Falls flat when the commissioned officers are on screen
I love the production quality of Glory, and all the scenes with just the troopers were beyond excellent. But the scenes with Shaw and the other white officers seemed terribly contrived. Smashing up the quartermaster's office, arguing about burning the town, speechifying to the general about how the 54th was ready -- the corniness would be unbearable if the rest of the film weren't so good.
YMMV, of course.
*****
Maybe it's because I've always had a weakness for lost causes, once they're really lost.