Excellent Telling of a Little-Known Story

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2003)

This movie examines some of the exploits of the 54th Massachusetts, a black regiment during the Civil War, and the struggles of its commander, Robert Gould Shaw, to get them a combat assignment. This film features fine performances from Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Andre Braugher, along with fine combat footage that rivals the gritty realism of Saving Private Ryan. Although, as James McPherson notes in his book "Drawn with the Sword," features some inaccuracies, (the 54th was mainly composed of Freedmen, not former slaves; Col. Shaw had to be bullied by his father, a prominent abolitionist, into accepting the commission as officer of the African-American unit) its flaws are far outweighed by its quality. It is one of the best Hollywood treatments of the war, surpassing Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation.