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Editorial Review:
Product Description: AN EPIC JOURNEY OF ONE MAN'S FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE AND HIS FREEDOM. THIS STORY OF COURAGE AND DETERMINATION IS PRESENTED BY A DIRECTOR WHOSE VISION GOES TO THE HEART OF THE STORY AND THE SOUL OF ITS CHARACTERS. ONCE AGAIN STEVEN SPIELBERG HAS CREATED A FILM EVENT THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
Amazon.com: Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitized history lesson, Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying, succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--"villains" like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the terrifying slave passage, which is shot as a gorgeous, well-lit composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom drama, centered by a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling, idealistic young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) fighting the crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet, Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood fantasy, E.T. and repackages it for slavery. Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language, and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history. --Dave McCoy
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
EAN: 9780783231204
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783231202
Label: Dreamworks Video
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 5.1EnglishSubtitled
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
MPN: MCAD84162D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Dreamworks Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 04, 1999
Running Time: 155 minutes
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 10, 1997
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Customer Reviews
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4 and 1/2 Stars
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Amistad tells the story of an African group illegally captured and sold into slavery during the years following the dissolution of the international slave trade. This particular group was highly unusual in that it actually managed to break free of its chains, overthrow those in charge of the ship, and order that it be returned to Africa. Unfortunately for the Africans, they are the victims of deception once again, as the ship is sailed into American shores instead. It lands near Long Island, and ... Read More
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