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benbess
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Wow. Never thought I'd see this one on blu-ray. Good miniseries starring Paul Winfield as MLK, Cicely Tyson as Coretta Scott King, Tony Bennett as himself, etc. I'd probably give it a B+/A-. Of course, I haven't seen it since c. 1978....
Same here. I remember quite liking it at the time. Paul Winfield was a fine actor.benbess said:
It's likely that this will be it for MLK biographies for awhile, but this at least looks like a good one; I've never seen it. Can't wait to see what the transfer looks like.
lukejosephchung
Screenwriter
This was shown in the US as an NBC-TV miniseries back in 1978...directed by the wonderful Abby Mann, it remains one of his best productions...MatthewA said:
Not historically accurate, but a very good tele-drama.lukejosephchung said:
Jesse Skeen
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I have an off-air recording of part of this during its original airing, the picture is very smeary! I think networks were still running film live on the air then. I later got the DVD on clearance.
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[font="arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px"]Starring[/font]
[font="arial; line-height: 20.799999237060547px; font-size: 12px"]PAUL WINFIELD
CICELY TYSON
OSSIE DAVIS
ROSCOE LEE BROWNE
TONY BENNETT
Directed by
ABBY MANN
STREET DATE: 01/27/2015
YEAR FILMED: 1978
GENRE: BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LABEL: OLIVE FILMS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 271 min
RATING: NR
ASPECT RATIO: 1.78:1; Color
AUDIO: MONO
SYNOPSIS:
Academy Award® Nominee Paul Winfield (Sounder) embodies fallen civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and Academy Award® Nominee Cicely Tyson (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) lends her innumerable talents as Coretta Scott King in director Abby Mann’s (Judgment at Nuremberg screenwriter) television mini-series “King: The Martin Luther King Story.” Tracing the story of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s rise from his early years as a Baptist minister in Memphis to his assassination in 1968, is riveting storytelling of the highest order, combining first-rate performances with spiritual, political and social themes that remain as relevant today as they were in the era portrayed in the film. Supporting performances include Ossie Davis (Do The Right Thing) as Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., Roscoe Lee Browne (The Cowboys) and Grammy and Emmy Award Winning singer Tony Bennett portraying himself.
BLU-RAY ITEM# OF886
UPC# 887090088602
SRP: $29.95[/font]
The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
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Pre-ordered via the link.
Update:
I received this Blu-ray last week, and I hate to say it, but the miniseries does not hold up all that well. Of course I have not seen it since its first telecast back in 1978, but it has that made-for-TV slapdash feel about it. The movie also appears to be cropped to fit 16:9 TVs. I suppose it is possible that it was shot for theatrical release, but it looks cropped to me. If they were shooting with 16:9 in mind, the shots sure were not framed very well.
A lot of the scenes are obviously shot in small towns and churches, etc filled with locals standing in for the townspeople/congregants, et al of King's time. King will be speaking from the pulpit, and the people in the audience just look like a bunch of non-actors, sometimes not looking in the right direction, obviously being told to do something by someone off camera. Then they'll cut to Paul Winfield as King. He is usually shown with just a background behind him that is the wall color. It gives the impression (probably true) that Winfield is not even in the same building as the audience, except for long shots. I know movies are often shot that way, but you're not supposed to be so obvious about it. You would think they might do a shot over his shoulder when his in, say a pulpit, showing some of the choir members off his shoulder, just to sell us on the illusion that King is speaking to the crowd in the same building. Many/most of the great speeches are done this way. I wonder if the cropping accentuates this? Maybe some object or other is cut out that might help to sell the illusion, and maybe the badly reacting actors would not be pushed right in our faces so much.
The movie just looks rushed and under-rehearsed, which it probably was. We see King arrested in 1959 by white cops with 1978 haircuts. A scene in a segregated restaurant is full of diners whose reactions to the commotion (when King and some other black people are attempting to be served) could have been done better in a community theater production. Real life activist Julian Bond appears in the film playing an activist, and he's just terrible in the part; an obvious non-actor.
But in spite of the rushed quality of the film, there are some fine moments. Paul Winfield is tremendous as Dr. King, portraying him as a man plagued by self doubts, who never really wanted to be "the" spokesman for civil rights, but once started, he kept getting involved in one civil rights issue after another until it was like he was caught in a tide. He does all the speeches very well and even goes into that revival preacher mode that Dr. King did so often. One curious thing: I could swear the "I've been to the mountain top" speech was not in the original telecast. I remember discussing the movie several years ago with someone who had caught on the History Channel, and he also noted the omission and said "how can you not have that speech in the movie?" Well, I am happy to report that the speech is definitely in the movie, and Winfield does a great job with it (although much of the speech is a tight closeup of Winfield like all the other speeches).
Over all, the movie is still worthwhile as an overview of King's life and times; it just suffers from the rushed quality. And, I'd rather have seen it formatted as 4:3 as it originally was.
BTW, I know we are not supposed to bump our own posts, but I did not see an "Edit" button on my previous post. Do the edit buttons expire over time?
I received this Blu-ray last week, and I hate to say it, but the miniseries does not hold up all that well. Of course I have not seen it since its first telecast back in 1978, but it has that made-for-TV slapdash feel about it. The movie also appears to be cropped to fit 16:9 TVs. I suppose it is possible that it was shot for theatrical release, but it looks cropped to me. If they were shooting with 16:9 in mind, the shots sure were not framed very well.
A lot of the scenes are obviously shot in small towns and churches, etc filled with locals standing in for the townspeople/congregants, et al of King's time. King will be speaking from the pulpit, and the people in the audience just look like a bunch of non-actors, sometimes not looking in the right direction, obviously being told to do something by someone off camera. Then they'll cut to Paul Winfield as King. He is usually shown with just a background behind him that is the wall color. It gives the impression (probably true) that Winfield is not even in the same building as the audience, except for long shots. I know movies are often shot that way, but you're not supposed to be so obvious about it. You would think they might do a shot over his shoulder when his in, say a pulpit, showing some of the choir members off his shoulder, just to sell us on the illusion that King is speaking to the crowd in the same building. Many/most of the great speeches are done this way. I wonder if the cropping accentuates this? Maybe some object or other is cut out that might help to sell the illusion, and maybe the badly reacting actors would not be pushed right in our faces so much.
The movie just looks rushed and under-rehearsed, which it probably was. We see King arrested in 1959 by white cops with 1978 haircuts. A scene in a segregated restaurant is full of diners whose reactions to the commotion (when King and some other black people are attempting to be served) could have been done better in a community theater production. Real life activist Julian Bond appears in the film playing an activist, and he's just terrible in the part; an obvious non-actor.
But in spite of the rushed quality of the film, there are some fine moments. Paul Winfield is tremendous as Dr. King, portraying him as a man plagued by self doubts, who never really wanted to be "the" spokesman for civil rights, but once started, he kept getting involved in one civil rights issue after another until it was like he was caught in a tide. He does all the speeches very well and even goes into that revival preacher mode that Dr. King did so often. One curious thing: I could swear the "I've been to the mountain top" speech was not in the original telecast. I remember discussing the movie several years ago with someone who had caught on the History Channel, and he also noted the omission and said "how can you not have that speech in the movie?" Well, I am happy to report that the speech is definitely in the movie, and Winfield does a great job with it (although much of the speech is a tight closeup of Winfield like all the other speeches).
Over all, the movie is still worthwhile as an overview of King's life and times; it just suffers from the rushed quality. And, I'd rather have seen it formatted as 4:3 as it originally was.
BTW, I know we are not supposed to bump our own posts, but I did not see an "Edit" button on my previous post. Do the edit buttons expire over time?
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David_B_K said:
Yes, over 24 hours
Thanks so much for this in-depth review, Dave. It's funny how cheap some of these
films seem when you revisit them decades later.
