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Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786301777865 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 6301777867 Label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sony Pictures Release Date: June 22, 1994 Running Time: 122 minutes Sales Rank: 5820 Studio: Sony Pictures Theatrical Release Date: December 15, 1989
Amazon.com essential video: One of the very best films about the Civil War, this instant classic from 1989 is also one of the few films to depict the participation of African American soldiers in Civil War combat. Based in part on the books Lay This Laurel by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard, the film also draws from the letters of Robert Gould Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick), the 25-year-old son of Boston abolitionists who volunteered to command the all-black 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Their training and battle experience leads them to their final assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, where their heroic bravery turned bitter defeat into a symbolic victory that brought recognition to black soldiers and turned the tide of the war. With painstaking attention to historical detail and richness of character, the film boasts superior performances by Denzel Washington (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher. Directed by Edward Zwick (cocreator of the TV series thirtysomething), this unforgettable drama is as important as Schindler's List in its treatment of a noble yet little-known episode of history. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com: One of the very best films about the Civil War, this instant classic from 1989 is also one of the few films to depict the participation of African American soldiers in Civil War combat. Based in part on the books Lay This Laurel by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard, the film also draws from the letters of Robert Gould Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick), the 25-year-old son of Boston abolitionists who volunteered to command the all-black 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Their training and battle experience leads them to their final assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, where their heroic bravery turned bitter defeat into a symbolic victory that brought recognition to black soldiers and turned the tide of the war. With painstaking attention to historical detail and richness of character, the film boasts superior performances by Denzel Washington (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher. Directed by Edward Zwick (co-creator of the TV series thirtysomething), this unforgettable drama is as important as Schindler's List in its treatment of a noble yet little-known episode of history. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Great Movie
This is a great historical film that really captures the spirit and conditions faced by the soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment.
Rating: - A very good historical film
That blacks in the civil war era had it hard even when free
isn't new, but that a group was trained as soldiers in
the north and actually fought in the south.
Matthew Broderick seems young for the leading officer, but the acting of Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington in this film is first rate.
I think had the ending not been so depressing that it might have gotten more awards. You finish this film thinking that they all died
and pretty much for nothing
as the fort was never taken.
Rating: - Great film but...........
Well cast, well made. Scenery, uniforms, speech, that all important but difficult to capture "feel" for the times all present. Freeman was brilliant and Broderick turns in his best performance ever. I have watched it many times and as a living historian have used the Sharpsburg battle scene often as an accurate portrayal for students to see the horror of war. But, when history meets Hollywood, history will almost always get mugged along the way. The Civil War at
Sea, (volume 3) by Virgil Carrington Jones, page 13 tells the truth about the fictional assault OVER the wall and into the fort. ... Read More
Rating: - "DEEP HISTORY" !!!
A VERY INCREDIBLE PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY! It most be noted and taught more that these African American soldiers were the vital link in keeping America UNIFIED & TOGETHER! ....Peace.
Rating: - top ten all time list
black or white it does not matter, this movie will move you more than most war movies. its more about the soldiers than the war itself. its powerful and never lets go. a perfect movie
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