Glory
Academy Award × 3·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
What critics thought
Glory is widely regarded as one of the great Civil War films, driven by Freddie Francis's cinematography, James Horner's choral score, and a breakout supporting turn from Denzel Washington. The sharpest debate among critics centers on Matthew Broderick's casting as Colonel Shaw — some found it fatally wrong, others saw it as controlled and mature — and on the film's structural choice to filter the story of Black soldiers through their white commander's perspective, a decision Roger Ebert questioned directly and at length.
“catastrophically miscast as Shaw”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“an amiable non-presence, creating unintentionally the notion that the 54th earned their stripes despite wimpy leadership”
Desson Howe·The Washington Post
“the movie's often awesome imagery and a bravely soaring choral score by James Horner that transfigure the reality, granting it the status of necessary myth”
Richard Schickel·Time
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
DirectorEdward Zwick
StarringMatthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, Jihmi Kennedy
ComposerJames Horner
Glory
Academy Award × 3·National Film Registry
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
What critics thought
Glory is widely regarded as one of the great Civil War films, driven by Freddie Francis's cinematography, James Horner's choral score, and a breakout supporting turn from Denzel Washington. The sharpest debate among critics centers on Matthew Broderick's casting as Colonel Shaw — some found it fatally wrong, others saw it as controlled and mature — and on the film's structural choice to filter the story of Black soldiers through their white commander's perspective, a decision Roger Ebert questioned directly and at length.
“catastrophically miscast as Shaw”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“an amiable non-presence, creating unintentionally the notion that the 54th earned their stripes despite wimpy leadership”
Desson Howe·The Washington Post
“the movie's often awesome imagery and a bravely soaring choral score by James Horner that transfigure the reality, granting it the status of necessary myth”
Richard Schickel·Time
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
DirectorEdward Zwick
StarringMatthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, Jihmi Kennedy
ComposerJames Horner
Rent/Purchase