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| Category | War/Drama | Theatrical Trailer(s) | Yes, 1 - 1.33:1, not 16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Rating |  |
Other Trailer(s) | Yes, 2 - 1.33:1, not 16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Year Released | 1989 | Commentary Tracks | Yes, 1 - Edward Zwick (Director) |
| Running Time | 117:18 minutes | Other Extras | Biographies - Cast and Crew
Deleted Scenes (2) (5:51) Documentary - The True Story Of Glory Continues (45:18) Featurette - Glory: The Making Of History (20:03) Featurette - Voices Of Glory (7:36) |
| RSDL/Flipper | RSDL (84:21) |
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| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region | 2,4 | Director | Edward Zwick |
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Distributor |
Columbia TriStar |
Starring | Matthew Broderick
Denzel Washington Cary Elwes Morgan Freeman |
| Case | Transparent Brackley | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | James Horner |
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| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | MPEG | None |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Dolby Digital | 5.1 |
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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Soundtrack Languages | English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)
French (Dolby Digital 2.0  ,
192 Kb/s)
German (Dolby Digital 2.0 ,
192 Kb/s)
Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 ,
192 Kb/s)
Spanish (Dolby Digital 4.0 L-C-R-S, 384 Kb/s) English Audio Commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192 Kb/s) Isolated Music Score (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s) |
| Theatrical Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 |
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| Macrovision | Yes | Smoking | Yes |
| Subtitles | English
French German Italian Spanish Dutch Arabic Czech Danish Finnish Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Norwegian Polish Portuguese Swedish Turkish |
Annoying Product Placement | No |
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
So why does this film rate so highly on my list of all-time favourite films? Well, I have always had a fascination with the American Civil War, so that was a good starting point, but this is a very special film for other reasons. Firstly, it is one of those instances where Hollywood actually got it right and produced a decent, reasonably accurate period film. This makes it something of a rarity, as Hollywood has often had a problem doing period pieces with any sort of accuracy. Secondly, it is the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. "So what", you say? Well, it is a sadly often unknown fact that over 180,000 African Americans fought in the American Civil War for the Union, and the first unit to be commissioned was the 54th Massachusetts. Raised in 1862 and decommissioned in 1865, the regiment had a very short life but it distinguished itself in the field of battle and led the way for African Americans to participate in a very active way in the war that was, after all, supposedly fought over the issue of slavery. How important is this short-lived regiment in American history? Next time you venture to Boston, Massachusetts, be sure to check out the memorial that stands on Boston Common: perhaps that will aid your understanding. In a country still racked by race problems, in a world that is still racked with race problems, way back in 1862 a group of Massachusetts abolitionists had the foresight to push for an all African American regiment, commanded by one Robert Gould Shaw whose remarkable letters have been preserved in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Makes you think.
The story of the 54th Massachusetts to some extent starts, at least in the film, on the battlefield of Antietam in northern Maryland in 1862 where one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War took place. In the space of less than one day over 40,000 Americans lost their lives. It was the day that technology changed the face of war forever, as the tried and true methods of massed battle lines were decimated by a new weapon of war - the Enfield rifle, that was accurate up to 500 yards as opposed to earlier weapons whose effective range was 100 yards. How big a deal was this one day? In the 16 years of The Vietnam War, just over 50,000 Americans lost their lives. Across Civil War battlefields throughout the western seaboard, men were dying in staggering numbers and more men were needed to replace them. One of the last great untapped sources of men were former slaves and free African Americans - and so in 1863 the 54th Massachusetts came into being as the first regiment of free African American volunteers, under the command of Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick).
The film basically takes us through the training of the unit, using the words of Robert Gould Shaw's letters and through the eyes of a number of the volunteers: John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) and Trip (Denzel Washington) especially. Many considered the regiment to be nothing more than a publicity stunt in today's parlance, and one that would never be sent into battle. After completing its training, the regiment was assigned to mop up operations in Georgia. However, with the pushing of its commanding officer, the regiment was finally assigned to combat operations and on 12th July, 1863 went into battle on James Island, South Carolina where it distinguished itself with (ahem) glory. However, The Swamp Angels (as they were known) had yet to make their real mark, which was to come soon enough. The key to much of the American Civil War was the control of a series of forts that dotted the coast, guarding the entrances to harbours and other strategic waterways. Indeed, the American Civil War began at one of those forts, Fort Sumter near Charleston, on 12th April, 1861. Charleston Harbour was one of the big prizes and it was guarded by a number of these forts, one of which was Fort Wagner, and so it was that the Union War Office after four days of naval bombardment of Fort Wagner decided to launch a ground attack upon the fort on 18th July, 1863. Fort Wagner was well-protected and the only ground assault route was through a narrow neck of sand between the sea and a swamp, so any ground assault was going to be very difficult. On that day in 1863, the 54th Massachusetts led the assault on Fort Wagner. The regiment was comprised of 600 African American volunteers and a few white officers. Nearly half of those men died or went missing in action on that day. Many were buried in a mass grave in the sand dunes near the fort after the Union assault was abandoned, with heavy casualties. Fort Wagner was never taken in battle, although Union soldiers did walk straight into it when it was abandoned by Confederate forces some weeks later as part of a general retreat. Fort Wagner may never have been taken in battle, but the 54th Massachusetts earned for themselves a glorious legacy of valour that inspired Congress to call all African Americans to arms - a call over 180,000 answered, thus turning the tide of the war in the eyes of none other than Abraham Lincoln.
What was so remarkable about the story of the 54th Massachusetts was the fact that not only were they volunteers, but owing to a pay dispute they continued to fight with honour in battle for eighteen months without pay. The original volunteers signed up on the basis of receiving the normal soldier's pay of $13 per month. When the War Office decided to pay them only $10 per month, and then deduct $3 per month as a uniform allowance, the men and the officers tore up their pay slips in protest and went to war without pay. Their fight for equality did not go unnoticed and after a succession of distinguished performances in battle, Congress finally voted for equal pay for African American soldiers - and so they finally got what they were promised. And yet, despite the honour with which they fought, there were no African American soldiers included in the celebration parades in Washington after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox on 9th April, 1865. The 54th Massachusetts returned to Boston and quietly disbanded forever. But their legacy will never die - the first commissioned African American officer in the United States came from the 54th Massachusetts. The first African American to earn the highest honour in the United States, the Congressional Medal of Honor, earned it at Fort Wagner on 18th July, 1863.
All of this historical fact would mean little more than words in a book, unless it were brought to the screen in a way to bring honour to the memory of the 54th Massachusetts. Clearly, this was a labour of love for many involved in the project and this shows in just about every way. The fact that significant numbers of Civil War re-enactors contributed to the film ensured that this was as historically accurate as could be possible. It also meant that an awful lot of epic could be bought for the rather modest budget of $19 million. Across the cast there are some great performances, but none better than Denzel Washington as the runaway slave Trip, coming to terms with what it means to look beyond the expectations of others and finding the strength of character to be a free man. This performance justifiably earned Denzel Washington the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1989. Playing the role of the unifying glue of the regiment is Morgan Freeman who is his usual sterling self, and the way both he and Denzel find their respective characters is something special to watch. For once, even Matthew Broderick proves better than a cardboard cut-out in terms of acting ability, and this is one of his finest moments on celluloid. He hits the right sort of note in portraying the somewhat idealistic young Colonel suddenly dragged from his ideals as a wealthy young society gent in Boston to the realities of genuine racism both in the Union and the Confederacy. However, it is the small gems of performances in the supporting cast that carry this film, with many of the performers actually being anything but actors. The pervading atmosphere throughout this film is provided by the magnificence of the cinematography that captured the real feeling of the whole episode from enlistment to glory. It does not take too much to understand why it earned an Oscar in 1989 for Best Cinematography: few films reach this level of cinematographic excellence, involving just about every frame of the film.
Across the entire film there is evidence of the commitment to something very special, and the fact that persons of the calibre of Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington contributed to the film at what must have been very reduced levels of recompense to get this film made for $19 million indicates how important the contribution of the 54th Massachusetts was to American history. It captures some of the finest recreations of the American Civil War seen on film and does a fine job of bringing out the character of the men that created the lofty legacy of the 54th Massachusetts. When I am asked to name one film that everyone should sit down and watch at least once, there are only two films that are instant selections - The Right Stuff and Glory. Need I say more about the regard with which I hold this film?
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is, needless to say from this source, 16x9 enhanced.
Since we are talking about a film now bordering on 12 years old, and one that was not made with a huge amount of money, there are some inherent flaws in the transfer. However, these flaws are relatively minor things that do not in anyway diminish the impact of the film. It should be noted, however, that some of the film was actually of footage taken during a re-enactment of the Battle of Antietam, which has been skilfully blended into the footage shot for the film itself. Accordingly, there is some minor differences in the styles of the footage that is just a little noticeable despite the best efforts of some fine editing to hide the fact. Nonetheless, this is a nice, sharp transfer overall with some nice detail to it - or at least where director Edward Zwick allowed there to be detail. His commentary makes a number of points about the use of smoke to "keep the sun" out of the film, thus creating a certain type of feel to the film that is by its very nature just a little diffuse. This artistic choice actually works very well, and the result is certainly well-captured on the DVD. There were just a few hints of grain in the transfer and a small number of minor instances where the transfer was not quite as clear as we would expect from a more recent film. There were no low level noise problems in the transfer.
This is not what you would call a really vibrant transfer, and the tone is quite muted at times. This is the result of not only trying to keep the sun out of the film but also the deliberate use of diffuse lighting sources, such as oil lamps in confined spaces to capture a certain feel to the film. It is also a statement of fact that bright, vibrant colours were not exactly the height of fashion in the winter of 1862, and war is not exactly a bright, cheerful event either. However, the colours have been consistently rendered and the result is a very natural and completely believable look to the film. There did not appear to be any problems with oversaturation of colours, not were there any problems with colour bleeding.
There are no apparent MPEG artefacts in the transfer. Film-to-video artefacts were virtually non-existent with the only points of any real note being some minor aliasing in the ranks at the 3:19 mark and in the rifles at the 28:52 mark. Other than that, this was a very nicely handled transfer. Naturally, for a film of this relative age, there were a few noticeable film artefacts, but nothing that I found overly bothersome.
This is an RSDL format disc with the layer change coming at 84:21: this is during a scene change and is barely noticeable and is certainly not at all disruptive to the flow of the film.
Overall, this is a very nice looking transfer for a film that is just starting to show the effects of the years. The only way we will ever get to see it any better is if the studio goes to the trouble of a full restoration.
There are seven audio tracks on the DVD: an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded soundtrack, a German Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded soundtrack, an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded soundtrack, a Spanish Dolby Digital 4.0 L-C-R-S soundtrack, an English Audio Commentary in Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and an Isolated Music Score in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I listened to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the English Audio Commentary and the Isolated Music Score, as well as briefly sampling the other soundtracks.
The dialogue was reasonably clear and easy to understand throughout, although there were a couple of odd instances where the dialogue level dipped a little lower than would be normally expected: these are, however, a reflection of the film and not of a transfer problem.
There did not appear to be any problems with audio sync in the transfer.
The musical score comes from James Horner. How good is it? How many times have you watched an entire film with just the isolated music score playing, and still enjoyed the film? For reviews, we are not necessarily required to listen to the entire isolated music score, but in this instance I did, and it was a glorious experience. It really makes you appreciate how much of a contribution the score makes to this film, despite the often extended periods of silence. This is a wonderfully evocative effort that really shows a master at his best.
As previously mentioned, the original soundtrack garnered an Oscar for Best Sound in 1989. Naturally, expectations are therefore high when sitting down to watch this film. Once you start hearing those rifle shots zipping across the sound stage in a most convincingly realistic way, you know that those expectations have been met. It is pleasing to note that the remastering of the soundtrack has not resulted in an overabundance of surround effects so that when they are used, they are very easily noticed. The only disappointment with this approach is perhaps on the battlefields, where some of the cannon shots could perhaps have been a little more percussive in the mix. However, that is being a little churlish when for twelve years I have been watching the film in Dolby stereo at best - and more likely in mono. This soundtrack has certainly not sounded as good as this, ever. The dialogue is nicely balanced into the mix and the overall soundscape is very believable and quite engrossing. Whilst the zipping rifle shots don't quite have you ducking for cover, they are not far short of this sort of effect. Surround channel use overall is very effective, if perhaps lacking just the ultimate in rear ambience. Bass channel support was effective without being overpowering.
A very good video transfer.
A very good audio transfer.
A superb extras package.
| Video |  |
| Audio |  |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
© Ian Morris (have a
laugh, check out the bio)
27th July 2000
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| DVD | Pioneer DV-515; S-video output |
| Display | Sony Trinitron Wega 84cm. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in |
| Amplification | Yamaha RXV-795. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
| Speakers | Energy Speakers: centre EXLC; left and right EXLR; and subwoofer ES-12XL |