Glory (Special Edition, Repackaged)
starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel
Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan
Freeman, Jihmi Kennedy
Blu-Ray: Wonderful On Blu-Ray. Missing The Picture-In-Picture Commentary From
The Dvd Version But Overall Fantastic!
One of the very best films about the Civil War, this instant classic from
1989 is also one of the few films to depict the participation of African
American soldiers in Civil War combat. Based in part on the books Lay
This Laurel by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard,
the film also draws from the letters of Robert Gould Shaw (played by
Matthew Broderick), the 25-year-old son of Boston abolitionists who
volunteered to command the all-black 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry. Their training and battle experience leads them to their
final assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, where their heroic bravery
turned bitter defeat into a symbolic victory that brought recognition to black

soldiers and turned the tide of the war. With painstaking attention to
historical detail and richness of character, the film boasts superior
performances by Denzel Washington (who won the Oscar for Best
Supporting Actor), Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher.
Directed by Edward Zwick (co-creator of the TV series thirtysomething),
this unforgettable drama is as important as Schindlers List in its treatment
of a noble yet little-known episode of history. --Jeff Shannon
Personal Review: Glory (Special Edition, Repackaged) starring
Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan
Freeman, Jihmi Kennedy
n 1989, "GLORY" would become an important movie that introduced many
Americans unfamiliar to Civil War history but most of all, to show viewers
the impact African Americans had in the role of fighting for the Union.
The film would focus on Col. Robert Gould Shaw, the letters he sent to his
family and him leading a group of African American men who volunteered
to fight against the Confederate Army. This group is known as the 54th
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The film is also adapted from Lincoln
Kirstein's book "Lay this Laurel" and Peter Burchard's book "One Gallant
Rush".
"GLORY" was directed by Edward Zwick ("DEFIANCE", "Blood Diamond",
"The Last Samurai" and "The Siege"), screenplay by Kevin Jarre ("The
Mummy"and "Rambo: First Blood Part II"), music by James Horner "Enemy
at the Gates", "A Beautiful Mind" and "Troy") and cinematography by
Freddie Francis ("Dune", "Clara's Heart" and "Cape Fear").
The film would star major talents Matthew Broderick ("WarGames", "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off", "Godzilla" and "Inspector Gadget"), Denzel Washington
("American Gangster", "Training Day", "Man on Fire" and "Remember the
Titans"), Morgan Freeman ("The Dark Knight", "Wanted", "Million Dollar
Baby" and "Deep Impact"), Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride", "Twister",
"Liar Liar" and "Days of Thunder") and Andre Braugher ("Fantastic Four:
Rise of the Silver Surfer", "Poseidon", "Frequency" and "Primal Fear").
The film would receive five Academy Award nominations and win three for
"Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Denzel Washington", "Best
Cinematography - Freddie Francis" and "Best Sound Mixing".
"GLORY" is powerful!
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"GLORY" is presented on 1080p High Definition (aspect ratio of 1:85:1).
The film manages to capture the haziness of war due to the smoke in the
battlefield and the colors are not featured as vibrant as most of the settings
are in blues and browns but you will see reds on the flag and the flares,
amber colors from the gunfire and the greens of the grass and tress, but I

believe that the limit of color was the Director Edward Zwick's purpose.
Zwick is director that has made several films to capture the dreariness of
war as he did nearly a decade later with "ENEMY AT THE GATES", he
manages to capture the look of the battlefield in 1989 with "GLORY".
The film does have quite a bit of grain that comes clear due to its High
Definition transfer but I would rather have grain than overly used digital
noise reduction that would make the characters look waxy and the picture
quality as soft. In fact, one thing you will notice with "GLORY" is you see
quite a bit of detail of the actors, their surroundings but also objects such
as shovels, rifles, clothing, etc. But overall, the picture quality is solid.
As for the audio, the film is featured in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (also in French,
Portuguese in Dolby True HD 5.1 and Spanish 5.1) and the lossless
soundtrack manages to capture the many explosions on the battlefield.
But what captures your attention when it comes to sound is James
Horner's musical score. The music sets the tone of the film especially
during the final battle. Dialogue is clear and very clean and many of the
scenes during the battles where artillery, gun fire and people yelling (even
those yelling from a far distance) can be heard. There were scenes that
do utilize the rear channels effectively and I believe there were some
scenes where explosions took advantage of some low frequency booms
on the subwoofer. Overall, "GLORY" receives its best audio presentation
compared to its original DVD counterpart.
As for subtitles, the film is presented in English, English SDH, French,
Portuguese and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"GLORY" comes with the following special features:
* Audio Commentary by Director Edward Zwick - Edward Zwick is
known for his war films from "GLORY", "Enemy at the Gates" and "The
Last Samurai" and one thing that I enjoy about his commentaries is that he
really gets into the technical goals and explain the difficult scenes.
"GLORY" features just that as he really goes into detail of the filming
techniques used on the film. Such as trying to drown out the blue skies
with smoke, working with the talent, the staff, James Horner for the music
and tidbits such as not having enough money to hire more stuntmen, so
the stuntmen trained the extras on several scenes. Also, how challenging
it was for Morgan Freeman to have to run countless times especially uphill
to having horses that were trained to fall. A very informative commentary.
* Virtual Battlefield - Civil War Guide Map - This was actually pretty
good. By using your remote, you can learn about certain battles from the
Civil War with photography and text information. But some have video
commentary by Civil War historians which was quite informative.
* The Voices of Glory - (11:16) This features letters from the Civil War
written by actual soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and

giving a voice to the men who fought in the various battles including the
battle at Fort Wagner. Featured in Standard Definition.
* Documentary: The True Story of Glory Continues Narrated by Morgan
Freeman - (45:18) A documentary featuring the factual information of the
soldiers that fought during the war and were members of the 54th
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry with additional detail on Col. Robert
Gould Shaw. Also, the coverage on the Civil War re-enactments that are
ongoing today and an actual re-burial of soldiers. A documentary that is
very informative and you learn about other names that were instrumental
during the battle against the Confederate Army at Fort Wagner. Featured
in Standard Definition.
* Original Theatrical Making-of Featurette - (7:35) Featured in Standard
Definition, this is the original featurette with interviews with the talent and
Director Edward Zwick. The featurette has a few behind-the-scenes
footage from the film.
* Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary - There is commentary by
Director Edward Zwick on two scenes. For The Applepicker (3:03), a
scene which revolves around Pvt. Trip making his first kill. The second
and final deleted scene is one that Zwick calls one of his worst and glad it
was cut from the film. The scene is titled "Crisis of Conscience" (2:35)
which is a scene involving both Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew
Broderick) and Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes).
For those who owned the two-disc special edition DVD release of
"GLORY", you may not want to ditch your DVD just yet as the "Picture-in-
Picture Video Commentary featuring Ed Zwick, Morgan Freeman &
Matthew Broderick" is not included on this Blu-ray disc. Nor are the scene
selections on the Blu-ray sporting any motion.
JUDGMENT
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