But it's hard to find too much fault with a film that is not only noble in its intentions but succeeds so well. "Glory" is a movie of rare emotional power that also educates its audience about an aspect of our history that has too long been neglected.

The history lesson alone is worth the price of admission. Everything else is a tremendous bonus.

As a footnote, we should point out that screenwriter Kevin Jarre, director Edward Zwick and producer Freddie Fields were robbed. "Glory" should be up for best picture, best screenplay and best director Oscars. (Though it was nominated for five Oscars, all but one were in technical categories. Denzel Washington is up for best supporting actor, but the rest are for art direction, cinematography, editing and sound.)

And as for the film's R rating, it is probably deserved. The violence does get rather gory in places, though it's easy to see why it was deemed necessary in a depiction of what was certainly a very bloody war. There is also some profanity, though, taken in context, it doesn't seem particularly gratuitous.