Click here to copy URL

Amistad

1997

Steven Spielberg

Matthew McConaughey, Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins ...

5.9

10,570

Drama Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the U.S. in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the U.S., Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land. Instead, when they reach the United ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"What is most valuable about 'Amistad' is the way it provides faces and names for its African characters, whom the movies so often make into faceless victims (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"In Spielberg's world, there's nothing so deep, rich and complex that it can't be reduced to mall-movie grist."
		Janet Maslin The New York Times	"The worthiness of 'Amistad' is irrefutable."
		Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"Its approach is almost bizarrely academic (...) The film seems all but uninterested in the psychological experience of slavery"
		Christopher Hemblade Empire	"'Amistad' proves itself not to be the slave sequel to 'Schindler's List', but something altogether more surprising (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Emanuel Levy Variety	"Artistically solid, if not always dramatically exciting (...) 'Amistad' lacks the subtlety of tone and the simplicity of form that made ['Schindler’s List's] so special"
		Bilge Ebiri Rolling Stone	"Incredibly powerful (...) This historical drama is alternately sober-minded and passionate"
		Geoff Andrew Time Out	"A wordy courtroom drama which seldom progresses beyond ciphers, stereotypes and salutary slogans."
		Paul Tatara CNN	"The story Spielberg tells could have been more powerfully presented with a brilliant one-hour film"
		Almar Haflidason BBC	"The end result is distinctly underwhelming, despite the challenging fusion of both experienced and fresh talent involved (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		James Berardinelli ReelViews	"A gripping motion picture (...) It is to Spielberg's credit that he has fashioned such a compelling motion picture without a prominent antagonist (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.