This is a "war movie" that will not only entertain you perfectly but also leave you a better person!

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2007)

To call "Glory" a "war movie" is akin to calling "Hamlet" a "ghost story." While it is true that it is a movie set in the Civil War and complete with realistic battle scenes, authentically reproduced uniforms and weapons, and a film that introduces the viewer to an important part of American history that had been more or less ignored--the roles that African-American soldiers played in the Union army--it is still so much more than that.
I don't think I will ever find the precise words to indicate how satisfying and wonderful this film is and how much I love it. It is highly entertaining, moving, realistic, and downright transcendent in its beauty. Every actor does his job marvelously, from the amazing portrayal of "Trip" by Denzel Washington, to the steady, inspiring character that Morgan Freeman creates perfectly, to the baby-faced Colonel Robert Gould Shaw played with sincerity and intensity by Matthew Broderick, down to the minor role of the butt-kicking Irish drill sergeant who abuses his black recruits physically and verbally, calling them "You Mexican African whores!" and other lovely epithets. (That latter actor, incidentally, wanted so badly to be a part of the film that he offered to work for free!)
I'm frustrated when I recommend this movie to friends and others and they respond with "I don't like war movies." Sure, Welles's "Citizen Kane" is a movie about business, and Chaplin's "City Lights" is about panhandling, not true?
But like those two wonders, "Glory" tells its story perfectly, complete with great characters that you love, beautifully realized photography and action, and a deep, emotional wellspring that leaves a viewer lifted high above and beyond the TV room sofa. It is in my Top Five, and it is one of those films I just have to see every year or so, like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy or "Bridge on the River Kwai," or "The Godfather" movies. If you aren't thrilled to the depths of your being during the last ten minutes of this movie, then you don't have a pulse.
It's just a great film, and if you've never seen it, do! It won't disappoint, and it will be etched in your memory forever. It is a masterpiece.