Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4593 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-06-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
"The negroes fought gallantly and were headed by as brave a Colonel as ever lived", was one Confederate soldier's eyewitness verdict on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers immediately after 247 of their 600-man regiment had fallen in bloody swathes beneath the withering fire from Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina in 1863. Glory is their story: the mustering of the first black regiment in the US Army, their battles with the Southerners as well as with the Northern military authorities, and their own moment of glory when they paid a terrible price for the opportunity to demonstrate to the world their courage. In telling this little-known story, director Ed Zwick single-handedly changed perceptions of the American Civil War: when a Grand Review of the Armies was held in Washington at the end of the war, none of the almost 180,000 coloured troops who fought for the Union were present; when that parade was restaged in 1990 a year after the movie was released, the 54th Massachusetts re-enactors were at the front of the procession.

Zwick's stirring, factually accurate account is greatly enhanced by obsessive period detail and frighteningly realistic battle reconstructions (which were not to be surpassed in scale until 1993's Gettysburg). But Zwick also illuminates individual characters in the regiment with great sensitivity. As crucial as the military set-pieces are the scenes of the men together: talking in the tent or baring their souls in song. Denzel Washington, as the embittered ex-slave, gives a performance of real depth; he richly deserved his Oscar win for the heartbreaking flogging scene alone. Morgan Freeman brings great gravitas to his paternalistic role, and Matthew Broderick's idealistic Colonel Shaw is the centre around which the story revolves. With a clutch of remarkable lead performances, a sensitive and touching script, one of James Horner's finest musical scores, and a director with both the vision and heart to pull it off it's easy to agree with the backcover blurb: "Glory is one of the greatest war movies ever made". Without even a hint of hyperbole, it undoubtedly is.

On the DVD: This is a superb looking (anamorphic) and sounding (Dolby 5.1) print, and the disc has some excellent additional features. Ed Zwick's commentary is insightful and extremely detailed: here's a director who obviously cares deeply about this movie. Of the three featurettes, one is a short-ish promo piece but the other two are genuinely impressive: there's a 20-minute "Making of" feature with major contributions from Zwick, Freeman and Broderick, and best of all a 45-minute "The True Story Continues" feature narrated by Freeman which tells the complete story of the 54th Massachusetts from beginning to end using footage from the movie as well as archive material and film of battle re-enactments. Also included are two deleted scenes, although a third scene which was shot for the movie but not used (the Frederick Douglass' speech) crops up in the "True Story" piece. James Horner's emotive score gets an isolated track all to itself and there are also some filmographies and trailers. All in all, this is a superb DVD. --Mark Walker

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
3 Trailers
2 Featurettes
Documentary
Commentary
Filmographies

Synopsis
GLORY recounts the bravery of a group of Civil War soldiers often overlooked by history--the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, a troop of free black men who fought to help win liberty for their enslaved brothers. Based on the historical novels ONE GALLANT RUSH by Peter Burchand and LAY THIS LAUREL by Lincoln Kirstein and the letters of Robert Gould Shaw, the film follows the youthful Colonel Shaw (Matthew Broderick) as he takes responsibility for readying these soldiers for battle. Shaw, a privileged young Boston Brahman, finds the job harder than expected because many of the men balk at taking orders from him. Private Trip (Denzel Washington) is especially resistant to Shaw's leadership, but over time the two come to an understanding as they endure the hardships of the war. On July 18, 1863, Shaw volunteers the 54th for the honor of leading the charge against Ft. Wagner, a mission that means almost certain death, with Trip carrying the regiment's colors into battle. This gritty and realistic vision of the horrors of war is a moving and critical examination of a lost piece of history. Beautifully shot and triumphantly acted (by a cast that also includes Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher), director Edward Zwick's film serves as a tribute to the courage and selfless bravery of the black soldiers of the Civil War.

Customer Reviews

Give 'em Hell, 54!
Glory tells the story of the 54th Regiment, one of the first African American regiments that Abraham Lincoln credited with turning the tide of the war. The events portrayed in the film lead up to the heroic and bloody battle at Fort Wagner in which the 54th lost nearly half of its men.

There is nothing better than watching a film that wants to tell you a tale of great heroism, and Glory is one of the best examples of its genre. It is a war film in which perhaps only fifteen minutes of its nearly two hour running time is used to recreate battle scenes. Instead of blasting its audience with carnage and bloodshed, we get to know the men who were involved in these battles and their reasons for fighting. Glory is a film of great depth and subtlety in which powerfully dramatic moments are depicted with very little dialogue. Edward Zwick, the director, obviously understands that an audience has intelligence enough to be completely moved by a sudden swell of music or by a single tear running down a man's cheek. The performances by all five of the main protagonists are astonishing, the cinematography is sublime and the score is beautifully used throughout the film.

The story of the 54th Regiment is emotive and inspiring and Glory is an emotive and inspiring film that pays tribute to all those men who died in the fight for freedom.

Superb Action Scenes
GLORY tells the Civil War story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry which was comprised of black soldiers led by a young white officer named Robert Gould Shaw. The movie is dominated by strong performances by Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman as well as superb action scenes.

The tale of Colonel Shaw's exploits has long been familiar to school children in Boston where a statue of the Union Army hero is prominently situated on the Boston Common at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets.

GLORY won Academy Awards in 1989 for Best Supporting Actor (Denzel Washington) and Cinematography. Oscar nominations were also received for Editing, Art Direction and Sound.

Wow
Id just like to say i am only 13 and i watched this film in a history lesson as we are learning about the civil war in America and, it was absolutly amazing. How one man gave his life to Black race touched me in such a way that by the end of the film i was crying. Id reccomend it to any one who really appreciates a true, patriotic film. It really puts things into perspective to you. Thank you x