Storyline
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
Cast
David Paymer, Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman, Razaaq Adoti, Xander Berkeley, Arliss Howard, Pete Postlethwaite, Geno Silva, John Ortiz, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jake Weber, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Ralph Brown, Matthew McConaughey, Anna Paquin, Tomás Milián, Rusty Schwimmer, Allan Rich, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Peter Firth, Jeremy Northam, Nigel Hawthorne, Paul Guilfoyle, Luis Cabrera, Robert Walsh, Abu Bakaar Fofanah, Derrick N. Ashong, Darren E. Burrows
Trailer
Reviews
88
ReelViews
Thematically rich, impeccably crafted, and intellectually stimulating, the only area where this movie falls a little short is in its emotional impact.
88
USA Today
Sheer power, moral and otherwise. It possesses a massively majestic hero. [10 Dec 1997, p.D1]
70
Time
Alive to the--yes--sometimes humorous, and therefore humanizing, struggles of the slaves and their would-be rescuers to surmount the language and cultural barriers that separate them. [15 Dec 1997, p. 108]
70
Variety
Aiming to instruct as well as entertain --- and often struggling to reconcile these two divergent goals.
63
Scenes go on and on in endless, witless dialogue, ever accompanied by John Williams' hideously gushing music.
