regiment organized after the Emancipation Proclamation culminating in its first full scale military engagement at Fort Wagner in South Carolina. In command of the regiment was Robert Gould Shaw, a colonel at the ripe old age of 26 of the Boston Goulds and Shaws.

Played by Matthew Broderick in what could be his career role on screen, Shaw's character serves as narrator of the events. He was quite the letter writer and his correspondence to his parents and friends in the Boston area have been considered a valuable piece of original historical material and are preserved at the Harvard Library.

Shaw was a fervent believer in not only the abolitionist cause, but a firm believer in racial equality, many were not even in the army that was fighting for slave freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation. He fought hard for his troops, for their rations and supplies, against quartermasters who thought it was a fun thing to short change them.

His good friend from the same Boston crowd Shaw came from was his second in command, Cabot Forbes played by Cary Elwes. They've got their differences as well, but both are committed to a cause.

Shaw's black regiment comes in all shapes and sizes as well. Denzel Washington won his first Academy Award as a rather undisciplined soldier who eventually proves his worth on the battle field. Morgan Freeman is an older man who rapidly rises to leadership ranks because of his concern for the unit as a whole. My favorite performance in the film however is that of Andre Braugher. He plays a free black man from Massachusetts who grew up with Shaw and can read and write, a rare thing for black Americans free or slave in Civil War era America. In the south it was a crime to educate slaves beyond what they needed to know to perform their labors. He comes from a different perspective than the runaway slaves have and he's not at first accepted as a comrade among them, especially by Washington. Braugher shows he has the right stuff though and he should have been recognized with an Oscar nomination in my humble opinion.

In addition to Denzel Washington's Oscar, Glory took home gold for Sound and for Cinematography in 1989 and was nominated for Editing and for Art&Set Direction. The film has the look and feel of the Civil War era about it.

It took a long time for the heroic story of the 54th Massachusetts and its leader to come to the screen. Both are shown to have had the right stuff. The tens of thousands who died in the Civil War and those for whom the war was all about and died at Fort Wagner gave what Lincoln called, 'the last full measure of devotion'. And this film is a tribute to them.

I can't say that there are a great many films about the American Civil War out there. If there are, I haven't seen them and I don't know of them. Perhaps it's a war that doesn't do very well at the box office or one which people prefer to forget. However, Edward Zwick's GLORY is an exception to that general rule, and it's a decent war film to boot.

The story is of the war's first black regiment led by a young and inexperienced white officer. Inevitably it has the ring of truth to it and that's because what happened was entirely true. Forget George Lucas and his RED TAILS pandering, though; this is a grittily realistic story about honour, death, and the extent of human endurance. Zwick has some affinity with the war-film genre having more recently made the excellent THE LAST SAMURAI and DEFIANCE, and I'd wish he'd concentrate more on the genre instead of wasting his time with romance and the like.

GLORY is an actor's film featuring a wealth of black talent whether it be Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington, who burns up the screen in a star-making turn. Andre Braugher, who you might remember from THE MIST, has a fine role as a bookish recruit. The one weak link I thought was Matthew Broderick, but his character and acting style did grow on me a little as the story progresses and I was able to overcome my dislike of the actor to enjoy his performance. It was nice to see Cary Elwes as something other than the young and annoying hero character of THE PRINCESS BRIDE. The battle scenes aren't the most gruesome or realistic of the genre (aside from an early moment) but the use of orchestral music and Zwick's direction makes them very good, and the climactic fighting is undeniably stirring.