Glory appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a strong Dolby Vision image.
Sharpness seemed pretty good. A few shots looked just a bit soft, but those weren’t a concern. Instead, the majority of the movie demonstrated nice delineation.
I noticed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge enhancement appeared to be absent. As for source flaws, they failed to mar the presentation. Grain stayed within normal levels, and this was a clean transfer.
Colors appeared nicely accurate and vivid. The film featured a natural and pleasing palette, and the disc reproduced these hues well.
From the rich blues of the uniforms to the reds seen in flags and other components, all tones looked rich and bold. HDR added dimensionality to the hues.
Black levels also were deep and strong, and shadow detail appeared appropriately heavy but never excessively opaque. Whites and contrast got a boost from HDR. I felt impressed by this presentation.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I also liked the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Given the movie’s age, the soundfield seemed surprisingly broad and engaging.
The forward channels offered a wide and involving experience that spread sounds neatly and created a realistic auditory environment. The sound blended together well and appeared convincing.
Surrounds kicked in with lots of useful audio that reinforced the forward speakers to great effect. James Horner’s score became bolstered nicely by the rear channels, and I also heard very positive use of various effects.
From quieter ambient sounds like those heard in the mess hall to more vivid effects such as warfare or thunder storms, these scenes came across with a natural and convincing presence that was much better than I expected from a 1989 release.
Audio quality was good. Speech could be a slight bit reedy at times, but the lines were usually acceptably concise and natural.
Effects also betrayed a little distortion on occasion, but not to a distracting degree. Instead, those elements normally seemed accurate and full; battle scenes boasted good impact and bass.
Music consistently seemed strong. The score appeared clear and bright without any of the distortion concerns that affected the rest of the track.
The music was deep and rich, and it offered a satisfying experience. I thought this soundtrack held up well after 35 years.
How did this 4K UHD compare to the 2009 Blu-ray? The Atmos audio expanded the prior disc’s 5.1 in a moderate manner.
As for the 4K’s Dolby Vision image, it proved more accurate and richer than its BD counterpart. While the latter held up fine, the 4K delivered obvious improvements.
Note that this 2024 “35th Anniversary Edition” represents Sony’s second 4K release of Glory. It replaces a 2019 issue.
That one included Atmos audio as well. However, the 2024 disc adds Dolby Vision, whereas the 2019 release remained solely HDR10.
On the included Blu-ray copy, the set’s extras open with an audio commentary from director Edward Zwick. He provides a running, screen-specific chat that looks at research and historical elements, cast, characters and performances, sets and locations, recreating battles, music, cinematography and visual design, and a few other production topics.
Zwick provides a good overview of the film. He touches on a nice mix of subjects and develops most of them well. I’d like to know more about the apparent discord between Matthew Broderick and Cary Elwes, but even without that dirt, this is a nice chat.
Next we head to the Virtual Civil War Battlefield. This displays a map and always you to select Civil War-related subjects based on geography. We get more info about the 54th as well as biographies and specifics about battles.
Most of these details come to us via windows with text and photos, but a few “Video Journals” also appear. These accompany “Gettysburg” (2:59), “Antietam” (1:44), “Lincoln Elected” (1:07), “Emancipation” (1:25), “First Bull Run” (1:02), “Chancellorsville” (1:55), “General Lee Bio” (1:03), “Columbia” (1:15), “Fort Sumter” (2:24), “Fort Henry” (1:31), “Fort Donelson” (1:41), and “Shiloh” (0:28).
During the clips, we hear from author/Civil War historian Dr. Roger Ransom and Pepperdine University Professor of History Dr. Stewart Davenport.
The brevity of the snippets means they’re not especially detailed, but they’re still informative. Overall, the “Battlefield” becomes a moderately interesting way to learn a little more about the Civil War.
One complaint: I’d like to have an option to go through the “Battlefield” segments in chronological order. Since we examine them geographically, our understanding of the war’s development becomes disjointed.
There’s no coherence to the chronology here. As such, it’s more difficult to follow the material.
After this we find The True Story of Glory Continues, an oddly titled but generally interesting 45-minute, 18-second documentary. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this show details some of the events covered in the film but - as implied by the title - goes past the movie’s ending to offer additional facts.
Actually, even the portions that focus on the flick’s storyline include new data, since the film took some liberties with history. The documentary apparently sticks more closely to reality.
“The True Story” uses a combination of photos and art from the period plus footage of Civil War re-enactors to tell its tale. The latter add a nice element of visual flair to the show. While “The True Story” seems a little dry at times, it nonetheless provides a good look at the subject.
Voices of Glory takes another look at some of the actual soldiers from the 54th Regiment. Narrated by Georg Stanford Brown, this program includes interview snippets with historian James O. Horton and also offers excerpts from letters written by the soldiers read by three different actors including Sean Patrick Thomas of the hit Save the Last Dance.
The 11-minute, 18-second piece focuses mainly on the pay issue covered in the movie, though a few other topics are discussed as well. Some of the actors over-emote, but it’s a compelling program anyway.
We also find an Original Featurette. This piece comes from the time of the film’s theatrical release and it lasts seven minutes, 36 seconds.
Since the movie is Glory, it’s appropriate we get a “glorler”: a glorified trailer. Actually, it’s a little better than most, as it combines some interview snippets with film clips and shots from the set, but it’s clearly promotional in nature and doesn’t offer a lot of information.
Glory includes two Deleted Scenes. “The Apple Picker” (3:03) focuses on Trip, Rawlins and Sharts as they encounter their first scent of death, while “Crisis of Conscience” (2:35) looks at a chat between Shaw and his compatriot, Major Forbes (Cary Elwes).
Both feel interesting - though the second leans a little lame - but both were also redundant and needed to be cut. In an optional commentary track, director Zwick discusses the scenes and the reasons for their omission.
The 4K disc adds the film’s trailer as well as a video commentary from director Edward Zwick and actors Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick. All were recorded around 1999 and all sat separately for this edited piece.
Zwick’s remarks come directly from the audio commentary already heard on the Blu-ray. This means a fair amount of redundant information if you already listened to that chat.
The actors add some of their experiences and perspectives on the film. Though they deliver some useful material, the fact so much of the commentary comes from Zwick’s existing reel limits its usefulness.
We do hear a lot from the actors, so even with the redundant elements, we get some useful material. Still, this leaves us with too much repetition from Zwick’s audio track.
The “video” part of the commentary proves virtually useless, as it simply shows little thumbnails of Zwick, Freeman and Broderick. While not without value, this piece disappoints.
All this comes packed into a snazzy steelbook case.
Glory offers a solid effort that tells an important story in a compelling and evocative manner. Director Ed Zwick usually does well with this kind of material, and Glory becomes no exception. The 4K UHD offers very positive picture and sound as well as a good collection of bonus materials. Expect a fine release for a quality movie.
To rate this film, visit the Blu-ray review of GLORY
