Glory (1989)

This is a good film, telling the tale old time story of the Civil War, but this one tries to put a different twist on it.
Here, the governor of Massachusetts decides to recruit African American soldiers to help the case. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is the son of abolitionists and has two years of war experience behind him. He volunteers himself and his friend, Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) to be in charge of the new unit. In addition, Shaw's lifelong friend, Thomas (Andre Braugher) joins up. Thomas, because he is well-educated, faces problems not being able to keep up with all the physical demands the army needs. He and Trip also get off on the wrong foot because Trip hates how educated Thomas is.
Though Shaw is in charge of the soldiers, the company, he seems to do little work, leaving most of it to the Irish Mulcahy (John Finn) who whips the men into shape, little by little. He is a nasty drill sergeant and doesn't even understand that some of the soldiers don't know the difference between the right and left. The soldiers are also more interesting than Shaw. There is the runaway slave, Trip (an Oscar-winning Denzel Washington), the kind-hearted older man (Morgan Freeman), who eventually becomes a non-commissioned officer because he demands respect and the athletic Jupiter (Jihmi Kennedy), who can shoot a weapon better than most, though not nearly good enough for battle. Why is the film not told from their points-of-view?
There are problems, such as the enormous lack of supplies for the men because no one believes they will ever see combat. Trip runs away to obtain shoes and is sorely beaten for it. (Later he is asked to bear the colors, though he refuses this position.) That is his most powerful scene. Eventually, the man get what they need and, after some blackmail, they fight for real. By this time, a journalist from Harper's Bazaar has joined them to write stories about the infantry division. The men face difficulties, before facing combat, they are joined with another division to raid a southern Georgia town, which angers Shaw greatly.
The best part of the film is the night before the final battle depicted in the film. The men are sitting around the fire, praying and singing about the upcoming event. Then comes the nasty battle, where many of the men of the 54th Massachusetts are killed, including Shaw.
Though the film tells a great story, why can't it be told from someone else's point of view? Many of the characters, especially Shaw and Forbes, are rather underdeveloped, and the dialogue seems quite contemporary. However, despite these major problems, the film manages to look at the world through entirely different eyes and drives the viewer toward something stirring. The editing is also seamless with great cinematography. I have now seen the film three times so I think I'm good for some time. In the end, Denzel Washington's performance sticks with you the most, which is probably good since he was awarded the Oscar for this role. Grade: A-