Uncivilized Combat

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2003)

Mild spoiler
One thing always annoys me with war films, when the directors or producers decide to have narrations throughout to coincide with the activity onscreen. In few cases it works, Apocalypse Now being the prime example, but most of the time it doesn't--Thin Red Line in particular. Even Charlie Sheen's philosophy chatter in Platoon was of no help to the audience. Barry Lyndon was dependent on a narration throughout, but it supersedes being a simple war flick altogether.
Glory goes in the ranks of A Bridge Too Far, Das Boot, and Saving Private Ryan that leave all assumptions up to the audience. While Glory is effective on the acting level, it bombs technically. The Civil War never was a good film topic to start with and this movie only solidifies my point. Gods & Generals and Gettysburg actually go so far as to try and match the actual war in runtime. Nonetheless, I consider Glory the best Civil War film because it isn't afraid to be real in chatter.
Matthew Broderick is a little off in his portrayal. I have seen too many John Wayne movies, though, so that's the worst comment you'll get out of me. Denzel Washington is a cross Song of the South/new age character that strikes me as effective in his portrayal. Morgan Freeman, possibly the smartest actor in the bunch, knows his role and his character's role. He is one of the best in the business.
Unfortunately, Edward Zwick isn't a bright director, either visually or narratively. Spielberg and Cameron both hit their visual high points with films that were considered commercial and critical failures, Empire of the Sun and The Abyss, respectively. Here isn't any different, but I honestly have to say that Cameron's Abyss was more precise in the sound and cinematography departments. The Academy doesn't know anything about those fields, though.
Overall, the film uses the obligatory "we are united" motif at the end to silence any further race criticism. Had the makers decided to be a little more sophisticated in their thinking and a little less crowd-pleasing in their actions, I would've given this a better rating. 3 out of 5 stars.