Glory: Special Edition

Chronicling the story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first black regiment to fight for the North in the Civil War, Edward Zwick's 1989 epic stars Matthew Broderick in an uncharacteristically effective dramatic performance as their leader, Bostonian abolitionist Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. The excellent supporting cast of Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Andre Braugher and Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar for his searing performance as an angry young runaway slave), breath substantial life into otherwise stock characters, and Freddie Francis' striking, Oscar-winning cinematography helps offset the occasionally turgid pacing. The 2-disc "special edition" features both full-screen and widescreen versions, as well as interesting (although sometimes repetitious) picture-in-picture audio/video commentary by Zwick, Broderick, and Freeman, deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes, and a 45-minute original documentary. Sure to be quite popular, this crown jewel amongst Civil War films is definitely recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—May 26, 2009—Sony, 122 min., R, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1989's Glory features a nice transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Edward Zwick, the 45-minute “The True Story Continues” documentary, an 11-minute “The Voices of Glory” featurette, the original “making-of” featurette (7 min.), six minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are a virtual Civil War battlefield interactive map, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut of Zwick's Oscar-winning Civil War drama.]