Glory

Edward Zwick, 1989 (8.4*)
Memorial Day WAR-a-Thon Film #11
A pretty realistic civil war film with some real battle action, which places this in a handful of films that actually combined the two. This tells the true story of the all-black army unit that fought for the Union in the Civil War, led by white officer (naturally) Robert Gould Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick, who first has to fight prejudice within his own army.

The story follows the 54th Massachusetts from it's initial days until their first major action in the war in 1963. Denzel Washington won his first Oscar® this, for supporting actor, as a cynical yet heroic soldier. Morgan Freeman also has a supporting part. James Horner contributed a nice music score, as usual.

Even though most characters in the film were composites except for Shaw, Glory was based on a screenplay written by American screenwriter Kevin Jarre, which was based on two books:
(1) One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment (1989) by Peter Burchard, a novel that itself was based on letters written by Robert Gould Shaw, the colonel in command of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which entered the American Civil War in 1863
(2) Lay This Laurel (1973), a photographic tribute to the Civil War sculpture of Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Winner of 12 awards out of 19 nominations, and three Oscars®: sound, cinematography, supporting actor.