Zwick made his first foray into feature waters directing "About Last Night..." (1986), a tepid adaptation of David Mamet's play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago", before returning to the small screen with the first fruit from Bedford Falls, ABC's polished, Emmy-winning paean to yuppie angst, "thirtysomething" (1987-91). His second feature, "Glory" (1989), a stirring and long overdue tribute to the black soldiers who fought for the Union cause in the Civil War, firmly established his reputation as a director of scope and ambition. The combative relationship of an unbroken runaway slave (Denzel Washington in an Oscar-winning role) and his boyish commanding officer (Matthew Broderick), who orders him whipped unjustly for going AWOL to find shoes, provided the dramatic heart of this film which epically portrayed the combat in all its horror, with a ferocity matched in previous cinematic recreations only by John Ford's Shiloh sequence in "How the West Was Won" (1962).

With "Leaving Normal" (1992) Zwick attempted "to tell a story that was just as epic as 'Glory', but on the smallest scale--epic in the lives of the people involved, not in the canvas." The female buddy-road movie (following in the tiremarks of "Thelma and Louise") , however, left many viewers cold, despite Ralf Bode's incredible photography of Canadian vistas. Zwick returned to large brushstrokes for "Legends of the Fall" (1994), a sprawling family saga adapted from Jim Harrison's novella about a retired officer (Anthony Hopkins) and his three sons (Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas) living in Montana and affected by world events (e.g., World War I) and personal tragedies. The director once again proved to be a fine judge of cinematographers as John Toll walked off with an Oscar for his stunning Montana perspectives. He and Herskovitz brought the much-praised "My So-Called Life" (ABC, 1994-95) to the small screen but failed to repeat their earlier success. The show, however, developed a cult following further evidenced by its rebroadcast on MTV.

Zwick's next two features were contemporary dramas, both starring Denzel Washington. "Courage Under Fire" (1996), employing a multi-voiced structure based on Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon", told the compelling tale of a career Army officer (Washington) who is wrestling his own demons over his involvement in an accidental death when assigned to investigate the death of a female Captain (Meg Ryan). An intelligent, multi-layered story about integrity, personal honor and public hypocrisy, it was easily his best work since "Glory". "The Siege" (1998), a tantalizing "what if" scenario about martial law following an attempted terrorist takeover of NYC, expanded on Zwick's scrutiny of the military bureaucracy to include that of the FBI and CIA and touched on the concept of "blowback", a colorful term to describe the phenomenon of American-trained foreign operatives who come to the USA and exercise their dubious talents.

Zwick would next enjoy a successful big-screen string of hits both critical and commerical as a producer, helping shepherd such projects as "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), "Traffic" (2000) and "I Am Sam" (2001). Only the middling thriller "Abandon" (2002) starring Katie Holmes and the well-received but little-seen "Lone Star State of Mind" (2002) would break his long streak of hits.

On the small screen, Zwick and Herskovitz's highly-praised but low-rated relationship drama "Relativity", (ABC 1996-97) disappeared quickly, but their compelling and nuanced drama "Once & Again" (ABC, 1999-2002) starring Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as two divorced parents who fall in love and must mingle their families, was a critical darling was a medium-sized fiercely loyal audience. Along with launching the careers of young actors Shane West and Evan Rachel Wood, Zwick also appeared on the series in a recurring role as a therapist.

After a long absence behind the lens, Zwick made a strong return in 2003 as the director of the Tom Cruise starrer "The Last Samurai" (he also executive produced the film and shared screenplay credit with John Logan and Herskovitz). A visually arresting film with samurai battle sequences every bit as impressive as the Civil War scenes in "Glory," the film casts Cruise as a drunken, battle-weary Civil War officer sent to Japan to train the nation's soldiers in Western warfare, only to be captured by the opposing samurais whose warrior code he soon embraces.