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| DIRECTED BY |
| Edward Zwick |
| STARRING |
| Matthew Broderick |
| Denzel Washington |
| Cary Elwes |
| Morgan Freeman |
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If not for its factual nature, I�d fault this film by calling the military tactics that we see in it completely idiotic. But, unfortunately, such flat-out stupid decisions did occur in war history, and the suicide mission that we see depicted at the end of �Glory� really did happen. For this reason, the film is commendable for its uncompromising portrayal of the atrocities, adversities, and heartbreaks that come hand-in-hand with war.
Certainly one of the most memorable aspects of �Glory� is its beautifully composed score by James Horner, which, when juxtaposed with Freddie Francis�s cinematography, makes for an effectively touching overall effect. The performances here were rightfully praised back in 1989, particularly Denzel Washington�s. The always-underrated Cary Elwes also brings a wonderfully charismatic presence to the screen. It�s clear that Matthew Broderick had all of the passion and intensity that was required for this role, but whenever he opens his mouth to speak I just can�t bring myself to buy his performance. His dialogue isn�t always delivered convincingly, and his accent even tends to fluctuate at times.
Zwick�s direction is smooth and solid; this film is constructed in the true �sweeping� style of an Oscar-winning epic, but - fortunately enough - decisions were made to not get out of hand with the potentially massive material, so �Glory� clocks in at a very manageable 122 minutes. What I really enjoyed about this big budget blockbuster is that it seemed to have no problem with taking shots at its own subject. The U.S. military isn�t glorified here in any way; if anything, war is depicted as being completely futile and just plain ugly.
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