Glory

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Experience
Review: I am neither a miltary history or Civil War history aficionado, so I'll defer on matters of the film's historical accuracy.

But if you're interested in a gripping, moving American war story, beautifully rendered in period costumes and sets, and depicted with outstanding performances, this is it.

The story of the Massachusetts 54th reminds me of several historical "could haves" that filmmakers enjoy dramatizing. Here, it's the idea that perhaps the experience and sacrifice of soldiers like those in the 54th could have had a salutory impact on race relations immediately after the war. Like I said, perhaps. How this was, at the individual level, the struggle to almost the correct the wrongs done a century before.

Anyway.

For me, it comes down to this when I saw it in the theater: there wasn't a dry eye in the house when the lights came up. Maybe that says something about the film. Or about us. I hope everyone who decides to watch this is as moved as I was.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: I like this movie, but come on! More than 250 reviews and only a few less than 5 stars. Its good but not that good. Broderick's preformance is aweful (as his New England accent), its overly melodramatic and shamelessly manipulative, not very historically accurate, too PC, and the battle scenes are too santitized.

Again, I like the movie but I just think this movie is overrated.

**Note-To the reviewer below-Why is it "conservative" to think that the Civil War was not about slavery - I do not consider myself conservative but I am historically literate enough to know that slavery was a primary detail and not the over-reaching cause of the war while many conservatives I know think that the war was only about slavery.

Rating:
Summary: LOW COUNTRY LIVING
Review: I love this film! I was in college at Savannah State in Savannah, Ga during the filming of Glory. There were many Savannah State College students who were used as extras in the film including one Stroke T Renigade. Stroke played harmonica in the camp scene. This gave the film a very personal feel because I know Stroke personally. It also made me appreciate the Low Country of Savannah and South Carolina and all of its natural beauty. Glory is very educational. It is a great resource for any high or college classroom on the history of African-Americans in the Civil War and what they had to endure. I love Savannah and I love this film. GLORY HALELUJAH!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful film and one of the best characters in fiction
Review: What a wonderful character does Matthew Broderick play in this awsome, great film! Colonel Shaw is, at the beginning of the film (and forgive me for the change in genre and scale), like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: a seemingly ordinary, anonimous, humble official of the Federate army who has been burdened (like Frodo) with a task that nobody wishes: the mustering and training of the first all-coloured volunteer regiment. However, his idealism and firm principles push him to do the best he can, and that turns out to be a lot. Throughout the movie we discover (with him, since he did not really know all the good qualities that he had inside) that he has the strength and courage to rise up to the moral, bureocratic and military-life challenges that are thrown in his way, always in accordance with his high idealistic, military and moral standards. These same standards give him the authority, towards the end of the film, to make life-or-death decissions for his men, and the courage to carry them out himself to the utmost consequences. The whole story revolves around this character, who is so superbly interpreted by Matthew Broderick that we can read on his face his feelings of embarrassment, outrage, fear, etc, although always in a subdued no-histrionic tone. Of course, the other actors and characters are also great, but Colonel Shaw will be for me, from now on, one of the best-developed and noblest characters in any kind of fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Hallelujah.
Review: Currently, the fashionable opinion, particularly among conservatives, is that the Civil War was REALLY about "economics" rather than slavery. OK fine, but what sort of "economics" are we talking about? Agrarian slave-labor economics in the South versus industrial, manufacturing economics in the North . . . which makes the Civil War REALLY about slavery all over again, doesn't it? What makes Edward Zwick's *Glory* so fresh is that it brings the discussion about the Civil War back around to its fundamental issue by dramatizing a previously little-known story about those whom were most concerned: African-Americans, literally fighting for their freedom. The men in question constituted the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first officially recognized all-black fighting unit in the United States. Although the filmmakers have clearly taken some dramatic license with the particulars, the basic arc of this true-life narrative pretty much follows what really happened to these guys. As you might expect, the details ain't pretty. Their white commander (Matthew Broderick) constantly fights wearying battles against an institutional racism that, for example, prevents his men from getting such basics as rifles and shoes from the quartermaster. And it gets worse: most of Broderick's fellow white officers feel that the only thing black soldiers would be good for is manual labor such as digging trenches and cutting down trees . . . just the sort of thing that the men in the 54th would like to literally fight against, if given the chance. ("You don't think the Army would really let them fight, do you?" one officer chuckles to Broderick.) But soon enough the 54th do get their chance, exhibiting sublime bravery and sacrifice . . . sacrifice, however, to the point that the movie's title, *Glory*, becomes imbued with more than a bit of rueful irony. The movie doesn't really rely on action (though the battles here are superbly and realistically staged, thanks to the help of thousands of Civil War re-enactors); it's more of an ensemble piece, with the best work coming -- justly enough -- from the African-American actors in the cast. Denzel Washington became a star after his Oscar-winning portrayal of the angry runaway slave, Trip. Andre Braugher also drew notice as the "free" black Thomas, the bookworm friend of the commanding officers. Morgan Freeman naturally provides the gravitas required for his role as Rollins, who becomes -- according to this movie, at any rate -- the first noncommissioned black officer in the U.S. Army. But the movie is also interested in the white officers' story, and why not? It's compelling stuff: Broderick's Captain Robert Gould Shaw (on whose letters to his parents much of the narrative is based), looks stunned much of the time, as he tries to come to grips with what he knows is the pivotal role in history that has been granted to him. Shaw, in order to be a leader worthy of his monumental task, has to shed some of his humanity: he's forced to cool his old friendships with Cary Elwes and even Thomas (who's a lousy soldier, at first). And his unforgettable scene with Denzel Washington -- "the whipping scene" -- poignantly illustrates the cost of greatness. As does the scene near the end when, alone, he silently says farewell to sea, to sky, to life, because he knows that he's sending himself and his men into a buzzsaw. All the men of the 54th paid the cost of greatness . . . and America continues to reap the rewards of what they, and so many thousands of others like them, did for our sake.

Rating:
Summary: Best war movie I've ever seen.
Review: First off this movie is not that gory... people are exagerrating. There is a few nasty scenes, but what do you expect? If a war movie is going to be realistic people will die. War isn't pretty.

Anyway if you like war movies you will love this. It's historically accurate and doesn't try to have a "Hollywood ending." This is one of the few movies that can actually make me cry. Watch it, you won't be dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Civil War movie with incredible cast
Review: Glory is the best movie to cover the Civil War and should not be missed. The movie tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first black regiment in the Civil War, as they go through training and then are put into action. The movie shows the horrible treatment they receieved including being paid less than white soldiers and not receiving the proper equipment. Led by white officers, the regiment slowly comes together as they are sent out into the field. For a long while, the men are used only for manual labor until finally they are given a chance to prove themselves in battle. This is a great movie that has everything. There is a great story, excellent characters, it tells the story accurately, excellent battle sequences, and so much more. The final attack on Fort Wagner is one of the most moving battle sequences I have ever seen as the 54th charges the ramparts with James Horner's fantastic score playing alongside them.

The cast of this movie propels it even farther. Matthew Broderick plays Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the regiment, very well as he proves that he is a very good actor. Denzel Washington fully deserved his Oscar for his performance as Trip, the runaway slave so full of anger that he fights with anyone around him. The discussion between Broderick and Washington before the assault on Fort Wagner is one of the high points of the movie. Also very good are Morgan Freeman as Sergeant Rawlings, Cary Elwes as Major Forbes, Jihmi Kennedy as the sharpshooter Sharts, and Andre Braugher as Thomas. The Special Edition DVD is a great release with several documentaries, commentaries for the movie, as well as deleted scenes. The DVD should not be missed by fans of this classic movie!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever!
Review: Glory is one of the best movies of all time, but it is also one of the most important ... for many reasons. Every American should see it and it should be part of every high school American history course. The first reason is the way the valor and honor of these men is portrayed. It is high time the 54th received the recognition that they deserve. The second reason is the way it addresses slavery from a variety of black men's perspectives. The third is the way it demonstrates the racism from both sides and against both races.

You will not find a movie that involves your emotions more than this one. It will tear you apart inside. It is like you are there with these men, seeing the horrors of war and the pain of racism right alongside them.

Most reviewers have mentioned the ending. What about the AWOL episode for shoes? Geez, I felt his pain, but also recognized his bravery and strength. I still choke up at that point and I have watched this movie many times.

From a veteran's mind, movies do not get better than this! Buy your copy of Glory today.

Rating:
Summary: Historically inaccurate
Review: I used to really like this movie. The costumes and battle sequences are first rate and Denzel Washington gives a wonderful preformance, very deserving of the oscar(making up for Matthew Brodrick's annoying preformance). I would have given it 5 stars at one time. But something has always bothered me about this movie, and recently, as I've studied the war more, I've been thinking that it really detracts from the quality.

The real 54th Mass. was made up entirely of free blacks from New England; none, to my knowledge, had ever been slaves. In the movie, only the Thomas character was a free man, the rest of the soldiers were runaway slaves.

And the 54th Mass. was not even close to the first black regiment. Union generals in occupied areas were creating "contraband" units by sanction the War Department as early as 1862; but the first black unit was actually the Louisiana Home Guard, a Confederate regiment organized for the defense of New Orleans. Union Gen. Butler, upon occupation of New Orleans, revived the Louisiana Home Guard as a Union division - with a few of the same soldiers would you believe. As a Union regiment, the Louisiana Guard are historically significant as the first black unit to see combat in the war as part of General Banks's seige of Port Hudson, LA in the spring of 1863 - months before the 54th Mass. attacked Fort Wagner, as seen in this movie. Their assult on the fortified town proved that black soldiers could stop a bullet as easily as the white ones, as their assult ended the same way the pervious attacks on Port Hudson - as a slaughter. The town was only captured by the Union after Vicksburg surrendered up river.

The more I think about it. This is very insulting to the men who fought and died from the 54th Mass - not to mention the other black divisions from the Union and the Confederacy. Why do they not get to be remembered like their commander Shaw? Why instead of showing the variety of New England free black society must the filmmaker use traditional slave stereotypes. The whole notion could, and now I think SHOULD, be considered racist on the part of the filmmakers. It is very rare indeed to find the truth regarding race in ante-bellum America depicted in Hollywood; either you have the "Yes-massa" of Gone With The Wind or you have the brave slaves of Glory. Niether are accurate, and both are equally racist by ignoring the facts that there were hundreds of thousands of free blacks living in America in 1860 (there were even over 100 black slave-owners in Charleston, SC that year).

Sure about 85% of blacks were slaves in 1860, but the men of the 54th Mass. were not, and Glory should have honored those men. We have record of there names, birthplace, and occupations from historical documents, it would not have been hard for the filmmakers to get access to this information. But then it would not have fit into their political agenda, and would have been too much work for the average Hollywood ... writers. "Just throw some stereotypes up on the screen, the audience will never know the difference," they must have thought.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best!!!
Review: This is one of our family's favorite movies. Denzel at his best!!!