GLORY is based on a true story, that of the first regiment of black soldiers to fight in the American Civil War.

Matthew Broderick plays the idealistic Colonel Robert Shaw who, after being slightly wounded at the battle of Antietam Creek, is invalided home before leading the newly raised 54th Massachusetts, a Negro troop commanded by white officers.

Broderick is ably supported by Cary Elwes as his (initially reluctant) second in command, while the soldiers who flock to his banner include lifelong friend Andre Bauer, gravedigger Morgan Freeman and runaway slave, Denzel Washington. All the cast are great, especially Freeman and Washington, who deservedly won an Oscar for his efforts!

After taking command of the troops, Shaw faces problems from the outset. Eager they may be, but the soldiers of the 54th face battles with their own side before even meeting the enemy! This includes racism from their white counterparts, who deem the Negro lower than themselves and simply… more »

GLORY is based on a true story, that of the first regiment of black soldiers to fight in the American Civil War.

Matthew Broderick plays the idealistic Colonel Robert Shaw who, after being slightly wounded at the battle of Antietam Creek, is invalided home before leading the newly raised 54th Massachusetts, a Negro troop commanded by white officers.

Broderick is ably supported by Cary Elwes as his (initially reluctant) second in command, while the soldiers who flock to his banner include lifelong friend Andre Bauer, gravedigger Morgan Freeman and runaway slave, Denzel Washington. All the cast are great, especially Freeman and Washington, who deservedly won an Oscar for his efforts!

After taking command of the troops, Shaw faces problems from the outset. Eager they may be, but the soldiers of the 54th face battles with their own side before even meeting the enemy! This includes racism from their white counterparts, who deem the Negro lower than themselves and simply cannot understand how they are allowed to even wear the same uniform. Congress may have ordered the raising of the regiment, but the Military High Command treats these new soldiers merely as manual labourers, having them dig latrines and build fortifications, without even contemplating their potential combat value. As such, the regiment is low in the priorities when issuing necessary essentials like adequate footwear.

Undeterred, Shaw persists and treads on the toes of various superiors (even using blackmail at one point) before they grudgingly send his men into action.

Where GLORY scores highly is in its battle scenes. Three such clashes are featured - Antietam Creek, James Island and the assault on Fort Wagner on the neighbouring Morris Island - and these are all very bloody and at times brutal affairs. Heads are blown apart, bayonets skewer bodies and limbless casualties crawl to safety, while the night attack on Fort Wagner, complete with James Horner's inspirational and haunting musical score, is sure to remain in the memory long after viewing!

Throughout there is a sensation of horror and the futility of war, such as that experienced by Shaw when, having regained consciousness from his wound at Antietam, he sees that the battle has not ended but merely moved a little further away. Subsequently there is a rather shocking scene featuring a wounded young soldier at the mercy of the operating surgeons and although things are left to the imagination, his screams and pleas for mercy are chilling.

GLORY escapes one of the common pitfalls of the warfilm genre by remaining impartial throughout and depicting the soldiers from both the Northern and Southern States are exactly that, just ordinary men with a job to do. If anything the film is highly critical of officious military bureaucracy within the High Command where Generals place their own needs above those of the soldiers they lead.

There is a nice array of extras included on the DVD to compliment the film, too. These include three fascinating futurrettes (with THE TRUE STORY OF GLORY CONTINUES proving especially of interest by filling in background details), a highly informative Director's commentary by Edward Zwick and an isolated score to complement and do justice to James Horner's brilliant soundtrack. Filmographies and trailers to the Denzel Washington films, THE BONE COLLECTOR and DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS but sadly, not for GLORY itself, complete the package.

Many films have been made about the American Civil War, from the silent BIRTH OF A NATION to the mammoth GETTYSBURG, but GLORY can rightly claim its place as one of the very best of the crop and is therefore highly recommended.