Amistad Reviews

Highly recommended

A movie that deals with the conflict between the rule of law and the wishes of politicians. Dull? Not at all. Watch this and see how much, or how little, has changed over the years.

Excellent performances all round from established stars and newcomers alike, though Morgan Freeman's character could have been developed more.

Enormously watchable and highly recommended!

a tragic tale

I remember watching this a few years ago and it still waters the eye to remember it. The full horror is given to you here leaving nothing to the imagination of the hell the slaves had to go through in times gone by.

With films based on fact like Munic, Schindlers list and Amistad its plain to see that Speilberg has done a great job in keeping the heros of the past fresh in our minds.

February 18th 2007

Good at begining but got fed-up with all subtitles,stuck it for half an hour then turned it off.

Well produced story

In enjoyed this movie immensely. It was well directed and acted, and gave an understanding of the historic concept of the period. I would recommend this to anyone!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Beautiful Film

There are many words I can use to describe this film, emotional, strong, interesting and educational are just some of them. This film is great and fantastic on so many levels, visually its stunning with some amazing scenes, amazing direction and amazing acting.

This is a must see film in your lifetime.

Djimon Houson is an amazing actor.

How has man changed?

A superb film which depicts man's inhumanity. Do not be put off by the initial gory bits as this film tells excellently of the realities of the slave trade and the 'sophisticated' and 'superior' attitude of those who benefited from this trade.

Excellent performances from the cast (apart from Anthony Hopkins who really is dreadful and lessens the impact of the latter stages of the film) makes this a film to watch.

I will encourage my children to watch this film as I think it important that this part of our history and relations to people from a different continent and colour is one that should be learnt by all.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Harrowing Tale

I've only rated this as 3 stars because it was at times sentimental and at other times sensational.

The opening scenes were quite violent and I almost stopped watching it. However, it turned into a court room drama with some terrific acting from its, predominantly British, cast.

It was overly long and maybe it could have been cut - the scenes with Isabella of Spain were not really necessary and detracted from the main action. The attitude of Isabella could have been conveyed by a voice-over letter without filming her. Also some of the brutalities carried out were a bit too graphic - we all got the picture without the need for excessive floggings etc.

Having said all that, I'm glad I watched it to the end and the extra piece about how it was filmed was well worth viewing.

Once again a film makes me think about going to the library to find written material about the case and to look up some of the cast to see other films they have made.

amistad

i really liked this film although harrowing most of the time.it really shows you what black slaves had to endure on a slave ship.steven speilberg

shows again what a good director he is.i would highly recommend this film to anyone.

A Masterpiece with some flaws

This a movie to watch without doubt. Some dialogues and facts about the slavery are a bit too much influenced by the fact that USA is one of the last nations to abolish slavery and they do not like to talk about it. Mattew McConaguey is not at the top of his form (not very fit anyway), despite this though the movie is very powerful and the performances of the various slave charachters are astonishing.

Amistad

Probably Speilberg's most powerful and traumatic film to date. Superb but harrowing at times.