150 Word Review: 'Glory' (1989)
His truth is marching on
Americans tend to forget. The Civil War was a necessity and a uniquely horrifying tragedy, a daily slaughter, all because a few Southern aristocrats wanted to own human beings.
In Glory, director Ed Zwick's solemn period-accurate drama, the men of the Union's first all-African-American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, want to fight the Confederacy. Their officers are all white, including the idealistic Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick in an underrated performance that's boyish but haunted.
However, it's the cast of actors portraying Black men from diverse backgrounds that elevate a war movie to a portrait of struggle. Andre Braugher stands out as a naive childhood friend of Shaw's. Morgan Freeman's courage is fierce and human.
Denzel Washington won his first Oscar as a runaway slave who burns with righteous anger. The battles are harrowing, the relationships touching. James Horner's score is part battle hymn, part requiem.