Filmmaker reacts to Glory (1989) for the FIRST TIME!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2022
- Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Glory. :D
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Original Movie: Glory (1989)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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Let me know the moment you remembered most from this film.
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Watching DELIVERANCE (1972) for the first time Friday/Saturday! Enjoy the day!
"Give 'em hell, 54th!"
The most memorable scene for me was the singing therapy session they did right before the last battle. The brotherhood and understanding between all of them was touching.
If you want to know more about the military tactics, procedures etc, I highly recommend the TH-cam channel Brandon F. He tends to focus more on war of independence stuff, but much of the same practices were still being used up to the civil war.
I saw this movie as a kid and the part where the man gets the explosion in the face in the beginning always scared me. Later in life in the US Army I now have an affinity for anyone going through Basic Combat Training. Though difficult, BCT and the Army was one of the best experiences of my life. Now, older and seeing your reaction if fills me with sadness. When you say, "[fathers gone...a generation gone...], lives not given the chance to live through war or even something as simple as car accident. I cherish the life I have. This movie, now, helps me reflect on living life to the fullest (as much as is within reason) for all the people that gave or lost their lives before me.
For years I was a Civil War Reenactor. I was asked these questions all the time. Up to the adaption of rifled weapons ( a spiral drilled in the bore of the gun that increased accuracy ) muskets, the main infantry weapon was terribly inaccurate. To make up for this men fought in line formation and fired volleys of bullets all at once. The mass of fire compensation for inaccuracies . Most of the South began with smooth bore muskets, while the North manufactured better weapons.
Tactics, especially at the beginning of the war were unchanged from the 17th century.
By the end of the war , machine guns ( Gatling guns ) trench warfare with barbed wire and even observation balloons would come into play. It was a evolving war.
"It starts being his story, then it turns into their story, and now it's history."
Well put!
Hi James, I am a Civil War Historian. I've been a fan of your channel for quite some time. Wars had been fought in this manner for quite some time. It worked because the muskets soldiers used were smoothbore and not very accurate, they had to line up in densely packed lines and fire at each other from yards away to actually hit anything. The problem with the Civil War was technology had advanced, these guys were shooting at each other with rifles that could hit a target accurately hundreds of feet away. It's why the casualties were so horrendous. The tactics hadn't caught up with the technology yet.
Carryover from the Napoleonic era. Jomini type tactics had been taught at West Point all through the early half of the 19th century. As the war progressed those type of tactics became less & less common. They learned the hard way
It was also the question of control. The soldiers had to be close enough for commands to be heard over the noise of the battlefield.
As is always the case. Technology moves faster than the ability to determine the use of it. As you also know, they had this exceptionally awful piece of ammo for smoothbore musket use called Buck N Ball and what it did at Sunken Road.
It is a theme that repeats itself in history. Weapons get deadlier but the tactics are still one one war behind. Like how the introduction of the machine gun in WW1 completely changed the battlefield. There were still cavalry units at the outbreak of WW1 that still wore plate chest armor. The early part of that war fought outside of the trenches was extremely brutal.
I was trying to compose a way of saying this and you said it better than I could. Thank you.
One fairly significant point about Denzel Washington's character in the movie.
The real person carrying the flag was William Harvey Carney, a former slave. He survived the battle and carried the flag back to union lines, after which he said; "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground". For his courage at the battle he was awarded the metal of honour.
Born a slave in Norfolk, VA, on February 29, 1840, William Harvey Carney escaped through the Underground Railroad and found his father in Massachusetts. The two men were eventually able to buy the rest of their family out of slavery. Carney enlisted in 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry in February 1863.
He received the Medal of Honor for saving the American flag despite being wounded several times. Carney was wounded twice more as the troops struggled to retreat under fire. When he made it back to the Union lines, he handed the colors over to another soldier, saying “Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!”
Nearly four decades after the war ended, he became the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor. After the war he worked in a post office and was a popular speaker. He died December 9, 1908 in Boston and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford.
Citation for MoH (Civil War Sergeant, Company C, 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, U.S. Army. Awarded for actions at Fort Wagner, SC.
July 18, 1863): "When the color sergeant was shot down, this soldier grasped the flag, led the way to the parapet, and planted the colors thereon. When the troops fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which he was twice severely wounded."
Damn, that's a great story. So many wonderful and amazing stories to be found in real life - there's no need for so many superhero films. William Carney WAS a superhero!
@@Farscryer0 thank you so much for sharing his story, may his memory never be forgotten
I saw Glory in the theater. You could've heard a pin drop when the credits rolled. Incredibly powerful movie.
Same here. Back in Boston, matinee show (hey, college student, $) when it came out. Only film to date I actually sat through the credits until lights came back on. Still one f my personal Top 5.
Remember watching this film for the first time and loving every bit of it until THAT ENDING. I was thinking, "What? They... LOST??" I was thinking "what was the point of this story?". And then that epilogue came and it detailed exactly why the defeat of the 54th Massachusetts was such a critical moment in both the Civil War and American history. Their bravery even in the face of overwhelming defeat inspired an entire nation and led to the influx of hundreds of thousands more troops which ultimately turned the tide of the war.
Because people either forget or simply aren't aware that the Civil War was actually far in the South's favor, and if it wasn't for this particular moment in history, the South could very well have won-- and the Union would have been split and slavery would have persisted... well into the 20th Century, perhaps beyond. It was that realization that hit me like a ton of bricks. This film and this story greatly realigned my perception of American history. And it just irks me that this incredibly important historical moment is not taught widely in schools. Why doesn't everyone know this story??
Something I don't see often discussed is the impact a film has on public education. This movie came out on VHS when I was 12, and from 7th grade to my senior year, watched it in class around 4 times.
That's facts. 90s kids grew up with this movie and it was a huge impact on us.
Yeah I saw this movie like 3 times throughout highschool. Which is why when I became an adult I was shocked to find out that racists still existed.
I remember watching it in school also
Same, 1st time was 7th grade. I remember the black kids looking proud by the end. But, I was in Iowa, so there were also the kids whispering N word jokes to each other.....
I saw that in school too, and I am Brazilian 😂
Denzel, Morgan, Matthew, and Cary get mentioned with regards to this film…Big shout out to Andre Braugher for his performance as Thomas
I was going to say, I love his performance particularly. I voted for this one real quick on the poll and there are so many iconic scenes it is hard to name just one. All the actors are all outstanding in this. 😭😭😭
Yeah, he was kind of the unsung hero of this cast. Thomas' character arc was so powerful and so perfectly acted by Braugher. He also gave a really good performance in The Tuskegee Airmen, a movie about the first black pilots in WWII.
Yes, the character of Thomas was very important in this film. He probably felt out of place in New England white society and felt out of place among his regiment. It definitely wouldn't have been as good a film without his character.
This was the Andre’s breakout role. He was absolutely terrific.
Andre Braugher - is very underrated as an actor in my opinion, of course.
Glory is one of my favorite movie of all time. Sad that the 54th Regiment memorial was vandalized months ago by people who do t know their history. I’m glad someone with a community on social media can share Glory to others. Even if only one viewer has discovered this movie, it’s a great service.
Yeah we're not going there. The memorial wasn't vandalized, it was used as a billboard to police abuse. The men immortalized in that memorial would have been 1000% in support of the memorial being used to call out police brutality against their own descendants.
black lives matter and all cops are bastardized
They know history, they are history, they're still fighting the civil war
I first watched this when I was a early teen, I'm 35 now, I'm not black, or American, I'm a white Irish/Canadian guy, and the impact this movie made on me was huge, its an absolutely incredible story and really inspiring, regardless of if you're white or black or even an American, the end made my 70 year old grandpa cry, they might of lived as slaves, but fought, and died as free men so that their descendants wouldn't have to
Ed Zwick is an incredible director - Glory, Courage Under Fire, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, Blood Diamond, Defiance - all are worth the watch.
That's a forgotten one right there! Courage under fire. Great Denzel performance.
Interesting to know, especially given the similarities in the scenes where both Brodrick and Cruise challenge unprepared soldiers to shoot under stress.
Blood Diamond is one of the most impactful movies I have seen.
Jack Reacher 2
@@luxurybuzz3681 ..yeah well...hit and miss even with Tom C. in THE wrong role? (and you KNOW that anything EPIC has to be about/with Superheroes...nowadays 😞)
This is one of the 10 greatest films ever made in my opinion. Writing, directing, cinematography, editing, acting, score, and just overall importance have rarely ever come together so perfectly. It may also be the most perfectly paced historical epic ever.
“ This story could have been told by any one of these characters, and it would’ve been phenomenal“
This is an excellent way of putting it. Thank you for adding some criteria for my concept of “good” writing.
Nominated for 5 Oscars
It won
Best Supporting Actor Denzal Washington
Best Sound Mixing
Best Cinematography.
Driving Miss Daisy, also starring Morgan Freeman, won that year. IMO Glory should have won.
Most people knew GLORY should've won....Driving Ms. Daisy?? Really? C'mon man.
Battles were thought in mass formations like this because at the time the thing that often won the day was the Bayonet. In a war of physicality rather than marksmanship, it was your mass of bodies vs their mass of bodies and the tighter you packed everyone together the more effective they became in a charge or in defence against a charging enemy, Safety was in numbers and was preferable to be caught on your own out in the open. Another factor was the importance of volley fire, Though Rifled muskets were coming into use during this time, they were still slow to load and the battlefield was completely different to a modern battlefield due to the use of old gun powder which created a thick blue-grey smoke that would create massive visibility problems linger on the battlefield for hours after the fighting had ceased, It was easy for men to get lost and wander off so they kept everyone in bright identifiable uniforms and in close formation, though there were light infantry with special training to fight in an open formation in these conditions, trying to get the larger groups of men to create fire superiority or any of the other functions needed from them in the chaos of this would impossible if they weren't in close formation.
The mass formations were in use this way simply so the officers could communicate their orders to their troops,formations like this disappeared with the advent of the field radios . Even in WWI the primary advancements were mass charges.
This also was the war that changed how wars would be fought as the European countries took note of the tactics used and the loss of life on both sides. It's why world war one would become a trench war.
Adding onto that, the rows and rows of formations using volley fire was also a holdover from the days of smoothbore rifles firing round balls. They were way less accurate, so you had to rely on a withering hail of bullets to have any effect.
By the time of the Civil War, they not only had rifled barrels, but conical ammunition. Older battle tactics mixed with much better weapons lead to the Civil War being particularly brutal for the men who fought in it.
The infantry tactics shown here, in Glory, were still pretty much those as used in Barry Lyndon, some 100 years earlier. And, as shown in Paths of Glory, they still held in World War 1 up until late 1918. Massed ranks marching against smooth-bore muskets were the way war had always been done for the last 300 years. It took a great deal of courage (or fear of punishment) to march into those battles. There was some early trench warfare in the civil war, but little notice of it was taken in Europe.
The various technological changes, rifled guns, machine guns, rifled artillery etc (and even aerial spotting from balloons) were first employed in the civil war. It wasn't until Rawlinson (UK), Monash (Australian) and Currie (Canadian) developed combined arms warfare, in mid to late 1918, that a successful method of attack was used in WW1. And it was greatly studied afterwards in Germany, to become blitzkrieg warfare as used in WW2.
There were very few bayonet charges in the Civil War
Glory is the best American Civil War movie made to date in my opinion. It has great acting, excellent big battle scenes, a moving story, a top notch score, and a lot of emotional heft. I'm glad you finally got to see it.
This movie needs to be watched more than once! Brilliant film!
This movie changed my life. I saw this when I was 9 and it was the first time I’d ever seen anything like this. I eventually enlisted in the Army as a musician and had volunteered for service in Iraq 2004-2005. The movie, the letters from the soldiers I read, and the letters from Col Shaw really helped me understand the why and I thought how unique it’d be to part of this story; like one of those drummers, I was able to show what I could do.
I remember the first time I saw this as a kid. Seared into my memories and has stayed with me to this day! Such a fantastic movie!
Agreed! Happy to hear it had that affect!
Great point that you made @ 26:55 It would've been so easy for the writers to take the "White Saviour" route with this movie. Shaw ended up being more of an ally in my eyes amongst the men he was leading. I appreciated that the White characters in this movie weren't just one note. They weren't all just filled with hatred for Black people. Yes, some of them WERE despicable, but others were complex, and we saw their individual perspectives based on their experiences during that time in America.
Exactly. I considered them as test! Everyone went through trials that not only tested their resilience and training in battle..but on an entire human element as well!
One thing I notice with Edward Zwick films is that he really focuses on the eyes of the actors. Lots of shots pushing in and allowing us to read the faces of the characters, creating a connection and pulling us into their world.
This movie murders me. It just makes me sob uncontrollably. When I first saw this film, I was so distraught, I didn't think I'd ever be able to watch it again. I thought it was an amazing film but also completely emotionally devastating.
This movie is a masterpiece and gives me chills every time I watch any part of it. James Horner's musical score is one of my all time faves and is on constant rotation in my listening que.
Glory is one of my all time favorite movies.
It's weird to say this is my favorite war movie, especially as racism and overcoming are the main themes, and being a white man, I can't imagine. I cry every time I see it, in so many scenes, even when watching reactions. It's one of the most powerful films on the subject of racism I've ever seen, with The Help being a close second. Both movies are fantastic.
It’s one of my all time favorite movies. Denzel earned his Oscar for this film 10x over
@@TheMightyKent Denzel has deserved the Oscar in so many movies he's done, but I absolutely agree. When he was being whipped, and the tears began falling from his eyes, he said his inspiration was knowing his ancestors had actually endured that type of thing, and that scene alone get me bawling every single time.
@@micksailor4715 Same here. Such a powerful and moving scene and Denzel just sells it so believably. I don’t think I’ve ever made it through this film without tears at least 2 or 3 times throughout the movie.
@@TheMightyKent Absolutely. I at least teared-up, and definitely sobbed, at a lot of scenes, both inspirational and sad.
This is my favorite movie of all time and my favorite score. The scene where the confederate soldiers put Colonel Shaw in the mass grave with the soldiers of the 54th (which was done to insult him according to some historians) is my favorite. Shaw wouldn’t have thought of it an insult, he was with his men. And to me, I just always have the hope that all of the racial crap can maybe someday end. I hate racism in any form and it all just needs to stop. That scene just touches my soul, for some reason Denzel and Broderick together in that grave gives me hope. What a performance by Denzel and what an amazing score by the late James Horner.
That ending charge when they’re met with a barrage of bullets and cannon fire was so surreal. It felt like a fever dream from the sounds to the lighting, and even the expressions on the mens faces as they knew what was about to happen.
Felt like an expression with how it was shot. So many things colliding after the build up throughout the film.
Napoleonic military tactics changed after the civil war.
When this movie came out back in the day when I was in high school, even then the music was so powerful by the Harlem Boys Choir that I bought the soundtrack. So glad you saw it. One of my top 3 of ALL-TIME.
There's a line from the voice-over at the start of the movie with Shaw reading the letter he sent his mother to tell her he's been made Captain where he says something that always stuck with me. He says they're fighting for men and women whose poetry has yet to be written but which will presently be as enviable and as renowned as any. That's what this guy said to his mom 150 years ago before he went and died along the men he led and then his parents refused to take back his body and let it rest among his soldiers. Talk about walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
My Mother was a history teacher, and she made sure I saw this film as a kid. They show these different worlds with Denzel's character on one side, and Shaw on the opposite. Different lives, and experiences, and perspectives. Over the course of the film the distinction fades as a result of shared understanding. Denzel deserved a dozen Academy Awards for his performance in this film. That whipping scene wrecks me every single time I see it.
During the fort siege. When you said “anybody can be a protagonist”…. I say the regiment is the protagonist. It’s a living organism made up of many individual stories.
This overtook Apocalypto as my favorite reaction of yours. Facinating note: They shot the Denzel flogging scene a few times and everytime he dropped just one tear on cue; like he was only going to give them one tear. The other actors were in shock that someone could be so in touch with their emotions.
Ah! Happy to hear!!
Never knew that
Want to give a shout out to the haunting and beautiful score by James Horner. He should have won the Oscar for his work on this film. (Horner eventually won two Oscars for his work on “Titanic”.)
This is a movie I watched a lot as a kid. Started my interest in the Civil War and particularly movies about the Civil War. An absolutely fantastic movie.
They used to show this movie in school. Not sure if that's the case anymore.
If it isn’t, it should be. It’s brutal, but war IS brutal.
100% I'm 36 and saw it as a 9th grader in HS (2001)
I remember watching it in grade school. The cannonball taking that dudes head clean off really seared itself into my imagination. Still remember that scene almost 40 years later.
‘Glory’ is one of my favorite films. There are a few historical inaccuracies, but overall it’s not bad. The experiences of the first Blacks to fight for their freedom is definitely worth memorializing in a movie. They did a great job with it. By the end of the Civil War about 10% of the Union army was Black. Around 200,000 men. Somebody’s probably already mentioned this but the white soldier that gets in a fight and then later encourages them as they go off to battle is the writer of the film.
The reason it was fought in rows and columns was because the advent of the Minie Ball and Rifled Barrels had just recently come around and the tactics hadn't adjusted for the fact that these weapons were effective to 500+ yards. So to bring the most firepower to bear, they would gather in regiments (like you see here) and fire into the other ranks. (The old tactics were Fire once, then advance with the Bayonet. That tends to make *most* people run away, because an old flintlock musket took forever to load) but with the advent of the newer technology you could load much faster and old school charges (while they still repeatedly happened as seen here) were far less effective. That's why you saw two regiments stand there and pound the hell out of each other until one side couldn't maintain discipline or was depleted enough that they couldn't keep up the fire.
I was 15 years old when this came out. Glory was probably the very first film that moved me to tears. It was life changing, even at my young age. The heart stopping assault on Fort Wagner scene is one of the greatest pieces of cinema I have ever seen. It broke my heart to see all the characters we came to know and love died so heroically.
Definitely not a film that is easily forgotten.
As a Brit, this was one of the first films I saw that addressed this period of American history. The American civil war wasn’t really discussed in our history classes.
650,000 americans died in this war.Reconstruction of the south took 8/9 yrs.
Because,the Birtish were hoping to come back in too take takeoverbacking the South.
@@powerbad696 that’s truly tragic. To be fair to my history teacher though, he had to try to condense about 2000 years of our history into three years of lesson plans, so anything not directly related to Britain was always going to be cut. We did learn the footnotes of the war of independence, but only in the context of the Napoleonic wars, and even then most of the focus was on the careers of Nelson or Wellington (they made us watch a lot of “Sharpe”). Other than that, most of our History lessons were focused on; The Roman Occupation, The Norman Conquest, The Tudor Dynasty (Henry Vlll/ Elizabeth and the various ways we pissed off the Spanish etc), The Industrial Revolution, and the First and Second World Wars.
There was a little bit about the Conquistadors beating up the Aztecs, but that was about it as far as world history went.
The lack of American history, not just the civil war, was pretty much the same for me in Australia. I think it may have been covered in one or two classes. But fortunately I learned heaps from Gary Cooper, Audie Murphy, John Wayne, F Troop, and others. And the "How and Why" books, some of which I still have. And, of course, "1066 and All That".
@@dsmkrotj4990 Really ??? Didn't know that,I don't think the North would've allowed that.After all they won the war and now way they'd have a foriegn government backing a defeated South.
absolutely LOVE this movie! My sisters and I were OBSESSED with it when we were growing up. It was my family’s favorite film. we all cried every time we watched it. went to Boston and saw the memorial to the regiment and the Colonel. makes me emotional just thinking about it.
I wish more reactors would react to this film. It's important.
Fantastic reaction, thank you. I like the point you made that anyone could be a protagonist. You could say the movie has 4, Andre Braugher’s Denzel Washington’s, Morgan Freeman’s, and Matthew Broderick’s characters. Even minor supporting roles like Carey Else’s’ sand the Irish drill sergeant demonstrate more respect as the movie progresses.
Robert Gould Shaw was 26 when he was killed. It just blows my mind that he led a body of ~1,000 soldiers (on paper) and was expected to figure everything out in the face of active resistance on the part of fellow officers.
I love your point about the camp song therapy thing. A big theory on how soldiers handled PTSD back in the day 100+ years ago was that they ended up just talking a lot of things out because they had to march almost everywhere on foot, marching for weeks or even months at a time. Even in the most stoic cultures that will eventually lead to a sense of community and barriers falling between men.
Makes absolute sense too. All that time!
Not getting on you in the least. Today therapists say PTS and leave off the D, as disorder has a negative implication amongst therapists. Great movie that explored the depths of PTS as seen by this retired therapist and professor.
Interesting! Studying its effects/how it manifested in the premodern era can be difficult as it's not specifically named since they just didn't know about that stuff back then, but there's lots of records of stuff that we can read between the lines on such as seasoned knights sometimes getting the hand shakes, Viking berserkers that would wake up in a screaming rage from reliving a nightmarish battle in their sleep, etc...@@Smenkhaare
For sure my friend... for sure. We are pretty much the same throughout the eras. We just don't recognize it... and/or over paper over it.@@jamesm1
Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman's performances here made them stars, but Andre Braugher is amazing, too. He went on to turn in great performances week after week in Homicide: Life on the Streets.
Homicide is such an amazing series and Braugher is brilliant in it.
This film has such a huge heart. The breadth and depth amaze me every time I watch it. When Denzel picks up the flag and shouts "C'mon" to his compatriots OMG!
The head exploding is kind of an Ed Zwick calling card. For most of his films the most brutal moments happen early on to establish just how bad conflict is, and for the most part he is less in to action, and more in to how the action affects people.
If you can get a hold of it, there is a great commentary by Ed Zwick that was on my DVD copy. It's impressive how accurate a lot of the story is, including yes, the officers refusing to be paid until the men were paid fairly. The one tragedy is that the soldiers are 'synthetic', composites of some of the anecdotes of the real soldiers, but the real unit was a lot more drawn from the north, so were better educated than they are portrayed here. There were some freed and escaped slaves, but it wasn't the majority if I remember correctly.
The bit of casting that most impressed me was Matthew Broderick - when the film started, I thought he sounded far too weak to be a colonel, which ends up working so well with his journey as he grows in to a role he didn't deserve but ending up earning.
One of my favourite details about the film is the prayer before battle, where they sat around the campfire singing was inspired by the extras! When the African-American community heard it was going to be made, a lot of people volunteered to be a part to make it authentic, and one night when the writer and the director were walking through the campsite in the rain, they heard the extras singing, and they made the scene (that runs for about five minutes when you time it, but flies by) where the soldiers have that declaration of faith on the night before. So many great performances through the film, and Denzel in that scene is spectacular.
They even got the period era shoes right.
Massed rank formations were used in large part because of the limitations of the technology of the era. The rifles they used at the start of the war were smoothbore muskets. Those rifles were largely inaccurate and required massed volleys of fire to be effective. Though the Confederate and Union forces did switch to the substantially more accurate rifled-barrel rifles (that spun the bullet upon firing increasing the accuracy of the rounds) the military tactics used during the war weren't adapted as swiftly.
Additionally, tying the end of your line into the line of the company next to you helped ensure cohesion during combat in an era where there were no electronic communications, massed-volley firing ensured that commanders wouldn't be heard more than a few dozen feet away, and lingering gunpowder smoke quickly obscured the battlefield.
Yeah, the American Civil War was the last major war to use those types of tactics. By the time of the Boer war, rifle accuracy forced new, more modern, infantry tactics to be employed.
British military observers of civil war battles said the both sides were hesitant to use bayonet charges which they credited for the very high casualty numbers. It is apparently easier for men to stand up to steady musketry than it is to stand against a bayonet charge.
@@mccleod6235 and the U.S. Civil War also saw the first large scale use of trench warfare during the sieges of Vicksburg and Petersburg; as well as the use of the first rapid-fire Gatling gun which was the precursor to machine guns.
It's really interesting how many new technologies were introduced during the Civil War. I imagine if I was alive at the time my mind would have blown seeing an ironclad warship in a river.
I first watched this movie decades ago. I’ll never know what some folks have and continue to go through. Just promised myself that I’ll treat everyone the same dignity and respect that all humans should have. Hating someone based upon the colour of their skin, education level, or economic ties doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve hated the actions of individuals yes, but a whole group seems alien to me.
Thank you for giving a different perspective of this movie.
Cheers man.
Cheers my man. Great way of living right there.
I first saw Glory when I was 13 in my 8th grade history class. I was so glad that I sat in the front and could hide my face behind my hair so no one could see me crying at the end battle.
First saw Glory in my 8th grade history class and it had a massive impact on me. Interesting to scroll through the comments and see how many of us watched it in school. It’s such a fantastic film, one of my all-time favorites. And that score!! Woof. I’m tearing up just watching these brief clips haha 🥲
Battles were fought in this style because of the weapons, equipment, and strategic goals. Armies were trying to gain control of key production infrastructure, usually cities. The outlying areas were of minimal use. One force would be trying to protect these areas, and the other was trying to take it. Mobility and speed was limited, and you could not move away from your supply lines for long. A large force was required to defeat a large force of defenders. Defenders would not allow “sneak attacks”, they would cut away all cover to force an attack across open ground. In real life, soldiers did generally seek cover behind trees, low walls, hills, etc. Given the weapons at the time, Infantry volley fire was one of the most effective ways to break an enemy force.
Ahhhh, thank you for that! Realizing technology and equipment renders movements HEAVILY during wars this time period.
@@JamesVSCinema Not fighting in ranks and using cover and hit and run tactics was a significant factor is the US war for independence. The British Army simply couldn't effectively bring it's forces to bear on it's opponent. Think the ending battle between the British and the American Indians in The Last Of The Mohicans, which you have watched.
The US forces adopted these tactics because they had witnessed their effectiveness in battle in the conflicts before the war for independence.
These hit and run tactics were a factor in why the US had so much trouble with the Native Americans.
This is also the war that showcased many of the flaws in the Napoleanic style infantry volleys. After this came the Boer War in southern Africa and then it took WWI to eventually train that mindset out of the generals of the time.
@@douglascampbell9809 that is true. It wasnt just tje technology limitations. Battles could have been fought differently, but everyone wanted to fight like Napoleon, at least until near the end when it transitioned into a prototype of trench Warfare
"Why did they fight like that" - To oversimplify quite a lot, they were using outdated tactics because the technology of small arms had advanced not insignificantly since the last major war. At one point and time lining up and firing on mass was about the only way to effectively fight with muskets. However, muskets and rifles in the Civil War were more accurate over longer range and could be loaded and fired faster and large unit tactics hadn't advanced in peacetime. By the end of the Civil War there were limited usage of trench fortifications similar to what you see in the First World War, so there was some response to the change in technology. What's insane is because the war was confined to America, the lessons learned were totally lost on Europe so the earliest battles of the WWI started with lines of infantry walking toward one another. Needless to say the Machine Gun put and end to that almost immediately, but it goes to show how stagnant tactics become in peace time.
Yes, changes in military tactics due to new technology usually only come about after a war like this. It's basically impossible to adjust on the fly, especially when you have generals leading troops all over the map and no good way to communicate with them. The enemy is coming and you have to make military decisions, and most people will resort to what they were trained to do.
So true words.
you put it so well when you said all these men are carrying their past & it's baggage but this endeavor was something that had to be done & required them to move forward & trust each other & serve for each other
Great movie, I think this was the first time I became aware of Denzel & Morgan, loved them both ever since...
Of all the scenes in this film, the flogging scene is the hardest to watch. I know it happened- both in the slave context and in regular Army punishment- but that close-up of Washington was brutal.
It didn't happen. Flogging had been banned since 1861. One of the few historical mistakes in this great film.
I don't know anyone who has seen this film who doesn't remember that scene with Denzel Washington's character getting whipped while staring down Matthew's character. There's a reason why Denzel won for Best Supporting Actor that year. Hugely well deserved, especially for a performance so powerful without uttering a single word.
The Color Purple! You’re going to love it💛
They used Shaw as a protagonist because he was their primary research source. He didn't just write the letters in the film but extensively wrote about the 54th every day. There are few firsthand accounts of any of the black regiments that survived and the collection of his writing is the largest and most valuable. So from a writing perspective it absolutely makes sense to start with his, and then tell other perspectives. The problem isn't that this movie was told with Shaw as the protagonist. The problem is that this is the only movie about a black regiment that Hollywood's made. And yeah, Last Samurai was garbage.
Thanks for doing this great and oddly mostly forgotten movie. You've won me over as a subscriber for doing it.
Glad to have ya!
Yeah. I'm an old'ish, white Scotsman and I cried like a little girl too James.
You know that epic song of epicness that plays at the end of the final assault on the fort with the epic chorus and the epic brass of sheer epicness that you hear played all over the place, all the time. Came from this movie!
Hey James,
Great reaction, I've loved this movie since it came out, and the story is so good that many of the technical aspects you pointed out like the camera work and things I never noticed before, but they definitely add to the impact of the film in subtle yet powerful ways. As far as moments go, there are so many it's hard to pick just one. The scene with Shaw firing the revolver behind the private's head always struck me - there's a difference between training something dangerous and doing it for real, and it's common for people to underestimate that when they are training. The look of panic on the private's face captured that so well.
This was one of the last wars to be fought like this; the machine gun was invented twenty years later and by the Spanish-American war and later World War I, what we'd start to recognize as "modern warfare" started to emerge. People talk about the horrors of war, but this movie really shows the PTSD side of things like you said in nearly every shot.
Regarding the medical side of things that you commented on, twice as many folks died in the hospital than on the battlefield.
Approximately 2% of the US population died in the Civil war - roughly 620,000 soldiers. Of those, two thirds of them were due to infection or disease. Most civil war bullets were about TWICE the size of the modern 9mm bullet, and they went A LOT slower, so, while it's common for a modern bullet to go clean through an arm or leg, the civil war era bullets would leave a much bigger hole and shatter the bones into a bunch of pieces. If the arm or leg was shot and the bones splintered all over the place, they weren't going to be able to set it and repair it, and with such a high likelihood of gangrene setting in (this was before antibiotics), they had to just take the leg or arm off, often using a handsaw without any anesthesia - at best they'd give the patient whiskey first.
It's hard to even imagine something like that today, thank God for modern medicine
Cheers
I just finished watching Glory (1989) after seeing Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Schindler's List (1993). Three masterpiece films of cinema. I saw Glory many times in the early-90s. Still an amazing movie after 34 years. With Oppenheimer out, I'm in a binge watch for war films even if many of them are heavy to rewatch.
Glory's music is soaring! Thank you to the late-James Horner and the Boys Choir of Harlem. Now that's a very moving war movie about sacrifice and about two races coming together as one. I still have tears in my eyes because how much emotion I felt watching it so many years later.
Listen to Glory's "Charging Fort Wagner" and the closing credits. It's the same unbelievable feeling after you see the ending to The Shawshank Redemption and Top Gun: Maverick. The music absolutely soars!! Glory is the only film I ever liked Matthew Broderick in. I always found him too soft in other films.
Glory has one of the best end credit songs next to the mediocre-rated Far and Away (1992) which has Enya's "Book of Days" at the end. Now that Enya song feels epic after you watch Far and Away. John Williams worked on that film and it's amazing like pretty much any of his work.
Glory is a film to never forget. It's a film I first saw maybe when I was 11 or 12 on cable circa 1991-1992 and made me want to write a history report on the Civil War in the 6th grade (1992-1993). Still remains one of the greatest films I've ever seen. I'm not African-American but I want those who are to always be proud of the heroes and events chronicled by this great film.
One of my favorite movies. As an African American who served 24 years in the military in strikes a very special chord with me especially given the struggles that still go on today.
Such a beautiful film, I cry every time and that soundtrack! Amazing. Glad you got to check it out. Seems like this film flies under the radar a lot but it is so wonderful and worthy of a watch.
Excellent reaction. You are really on point the whole time. Subscribed.
I’m happy to hear this!! Glad that a lot of people enjoyed the comments on this film. Brilliant piece of art right here!
One of many reasons they were still using military tactics that dated back to the 17th century: there came a point when the armies were so physically close that there was no more time for re-loading a single shot musket. You fixed your bayonet on your rifle, or you grabbed your saber, or whatever you had handy, and you set about killing your enemy face-to-face, the old fashioned way.
One of my all time favorite films. Gratitude for your insightful review
This movies guts me. No one does the single tear like Denzel. Was once part of a conversation on what movie is the most “American” movie ever made and this was my suggestion.
I was so excited to see this on my notifications. Glory is a movie that everytime I watch it my heart swells. The feeling, the emotion I have when I watch it is so hard to put into words. I cry every single time even tho I have watched this film at least 50 times. Denzel won an Oscar for best supporting actor for glory too. I also love the music to this film. The Harlem boys choir is what you hear a lot in the soundtrack. James Horner composed this soundtrack. He’s the GOAT to me. He also did braveheart. My parents live in SC on the beach and just last year we all visited the museum in Charleston where FT Wagner was. Ft Wagner today is all under water in the ocean but it felt very moving to there where that battle happened. I salute you!! Love your reactions. You are so smart and articulate and I just love watching you ❤️❤️. Sending love and good vibes
Ah! Appreciate the kinds words truly, thank you! 🙏🏽♥️
Really glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for such meaningful commentary and speaking the truth about what you were feeling. And you're absolutely right. So many of us will never understand the way you do and it was kind of you to share that.
This and Shawshank are my 1 & 2 movies.
The story, the acting, the characters, the music. Brilliant.
This is one of those movies where I'm sobbing at the end. Because of how well it was handled, and of the history it tells.
james, i'm so glad i found your channel. i love the movies you react to and your perspective while watching them. i almost didn't watch this one because this movie makes me so emotional. the scene where denzel's character is whipped is beautifully acted and you can just feel everything he's feeling. incredible acting from mr. washington. anyway, thank you for reacting to this one.
This is, far and away, my favorite movie of the 80's. So powerful, such an amazing cast, an amazing score to back it all up.
this film is an underrated masterpiece and one of my favorites.
I remember seeing this in middle school. Really sparked my interest in the civil war.
Thanks for this, great stuff as always. So excited for this. Was so hoping you would get to this one (think i mentioned it on another DW reaction) for a very long time as it is truly a great film and one that I felt would reach you deep. The cast do such a stellar job. The score is exceptional. The story and heart are wonderful. it is just an incredible film on all levels. As always stay awesome, stay genuine.. much love
For context, my grandmother was the baby of her family and her parents were slaves. The people in this movie are the same people that raised our grandparents and great grandparents. These things are not that far removed from us today. I was raised by my grandmother when I was a young kid. Something to think about.
Thank you for your reaction. Another outstanding Civil War movie is Gettysburg. It is very long but very historical accuracy.
This is an all-timer. One of my favorite films ever. I hope you do big numbers so more reactors will discover it.
This film and the score continues to be one of my favorites!!
Although the movie doesn't mention it, Lewis Henry Douglass, Fredrick Douglass' eldest son enlisted in the 54th when it was founded, and rose to the rank of Sergeant Major. Charles Remond Douglass, Fredrick Douglass' youngest son also enlisted in the 54th but became ill and didn't ship out with them. He was reassigned to the 5th Massachusetts Regiment where he served until 1864 when he was medically discharged.
One of my favorite films. The entire cast is great. I always thought of Mathew Broderick as being a lightweight actor before I saw this. This film changed my mind his performance as Shaw is incredible. This film should have won Best Picture that year. The ending brings tears every time I watch it.
This is one of my top favorite films. It's deeply powerful. I'm glad you enjoyed it as well
Great movie that was a big deal at the time, but which gets overlooked these days. Fantastic performances from everyone in this movie. PS: You're doing Deliverance? Nice! Psyched to see that next! You have GREAT subscribers!
Glory is (seriously) one of my favorite war films, despite some knit-picking inaccuracies. However, you asked the question of why the rank-and-file style of battle. So, as a total military history nerd, I'm gonna' try to answer this. In the time of the Greeks, the Egyptians, and later the Romans, the formation was called a phalanx. It was basically a square formation of different "battalions" that gave field-commander a given amount of control (though banners, messengers, and signaling) over the movement of their army. Later, when ballistic arms came about, this same formation (circa 17th century) became known as a "Tercio," which is pikes (a pike is simply a spear that is in excess of, at least, 12 feet) supporting musketeers. During this same time, some commanders (such as Gustav II Adolf of Sweden) would start using more of an extended line (opposed to a block formation) that relied more firearms than spears. By the 18th century, infantry would organize in lines rather than squares, and would have no pikemen, and this style would prevail into the time of the American Civil War. However, critical advancements had been made during the interim: better machining had made rifled guns more practical. Then there was Claude-Ettienne Minie (not sure if I spelled that right) that invented a bullet that was more conical than spherical. The result was that the rifled musket of the Civil War had about four times the effective range than is 18th century counterpart. While the weapons had changed, the tactics hadn't... did that help?
I've seen this five times. Will hopefully live long enough for five more. Brilliant piece of work!
Excellent reaction--I learned a lot about a movie I have loved for a long time. Thanks.
Hi James. I'm a civil war reactor for the 29th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, another Black unit, and I just saw your reaction video. I don't usually watch things like this, but I was browsing and saw thumbnails from different people on the movie, which made me curious about what YOUR reaction was. When I saw the movie, it was in the theater. When it was over there wasn't a dry eye in the place. I loved it so much, I saw it again, but this time, I more watched the audience. I saw the wonder from those who never knew this happened. The laughter and the sadness, of course the tears. And then, the pride. Black men after wiping their eyes, standing a little taller. Walking straight and with purpose. Their dates, holding them a little tighter, looking up at them as if they were gold. My buddy and I were still in the service at the time. His cousin came with us. Her mouth was still wide open with astonishment, asking us if it was like that for us, she was profoundly moved, asking questions throughout the rest of the day. I'm not sure if anyone addressed any of your questions, except for one on tactics used at the time, but at what point you asked about the young lady blurred in the background at the ball in SC. That "chick behind" Shaw, if they were following the actual events, was Charlette Thorton, a schoolteacher and possibly, eventually Shaw's "girlfriend". They had some kind of a relationship while Shaw was deployed in the area and according to letters really had a thing for each other. Back to the tactics, someone had already commented and was absolutely correct about the weapons being better than they were expecting, even though they were muzzle loading. But to understand why they did it in the first place, you have to understand Napoleonic tactics. When the tactics were first developed, a musket could only "guarantee" a hit within 30-60 yards. The whole idea used to be to amass their fire in one direction so they could get within bayonet range to do the "real" work. After awhile in the US Civil War, they learned how to make hits at up to 300 yards, so soon they dispersed into smaller, more effective units and only used the bayonets for cooking. One last thing, I'm still kind of upset about two things from the movie: 1) Through some research, i found out that the poetic license they took with Col. Montgomery really did him dirty. (Research him yourself and be shocked) 2) Brodderick should've won the Oscar along with Denzel Washington. They were THAT good. Take care.
Awesome reaction. Honestly such a good movie.
And to answer your question at the beginning as to why wars of the time period used to fought that way; basically since firearms were not as accurate back then as they are now, the most optimal strategy was to pretty much have mass formations within somewhat close proximity shooting all at once. It definitely goes deeper as to the reasons why they did it this why, put that's the gist of it. And of course this wasn't strictly the ONLY way to fight. Guerrilla style tactics were still employed back then also, it just wasn't the "official" strategy.
one of my favorite movies of all time. the end gets me every time
Long live the 54th Massachusetts. o7 Semper Fidelis Men. Great reaction to a great movie. So many people forget history... one of the things that hurt my soul during the BLM movement and unrest that followed was that a monument to these great men was defaced, painted on. I was sitting there like "Do you even know who they were? What they did? I couldn't believe it... but I guess I'm a student of history, specifically Military so.. maybe they didn't. If so, it's a crime that they weren't told. We learned this story in School (in the south) and watched this movie in I believe 8th grade. Some stellar men in this group.
My history teacher snuck this movie into class and showed us it in 9th grade… such a great movie
I've seen this at least a dozen times since it first came out, and cry throughout it every single time.
I remember being blown away by this movie when it came out. We watched it in my 8th grade History class. It was weird seeing Matthew Broderick in a dramatic role, as I'd only ever seen him in comedies. I'm pretty sure this was the first film I ever saw Denzel Washington or Andre Braugher in. And while not the first time I'd seen Morgan Freeman, this was the movie that made me a fan.
Watching it many, many years later, I found it strange (though not for 1989) for the story to be told through a white character. However, I agree with you that by switching back & forth between Shaw and his men, I think it does lend some power, so perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea.
To this day, when the music starts up and the bells start ringing as they run across the beach, I become a blubbery mess.
I think the movie is based on actual letters Shaw sent home to his family which is why it is from his perspective.
I love this movie. I've been waiting for this reaction.
Huge fan of yours. So glad you did this one, one of my all time favorite films. I first saw it when it came out and it was the first movie I cried at. I was 17. It still makes me cry. 🇺🇸
No mater how many times I watch this movie it moves me emotionally and the courage showed by these men is extraordinary.
Rectangular formations were originally used as melee units, think 300, but once firearms entered the scene, the tactics took some time to catch up with the technology. Old tactics, new tech.
You should be very proud of the 54th. I am!!❤️