Glory (1989)
As Glory begins we are given a not so kind look at war. The Battle of Antietam comes across as pointless and senseless, what reason could there possibly be for such violence and bloodshed? Glory spends the next two hours providing reasons for such battles. By the time we reach the Siege of Ft. Wagner the idea of war as senseless has left our minds, not because our minds have been changed, but because we have been given people to care about and have seen why they go to war and thus it is no longer senseless to us.
If the above wasn’t enough of a giveaway, I have been a fan of Glory for many years now. Like most I was first introduced to the film in history class, albeit I was lucky enough to have a history teacher who refused to show the school only PG version and instead treated us to the wonders of the R rated version. His reasoning made perfect sense, “There’s no point in sugarcoating the violence in the film, if I do that then I would be lying to you about not only this movie, but life.” Obviously I don’t know if that’s exactly what he said, but it was something like that. My little brother also is a big fan of Glory and because of this I tend to revisit Glory at least once every year. I didn’t want that coloring my views going into this bracket match-up, but as a fair warning it’s pretty darn hard to be impartial about a film I’ve seen and loved many times.
I could go on and on about the acting of the film, universally excellent, or the music, also universally excellent, or even the cinematography, set design, costumes and battle scenes, once again all universally excellent. But, by this point in time I think many a person has posited on the usual suspects as far as Glory’s strong points are concerned. Rather I’m hoping to delve into a narrative thread I picked up on this viewing of Glory that had never occurred to me in any of my previous travails through this particular movie.
As Glory rolled along I became very interested in where the film was going with its characters. In essence Glory can be distilled down to a series of relationship tests. At the start all of the characters are unsure of one another. Each and every character brings a bit of trepidation to the military camp, for whatever reason they not only have trouble trusting the soldier next to them. Throughout the movie we are given little moments where the characters learn to trust each other. This culminates in the Siege of Ft. Wagner, where they prove themselves to each other, to their enemy and to their nation. It’s as if every moment in the film exists for the characters to test one another, learn and move on to the one ultimate moment at the end when there are the same throughout and trust each other completely.
For as much as I have extolled the virtues of Glory, it isn’t without its faults. The drama between Cary Elwes and Matthew Broderick never sits well with me. Instead of adding to the picture it feels forced and out of place compared to the rest of the drama taking place. But Glory’s biggest flaw comes in the form of the obstacle villains as I like to call them. Whether it is the Quartermaster, Gen. Harker or Col. Montgomery, the internal obstacles put in the place of the 54th come across as one note. They seem to exist only to serve the plot and thus don’t pack the edge that they should.
After so many viewings Glory still holds up as a quality piece of movie making. It’s emotional without overdoing it, understands how to handle melodrama, and features some incredible performances from the supporting cast. There’s a reason why Glory is still shown across the United States in grade school/high school history classes, it’s a powerful film, a well made film and a film worth seeing.
Vs.Re-Animator (1985)
I’m as into cerebral movies as much as anyone you will find. I love movies that make me think, I love well made movies, I love genre films that belong at the highest level of cinema, even if others vehemently disagree. But, I also love cheesy movies, I love movies so terrible they end up awesome. Before I go any further, no, Re-Animator isn’t a movie so terrible it’s awesome. Re-Animator is something we should all look for in our movies, pure, unbridled fun! That’s where Re-Animator fits into the mix, it threads the line between a movie so terrible it is awesome and a movie that knows what it is doing. I don’t want to say it’s a movie that just wants to have fun, but in a lot of ways that is the best way to describe it. At the same time such a description does a great disservice to the movie, because Re-Animator is so much more than a movie that just wants to have fun.
Okay, I’m getting a little side tracked in my point, so let me try again. Re-Animator knows what genre it is, it knows what its fans expect, and it knows how to play with every single one of those expectations and have a great time while doing so. As I said earlier, I love movies that make me think, but I also love movies that cause me to laugh out loud almost every minute. I love a movie that doesn’t take itself seriously and doesn’t want you to take its seriously, a movie that says, “This is cheesy, you know it’s cheesy, we know it’s cheesy, but that is why this movie is awesome and you will love it.” I don’t know if I’m doing a good job of describing why I had such an honestly enthusiastic reaction to Re-Animator, so I present to you what made Re-Animator so darn awesome (as well as an exclamation mark bonanza),
–Awesome dead cat mayhem!
–The plot just jumped ahead about three hundred steps, but who the CINECAST! needs a cohesive plot?
–Dead man mayhem, blood and gore everywhere!
–Creepy old doctor stalker love!
–Shovel through the throat, twitching body, severed head!!
–Headless body attacks!!!
–Emotional break-up, wait, reconciliation, never mind, it’s dead daddy time!!
–Naked unconscious chick!
–The headless body is copping a feel and now naked chick is awake!
–We have now reached zenith, or as I like to call it, a decapitated head sucking a naked woman’s nipple and licking a bloody trail down her body!
–Holy shit, the decapitated head was about to see if the carpet matched the drapes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
–You seriously can’t beat this dialogue, “You’ll never get credit for my discovery. Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow!” Go ahead, try and beat that, I dare you!!
–Mutant intestines!!!
There’s plenty more, I guarantee you that. But, I just wanted to give you a taste. The basic gist is that Re-Animator is oodles of fun, it knows what it is and what it wants to accomplish and it does so in perfect fashion. I am often guilty of focusing on great technical achievements and great acting, and great this or great that. But, Re-Animator is a perfect example of how a movie can look terrible in almost every aspect, yet be a great and darn near perfect film. That’s not to say there aren’t legitimately great things in Re-Animator, but raving about the make-up work or the acting of Jeffrey Combs would go against the motif of my review. To keep it very simple, I’m happy as all get out that the Filmspotting 80’s US bracket allowed me to discover Re-Animator, because it is a joy to watch and a transcendent experience of awesomeness!
Verdict:
Needless to say I as expecting this match-up to be a lopsided destruction when I first received it. Boy was I wrong, and in epic fashion. Glory is a great film, it does so many things wonderfully well. But, the same can be said for Re-Animator, it is a joy to watch and does everything it intends to and more. As shocking as this will be to some, Re-Animator moves on.