Glory ( A movie that will rip out your heart and stamp it on the ground)

This week I watched Glory directed by Edward Zwick which featured an all-star cast of players such as Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes (think Princess Bride), and Denzel Washington. The plot of the story focused around the 54th Massachusetts, the Union's first African American regiment, and their battle to gain recognition and the opportunity to fight for their cause.

This movie focused a lot around the racism that drove the Civil War era. Not only on the Southern side, but on the Northern side as well. In one of my favorite scenes, Matthew Broderick's character, the Colonel of the 54th, calls out one of the Union clothing suppliers for being racist and unwilling to give the African American soldiers shoes even though he has plenty in stock. Another mistreatment that is addressed in the movie that was done on the Northern side was that the only paid the African American soliders 10 dollars a month for their work while they paid the white soldiers 13 for a month. A significant moment in the film happens when the Colonel tears up his paycheck saying that if his regiment won't accept their pay he won't accept his either. Matthew Broderick's character really acts as the voice of justice and leadership throughout the movie. He has to make hard calls like how far he wants to push the soldiers. His character is one of the only ones that never babies them or treat them as anything less than soldiers, but doing that comes with a cost. He is forced to order a whipping of Denzel Washington's character and stands when he runs away. Matthew's character shows that leadership is not a game.

Character development is what really drives this movie forward. Denzel's character of Trip, a runaway slave who doesn't care for anyone but himself, changes as the movie goes on. He learns how to listen and respect authority to eventually in the climatic beach scene carry the flag by himself.

I would highly recommend this to a person who doesn't like war movies as it wasn't too bloody and had more emotional impact than just violence or gore. The soundtrack is outstanding, and I'm really bitter this movie wasn't nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.