Amistad main backdrop
Amistad main poster

7.0/10 • 1.3K

1997-12-102h 35m

DramaHistoryMystery

Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken.

In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

Directors
Steven Spielberg
Writters
David Franzoni
Editors
Michael Kahn

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Morgan Freeman

    Morgan Freeman

    Theodore Joadson

  2. Nigel Hawthorne

    Nigel Hawthorne

    Martin Van Buren

  3. Anthony Hopkins

    Anthony Hopkins

    John Quincy Adams

  4. Djimon Hounsou

    Djimon Hounsou

    Cinque

  5. Matthew McConaughey

    Matthew McConaughey

    Roger Sherman Baldwin

  6. David Paymer

    David Paymer

    Secretary John Forsyth

  7. Pete Postlethwaite

    Pete Postlethwaite

    Holabird

  8. Stellan Skarsgård

    Stellan Skarsgård

    Tappan

  9. Razaaq Adoti

    Razaaq Adoti

    Yamba

Reviews1

View Reviews
CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 24, 2022

7/10

Steven Spielberg took the helm for this rather classy, if very wordy, depiction of the celebrated legal battle that resulted from the mutiny of slaves aboard a Spanish ship in the late 1830s. A timely intervention from the US Navy rescued some of the crew, but then subjected the erstwhile cargo to an humiliating and debase battle for their "ownership". Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) takes up the cudgels on their behalf - at no small risk to himself, and with the assistance of former US President John Quincy Adams (Sir Anthony Hopkins) takes this principle all the way to the Supreme Court. It is most bizarre to watch this and even begin to contemplate a society in which the concept of one person, business, or nation claiming the possession of a human being is actually being discussed by rational people in a court of law, but here we have it. The film looks great, plenty of attention to the detail with the costumes and the sets but there is far too much incidental dialogue and the pace of the story seems more intent of delivering a story of epic length rather than meaningful drama. Sir Anthony delivers well in the last fifteen minutes with a most potent piece of oratory; this is probably the best effort we have yet seen from McConaughey and there are strong supporting roles from Sir Nigel Hawthorne (Van Buren); an impressive Djimon Hounsou - who has no English dialogue - as the leader of the incarcerated and Morgan Freeman also delivers well as he tries to facilitate the freedom and potential repatriation of these people back to modern day Sierra Leone. The moral and ethical issues here are writ large and presented in a well crafted, poignant and sometimes quite brutal fashion that make this a decent, if not great, film to watch.

Media

  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster
  • Amistad poster

Recommendations

  • The Road to Wellville main backdrop

    The Road to Wellville

    5.6

  • Retroactive main backdrop

    Retroactive

    6.2

  • Meteor main backdrop

    Meteor

    5.1

  • The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque main backdrop

    The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque

    6.7

  • Tunnel Rats main backdrop

    Tunnel Rats

    5.0

  • Andersonville main backdrop

    Andersonville

    6.6

  • Warlock III: The End of Innocence main backdrop

    Warlock III: The End of Innocence

    4.4

  • American Yakuza main backdrop

    American Yakuza

    5.6

  • Critical Care main backdrop

    Critical Care

    6.4

  • Winter People main backdrop

    Winter People

    5.7

  • An Epitaph for Barbara Radziwill main backdrop

    An Epitaph for Barbara Radziwill

    5.0

  • Jack the Ripper: The London Slasher main backdrop

    Jack the Ripper: The London Slasher

    6.9

  • Shadowlands main backdrop

    Shadowlands

    6.9

  • Bad Tales main backdrop

    Bad Tales

    6.7

  • Black Souls main backdrop

    Black Souls

    6.8

  • Arsène Lupin main backdrop

    Arsène Lupin

    5.3

  • A Night to Remember main backdrop

    A Night to Remember

    7.6

  • The Invisible Woman main backdrop

    The Invisible Woman

    6.1

  • Blackway main backdrop

    Blackway

    5.3

  • How to Lose Friends & Alienate People main backdrop

    How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

    6.0

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$36,000,000.00
Revenue
$44,229,441.00
Keywords
mutinycubasentenceslaveryhistorical figuretall shipslave trade