The best movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 1999)

This is not the best war movie made; in my opinion it is the best movie made, period. "Glory" succeeds at all levels to make it a must-see tour de force.
The story, based on true events about the first black regiment assembled during the Civil War, is astonishingly powerful, a moving epic that intimately involves the viewers and invites us to feel what the characters feel.
The performances are all first rate. Denzel Washington earned an Oscar, though Matthew Broderick, Jihmi Kennedy, Andre Braugher and the always outstanding Morgan Freeman also deserved kudos for their performances.
But to me, "Glory" will be best remembered for what all great movies are remembered: its scenes. And there are a number of memorable ones, starting near the beginning of the movie, when gravedigger Freeman asks Broderick's injured character if he's all right. The growing admiration of the officer for his men is revealed in several other scenes, such as when Broderick tears up his paycheck in front of the complaining black soldiers who have just been told they are receiving less pay than their white counterparts. Broderick is reluctantly forced to order a lashing of Washington's character, only to be confronted with the view of healed whip marks on the escaped slave's back. This is powerful. The campfire gospel praise meeting the evening before the soldiers are to march to almost certain death is moving, and further lends breadth to the characters, especially Washington's. And the symbolism is perfectly played in the scene prior to the final battle, when the colonel dismounts his horse, putting him on the same level as his black soldiers. As if that all weren't enough, the original score and cinematography are outstanding. This is truly a great film.