“Glory” is a magnificent film based upon real historical events. It concerns the first black fighting regiment that the North utilized during the Civil War.

The film stars Matthew Broderick as Robert Gould Shaw, a young white Bostonian who takes command of the regiment. At first Shaw is hesitant to accept the position, but he ends up exhibiting considerable enthusiasm in his leadership role .

Broderick (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Family Business”) sports a beard in the film, but he still looks baby-faced and immature. At first his teen idol image works against him, but he is ultimately convincing in his role.

Broderick continually shows that he has outstanding leadership qualities. He is firm and demanding yet he also demonstrates that he has great compassion for his soldiers. He puts his men through a rigorous training program and he always pushes them to do their best.

At one point, a young black soldier runs off in order to obtain a new pair of shoes. Under military law, Shaw must have him whipped yet the act is extremely painful to him. Shaw seems to be holding back his tears as the soldier is publicly flogged.

“Glory” also explores the issue of racism during the Civil War. The soldiers want to fight but Broderick’s superiors give them a monotonous series of manual labor jobs. Shaw literally has to blackmail his superiors in order to get them to put his men on the battlefield.

The rest of the cast is uniformly superb. Denzel Washington plays Trip, a bitter runaway slave who risks freedom in order to prove himself. Searles, Andre Braughers’ character, is like the antithesis of Trip; he is polite, well-mannered and highly articulate. Cary Elwes plays Cabot Forbes, Shaw’s friend and confidant.

Morgan Freeman (“Driving Miss Daisy” and “Street Smart”)is also great in the role of John Rawlins, the most responsible and mature soldier in the regiment. Rawlins constantly gives his fellow soldiers support, encouragement, and advice. He deservedly becomes the first black field marshall.

Edward Zwick was the director of “Glory.” Zwick is best known for his work on “About Last Night” and the Emmy award winning “Special Bulletin.” Zwick’s movies always give us something interesting to look at and many of the scenic shots are bursting with color. A shot with the soldiers training under a hellish-looking orange sun is particularly striking.

“Glory” is a refreshing change of pace from the usual Hollywood Vietnam films. It manages to successfully recreate the Civil War era and it also contains several well orchestrated battle scenes. The film also shows the efforts a group of black men to gain some dignity in the only avenue that was available to them.