Great Score, Mid Colonel, Maximum Denzel: Glory (1989)

The cannon smoke hasn’t cleared on Glory, and maybe that’s the point. We’re diving back into the 54th Massachusetts to ask a simple but uncomfortable question: whose story does the film truly tell? From Denzel Washington’s searing turn as Tripp to James Horner’s towering score that practically carries scenes on its back, this conversation pulls apart the craft, the history, and the narrative choices that shaped a generation’s understanding of Black soldiers in the Civil War.

We break down the big beats: why the film frames Colonel Shaw’s letters as our guide and what gets lost when the camera looks up instead of within; how the Fort Wagner charge plays as doomed valor and whether the “volunteering” rings true; and the moments that still sting, like pay inequity that garnished Black soldiers’ wages down to almost nothing. We draw clean lines to the record—earlier Black regiments like the First Kansas, a 54th composed largely of free Northern men, and Confederate threats of execution or enslavement—and show how those details sharpen, not shrink, the 54th’s courage.

Along the way, we celebrate what soars. The campfire scene folds testimony, rhythm, and resolve into a living portrait of brotherhood. Morgan Freeman’s steady gravity, Andre Braugher’s poised vulnerability, and Denzel’s single tear in the flogging sequence remind us why performances become canon. And Horner’s music? It’s the kind of scoring that elevates a film’s pulse while honoring its grief.

If you’ve only seen Glory in a classroom, this is your permission to rewatch with a fuller lens. If you’ve never seen it, consider this your map: expect beauty, conflict, and questions that echo forward—about patriotism, power, and who gets to be at the center of American memory. Listen, share with a friend, and tell us: should Glory have centered the soldiers’ story? And while you’re here, follow the show, leave a review, and join us for our Black History Month run of four straight episodes featuring Black films and filmmakers.

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