Amistad
Directed by Steven Spielberg
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.
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Amistad Ratings & Reviews
- Patrick D.October 11, 2025I was pleasantly surprised. This is definitely an underrated movie. I don't consider movies hard to watch, but there's a portion of this movie that is just absolutely brutal. The pacing was questionable, and they really leaned into that 2nd act climax, but overall I think it was worth it to go the extra ~45 minutes for the stellar John Quincy Adams monologue. This film is actually fairly accurate as well. I'm not sure a lot of the other reviewers know what they're talking about. Obviously it was dramatized for movie purposes, but the story beats were actually spot on for the most part.
- Kevin WardJuly 1, 2025As any true American will tell you, it is the independence of our courts that keep us free. I don’t think I had seen this since it first came out, so I didn’t remember much about it other than “Give us us Free!” Had totally forgotten that McConaughey was even in it, as a lawyer no less. Compelling drama, and star-making performance from Djimon Hounsou. For a film with an important historical account, I thought it was kind of funny that one of the final shots was a young Anna Paquin jumping on a bed (as Isabella II, the Queen of Spain).
Amistad Trivia
Amistad was released on December 12, 1997.
Amistad was directed by Steven Spielberg.
Amistad has a runtime of 2h 35m.
Amistad was produced by Steven Spielberg, Colin Wilson, Debbie Allen.
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.
The key characters in Amistad are Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman), Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins).
Amistad is rated R.
Amistad is a Drama, History, Mystery film.
Amistad has an audience rating of 7.9 out of 10.
Amistad had a budget of $36M.
Amistad has made $44.2M at the box office.