Character-led war action from an underrated director

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2016)

I can't say that there are a great many films about the American Civil War out there. If there are, I haven't seen them and I don't know of them. Perhaps it's a war that doesn't do very well at the box office or one which people prefer to forget. However, Edward Zwick's GLORY is an exception to that general rule, and it's a decent war film to boot.
The story is of the war's first black regiment led by a young and inexperienced white officer. Inevitably it has the ring of truth to it and that's because what happened was entirely true. Forget George Lucas and his RED TAILS pandering, though; this is a grittily realistic story about honour, death, and the extent of human endurance. Zwick has some affinity with the war-film genre having more recently made the excellent THE LAST SAMURAI and DEFIANCE, and I'd wish he'd concentrate more on the genre instead of wasting his time with romance and the like.
GLORY is an actor's film featuring a wealth of black talent whether it be Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington, who burns up the screen in a star-making turn. Andre Braugher, who you might remember from THE MIST, has a fine role as a bookish recruit. The one weak link I thought was Matthew Broderick, but his character and acting style did grow on me a little as the story progresses and I was able to overcome my dislike of the actor to enjoy his performance. It was nice to see Cary Elwes as something other than the young and annoying hero character of THE PRINCESS BRIDE. The battle scenes aren't the most gruesome or realistic of the genre (aside from an early moment) but the use of orchestral music and Zwick's direction makes them very good, and the climactic fighting is undeniably stirring.