glory--starring matthew broderick , denzel washington , and morgan freeman--is the true story of the 54th regiment of massachusetts , the first black fighting unit recruited by the north during the civil war . 
broderick plays robert gould shaw , the young white officer who led the black soldiers into battle . 
shaw , the son of well-to-do abolitionists , hailed from boston high society . 
the letters he wrote home to his parents during the war are on display at harvard , and were , evidently , the inspiration for glory . 
as the film begins in 1862 , shaw is a captain in the northern forces . 
like private eriksson ( michael j . fox ) in casualties of war , shaw initially is naive and idealistic about the war--that is , until his company is attacked by enemy forces . 
shaw experiences first hand the horror and chaos of battle , witnessing mass slaughter and receiving a minor wound himself when a bullet grazes his neck . 
soon after his recovery , shaw is promoted to colonel and assigned to enlist and train blacks in the war effort . 
glory is the story not only of colonel shaw , but also of the black soldiers who laid down their lives to free their brothers from slavery . 
the film periodically jumps between shaw's point of view and the perspective of the black soldiers . 
the movie introduces us to a handful of black recruits , and we follow them from their enlistment through basic training and finally into action . 
the large black cast is uniformly outstanding , especially washington who is electrifying as a runaway slave with a big mouth . 
he is brash and pushy , always getting into trouble and always looking for a fight . 
his bitter , tough guy facade is really just a mask for his loneliness and vulnerability . 
washington provides much of the film's intensity and emotional power . 
in one heartbreaking scene , he is whipped for allegedly deserting the army . 
when he removes his shirt to receive the punishment , you cringe at the sight of his back , which is riddled with ugly scars from his days as a slave . 
it makes your blood boil . 
the humiliation of the beating is far more traumatic than the actual physical pain it brings ; a tear rolls down washington's cheek--and will probably run down your cheek as well . 
the episode becomes even more tragic when we learn that washington wasn't deserting the army at all ; he left camp to look for shoes because his feet were covered with oozing sores . 
freeman is , as usual , a strong presence , even in a small supporting role . 
he plays a grave digger who has buried more white soldiers than he cares to remember . 
he quickly becomes a leader among the black soldiers , holding the group together and serving as a liaison to the white officers . 
colonel shaw recognizes freeman's leadership ability and promotes him to sergeant major , making him the first black officer in the army . 
andre braugher makes an impressive film debut in the role of thomas searles , a free black who is one of shaw's close childhood friends . 
searles is educated and refined , like a white man , prompting washington to nickname him " snow flake . " 
the burning question is whether searles is tough enough to survive basic training and to kill in combat . 
the road from marching drills to battle action is a bumpy one for the black regiment . 
the soldiers suffer innumerable hardships , but somehow they never lose their morale . 
the army treats the black soldiers like second class citizens , subjecting them to racism and discrimination . 
they are paid only $10 a month , whereas their white counterparts earn thirteen , and , for a long time , they have to go without shoes , guns , or uniforms . 
to make matters worse , the white military hierarchy is extremely reluctant to allow the blacks into action , preferring instead to use them for manual labor . 
eventually , however , the regiment receives its boots , uniforms , rifles , and right to fight , thanks to the stubborn resolve of colonel shaw . 
shaw has absolute faith in his soldiers , and he fights tooth and nail to get them what they deserve , even if it means threatening a general with blackmail . 
broderick , in fact , is most convincing in the scenes where shaw stands up for the regiment . 
unfortunately , however , broderick's uneven performance is , in many respects , the weak link in the movie . 
in an effort to look more mature , broderick sports a mustache and a goatee , and throughout the film he slips in and out of a phony boston accent . 
he is never altogether convincing as shaw since much of the time his emotions seem forced . 
the film places too much weight on broderick's character and not enough on the black soldiers , who are more intriguing . 
glory regains lost ground with its harrowing depiction of war . 
the movie shows the devastation of war without resorting to the unnecessarily graphic gore which marred born on the fourth of july . 
glory does not try to rattle you with nauseating blood and guts . 
except for a few bullet wounds and one exploding head , the film , for the most part , leaves the gore to your imagination , which is not to say that the battle scenes in glory are timid . 
to the contrary , they are chaotic and horrifying ; it's just that director edward zwick ( the co-creator of " thirtysomething " ) films them with far more subtlety and restraint than oliver stone could ever muster . 
the key to glory is the group dynamic among the black soldiers . 
the movie depicts some of ( but not enough of ) their customs and rituals . 
in one scene , for example , the soldiers motivate themselves by singing prayers around the campfire . 
each man has a chance to relay a few words of inspiration . 
a couple of the movie's most touching moments involve young black children looking up to the black soldiers with awe , disbelief and pride . 
the regiment's greatest triumph comes when the soldiers distinguish themselves in battle , thereby earning the respect of their white peers and earning the honor of leading the climactic assault on fort wagner . 
like any war film , glory has its share of gloom and despair , but ultimately it proves to be a truly uplifting experience and an important history lesson , a valuable reminder that despite what the history books say ( or , more precisely , what they do not say ) , blacks played a critically important role in the north's victory over the south--forever changing the evolution of america .