Glory (1989) Reaction/Commentary
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2023
- Hey All! I absolutely loved this film. The themes of racism it touched on, as well as great character development, and plenty of action make this one an absolute winner.
This was a reaction originally uploaded on my main channel. The original edited video had a lot less fancy editing tricks, and had a lot that could be improved upon. Now, after a handful of complaints about 'black screen', and with a more powerful PC to handle multiple-layer video editing, I've re-tooled it and made it easier to view.
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Col. Shaw reached the parapet of Wagner with his men before being shot dead with a bullet to the heart. He was 25 years old. The 54th Mass. Vol. Regiment was reactivated in 2008 as a Mass. National Guard ceremonial regiment. Because of this film, the current regiment is known as the "Glory Regiment."
Denzel more than earned that Oscar.
"GIVE'M HELL 54TH!!!" is where most people loose it !! Thank You for Your Service Mike !!
At 54:34, Yes, it is the actual monument of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in Boston, Massachusetts. It is near Boston Commons. I saw it years ago...I was just driving thru and it came out of no where. It was a monument/huge seal. I quickly realized that it was the exact same one in this movie. Man, history is amazing...and this film put it to the test!
I'm white and I want to give a big thanks and shout out to black soldiers who fought for their freedom and helped preserve our union
I love the monument to the 54th, the image that shows up at the end.
Unfortunately, the monument was desecrated in the 2020 riots with paint.
That is sad. Were they able to restore it?
@@mikewatchesstuff It was restored soon thereafter. You can see it in Boston Commons, right in front of the statehouse.
It was restored. It was defaced because people not knowing the history thought it glorified Shaw. In reality, most monuments back then would have never considered enlisted men, much less depict them.@@mikewatchesstuff
First time I saw this film as a 11 year old, I cried pretty hard when I saw the mass grave of all the soldiers. It still makes me tear up.
The monument shown for the closing credits is across the street from the Massachusetts legislature building in Boston.
Rawlins is a corporal then get promoted all the way up to sergeant major. These kinds of promotions were not uncommon during the Civil War. Regiments were mostly made up from state's militia's and were short on officers and NCO's. Hence Sergeant Major Mulcahey (late of the British Army) found a ready service as a senior drill instructor. Sergeant Major Mulcahy was a real person and he commented that the 54th Mass were the finest regiment he ever trained.
Flogging was the standard punishment for nearly everything in the 19th century, civilian, soldier, slave, free, white, black.
To say that flogging a deserter is "the same as the Confederacy" is a grave insult to the United States.
Flogging had been banned in the US Army by this time. A little bit later they banned it in the US Navy as well.
This is best reaction. Military is not a joke. As a military person you are top notch reaction
Remember that army clothing comes in two sizes: too small and too large.
You're right about the cannons at the end shot, they had "grapeshot" which is basically like a shotgun, but instead of small pellets, they were larger, about the side of grapes. Devastating against infantry at close range.
Shaw was commissioned by the State of Massachusetts, not the Federal Government. Many officers were commissioned that way. Some were appointed for political reasons.
Cannon, then could fire a variety of projectiles, even Canister, which, as the name implies, is a can or container full of lead balls or loose shrapnel, which has the effect of a huge shot gun.
Hey bud! Great review! It is based on a true story. There weren't too many liberties taken (the assault was actually from the south, not north). I saw this just before deploying to Bosnia in the early 90's and it had a bit effect on my outlook of life.
From one to another, thanks for your sacrifice.
When I did a college paper on the 54th, I noticed as I was looking at the assault map that it was, as you said, directly opposite of what was shown in the film.
The movie Glory is Hollywood's answer to Gone with the Wind. Both movies play heavily on the emotions and draw on largely upon the scriptwriter's imaginary views of mostly fictional characters or events. Every movie has a script, with lines for the actors to speak and directions for certain camera shots and scene changes. Either you dislike or like Glory or Gone with the Wind, then feel free to choose your poison. Just remember both movies are products of their time
The reason that infantry tactics had not evolved from the Revolution through WW1, is because military leaders felt that troops could not controlled properly to allow to have a change in tactics. The basic shoulder to shoulder rank was kept until the 1920s-30s. Also, weapons were so inaccurate that massed fire was the only way insure casualties on the enemy. This led to horrendous casualties, of course. After the advent of the Machine gun, everything changed.
That ending always gets me
Don't worry, they came begging for mercy in the end
The monument was by the man who designed the St Gaudens gold coins. It is located in Boston and represents the 54th Mass and col Shaw.
I really enjoyed your viewpoint on this movie. Gettysburg (1993) with Martin Sheen is also a fantastic movie.
I agree with the flogging of Trip. Shaw subjected him to the same punishment as any other soldier in the Army at that time. It would have been wrong of him to treat his soldiers any differently from the others. The truly sad part is that Trip wasn't actually deserting; we'll never know if he was given a chance to explain himself.
I really enjoyed your reaction to this movie and I'm also very fond of your shirt too ! ( GO COOGS ! )
A lot of Northerners were just as racist as the south. Enlisted ranks is completely different than we know it now. Officer were temporarily assigned during this war.
“Just as racist as the south” - except for actually owning slaves.
The military, in general, was much less formal than our modern counterpart, even where customs/courtesies are concerned, Especially more less so in a State Regiment than a US Regular regiment. Remember, when the war started, there were only 16,000 regular troops in the US Army. It had to depend upon the States to recruit, uniform and equip all those additional troops.
glad you know the nuances here, especially with that flogging situation. Just because something was standard practice in the past doesn’t make it a good thing if it was standard practice to kill all babies that coughed on the third day after birth, because we assumed based off of some random scripture that they’re not gonna make it or bring badness to the house, we can understand why motherfuckers did that type of shit, but it doesn’t make it right or advisable even if it’s a white regiment or a British regiment or any military. Corporal punishment, sure if you’re in that they’re preparing for war this is kind of par for the course, but straight up, flogging. Do you know how scared people who are Preston to naval service were of the cat of night tails. How many deserts did that cause most of the time for captains went overboard with their flogging punishments. The army was somehow different. Flogging was just not a good practice from military training and it would be good but not because somehow modern day makes it magically not ok
That relief is in Boston on the common. It was revealed at a ceremony in 1890, I think, and some of the survivors were there, including Sgt William Carney, the first African-American Medal of Honor winner, for his actions at Ft. Wagner. Also, as rank goes in the pre-WWI military of the United States, it was more awarded for positional authority, rather than anyone moving up the rank system like we do today. It was not uncommon to have young officers as, like in the ancient days of warfare, it was often based on money and status.
I absolutely love this film. My only beef is that portrayal of Colonel Montgomery. He was not like that at all. He was an absolute abolitionist who fought in the Bleeding Kansas affair. He raised the first two colored regiments, the first and second South Carolina, from slaves captured during his raids. Harriet Tubman went with him on the raid that happened just before the raid with the 54th. Shaw is critical of his methods in his letters, but never portrayed him to be a person who was racist. He believed wholeheartedly in the liberation of blacks from bondage. Still a fantastic movie.
I got punched in the forehead in 91 at basic. Left a ring welt for two days.
So much truth is not taught in schools
While the fort was never taken a US Naval Bombardment forced the Confederates to abandon the fort less than 2 weeks after the attack made by the 54th. From a military standpoint the attack on the fort by the US Army was completely unnecessary hundreds of people died due to interservice rivalry and the US armies premature attack on the fort. The film really did the dirty on James Montgomery completely defaming him (the commander of the other Black unit) not only was he not a former slaveowner he was a militant abolitionist who had been a major figure in the anti-slavery movement in the years before the US civil war. James Montgomery was the man who led the raid that freed Harriet Tubman and he later was instrumental in helping to set up the underground railway while he was known for his brutality against Confederate prisoners there is no evidence he ever mistreated the African American soldiers under his command. In addition while a brilliant scene the flogging never happened and Flogging was never a punishment in the US Army unlike the US Navy. In addition the unit never struggled for supplies like uniforms, etc in fact it the opposite as a pet project of the Governor of Massachusetts extra care was made to ensure they were given priority and all supplies were already in place before the first soldier even arrived in camp. I still love this movie but as a piece of History it is wildly inaccurate.
Kentucky was never "secesh."
Kentucky is, and always has been, a northern state.
This hill I will die on.
Either way, Montgomery wasn't, he was a rabid abolitionist that raised mercenary troops during the Bleeding Kansas affair. His depiction is my only real moment of dislike with the film, but I understand the need to have a character like that.
Cabot Forbes is a Second Lieutenant... so he jumps up to Major....
It wasn't stupid to fight that way. Even with the advent of rifled muskets and cannon, close order formation like you see here were still the only effective means of large scale combat. There were many reason for this, but chief among them were two: the average soldier's marksmanship (or lack thereof) still dictated that volley fire was more effective than lose formation, individual fire, and even more importantly, the lack of anything resembling what we would consider modern communications technology. All they had to communicate above the unbelievable noise, and through the dense black powder smoke, were bugle calls, drum cadences, dispatch couriers, and their own voices. In order to maintain the effectiveness of these forms of communication, close order formation was still very much a necessity in order to maintain any semblance of unit cohesion. (I'll add a complimentary third: the vast majority of soldiers in the Civil War were volunteers, who had very recently been civilians. These were not professional soldiers. Their companies and regiments were typically recruited from specific locales, and so the men in a particular company would often hail from the same county/ town/ or region of a state, and would therefor know each other...or at least would be familiar enough that they could carry word back home if you had shown cowardice in the face of the enemy.) The man to your left and right would serve as both a morale boost in battle, as well as a deterrent from making an "unauthorized retreat".
All this is to say that these men and their commanders were not idiots, nor did they have a death wish. The technology at the time had not, in fact, out paced the tactics, as is often touted by scholars. They fought this way because, believe it or not, it was still the best, most logical way to fight.
I also think you are correct in your assessment that Shaw should've substituted some other punishment instead of flogging. I think what the movie is trying to show, is that under the pressure of command, he may have unnecessarily fallen back on the "standard" way of doing things. Most of the time that works, but sometimes, as in the case of the flogging, it causes problems.
You could hit during training back then. And the racism was a common thing on both sides.
* Wagner was a sand fort; the Navy's solid shot cannonballs did little. The Confederates ultimately abandoned it.
* The 54th took the outer perimeter wall and held it for an hour before being forced to withdraw.
* In real life, Sgt. William Carney was the one who picked up the flag and held it, despite being shot multiple times. He fell behind the withdrawal but continued on despite his wounds, even refusing help from white Union soldiers. He made it back to the 54th bivouac, said "The old flag never touched the ground," then collapsed. He was promoted to sergeant, survived the battle *and* the war, and became the first Black American soldier to earn the Medal of Honor...which he would not receive until 1900. If you Google his name, you'll find photos of him.
That is an actual monument to the 54th Mass and Colonel Shaw located across from the Boston Legislative house...it is a beautiful monument. Supposedly the Navy stopped firing because in a time before radios they were afraid of short shots and hitting their own troops. I am with you... there should have been at least two weeks of Navy bombardment... not just four days. General Strong felt so bad at the loss of troops during the first two assaults on Fort Wagner that he led a third assault himself and was wounded. He died two weeks later from sepsis as a result of being wounded.
Due to erosion on Morris Island, the position of the Citadel Cadet Battery and the grave of the 54thMass soldiers, is out about 100 or so yards, into the water.
Are you sure about that? You can still see the outline of the fort in the sand, as far as I know.
www.google.com/maps/place/Fort+Wagner/@32.7231483,-79.8792311,2618m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x88fe7799377fe81d:0xea4d0d25b264528e!8m2!3d32.7244213!4d-79.8784221!16s%2Fg%2F11svk321b3?entry=ttu
Great reaction
Hey thanks for dropping in and watching with me
Basic is not intended to break a person down, that would be counterintuitive. The purpose of any training is to develop not break down.
Point of interest........Just a hundred or two hundred yards north of Ft Wagner, was the position of the Cadet Battery, manned by Cadets from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. They had 4 32-pounder guns and on the morning of 9 January 1861, fired upon the steamer Star of the West, as she attempted to enter Charleston Harbor, to reinforce St Sumter.....the very FIRST shots of the war. The Starof the West turned away. To this day, the Colors of The Citadel, are decorated with several battle streamers from the Civil War, including the Action against the Star of the West. On on shank of the Class Ring, is a large star, representing the event. I am Class of 1984.
Back during this era if you were a man of status with influence it could get you and officer position. It wasn't as bad as say the British that let their wealthy just buy their place, but yeah, shaw being an officer is no surprise and they basically learn on the go. Yeah there were high ranking officers that rose through the ranks as a career, but others got there by manipulation, wealth, and hobnobbing with their influence. The Kentucky guy, he's likely one of those well to do got his commission through politics.
Good reaction!
Tactics were based on the weapons they had. War is horrible anytime, Not John Wayne's war.
They can't hear you, bub
The 54th were nearly all freeborn yankees.
All the jiving, the southern accents, the implications of the whipping scene, all this talk of cornbread... it's all bullshit.
The men of the 54th would have been much more like Thomas and Robert.
That's my only criticism of this otherwise perfect film.
there were some runaway slaves also for sure more than a few.
@@RamsayboltonSnow Actually he's right. The 54th was entirely made up of free blacks who had never known slavery. Fredrick Douglas's sons served in it. There was a concern in the north that former slaves would be too prone to surrender or flee in the face of a determined enemy if they didn't have an example that black men could fight as well as whites. Later regiments included escaped slaves.
Also, the flogging scene didn't happen. Robert Shaw was definitely a stickler for the rules--flogging in the U.S. military (Army and Navy) was banned in 1859 if memory serves. It was added for dramatic effect. Also the dispute that Shaw had with Col. Montgomery was far accurate. The truth is it was a lot more messy. Montgomery was actually a veteran of Bleeding Kansas, and a comrade of John Brown's, so he was even more of an abolitionist as Shaw himself. Shaw was a creature of the Army of the Potomac who believed in the rules of engagement when it came to citizens--Montgomery believed the Civil War was a war of wrath and this was the penance for the sin of slavery. So he brought Bleeding Kansas east with him.
It's important to remember that historical movies aren't historical documentaries.
You are quite correct. All middle class freedmen from New England and New York...
Quite true. @@andrewlustfield6079
@@Smenkhaare yea I'm aware
The movie was inaccurate regarding the make up of the 54th. It was made up of middle class African Americans who were doctors, dentists, farmers, tradesmen, shop keepers and skilled laborers from the New England and New York area. During that time it was wrongly thought that African Americans who were formerly enslaved would not fight against the former enslavers. This is quite mistaken. This is the reason why Frederick Douglas, Governor Andrew, other abolitionists and Union Generals wanted a regiment made up of African American middle class. The 54th Mass were all made up of Thomas' who could fight.
Also the Regimental Sergeant Major was the oldest son of Frederick Douglas. His other son was a First Sergeant, both survived the war and thrived afterward. Rawlins, Trip and Sharp would have been aberrations and not the norm back then in the 54th. 90% of the 54th would have been officers and NCOs if there was no prejudice back then. Otherwise this is a great Civil War movie.
Bad subtitle - Jupiter Chartreux -- not " Jupiter Sharts, sir"
I typed both into Google, and I didn't see any hits for Jupiter Chartreaux. A lot of hits are seen for Jupiter Sharts
Wow, Jupiter Sharts is correct.
a lot of you mexicans see rebels as your allie .
Hi, I'm sorry but I'm confused. Are you saying Mexicans saw the Confederacy as their allies? Also, I'm not Mexican, or even Hispanic
The real Colonel Montgomery was an abolitionist and was not like this movie Colonel Montgomery at all. He was really like John Brown and not the racist he is portrayed off as here. The racist corporal trying to fight Trip is the screenplay writer Jarre. GIVE EM HELL 54TH...
Bayonet scene......PLEASE STOP making comparisons to today's military and social issues. It was what it was and the Sgt/Maj was driving home a point.
In basic, everyone was clear--we were the lowest for of life on the planet until graduation--then we were soldiers. As for the violence between drill instructors and recruits---that changed very recently. In the 1860s---that wouldn't have been out of line at all. And yes, at the end the cannon would have been firing what was called grape shot, so it's like firing a giant shotgun.