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Mississippi Burning

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Crime | Drama | Mystery | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Chris Gerolmo
Directed by: Alan Parker
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 27, 1989
DVD: May 8, 2001
Running Time: 128 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for profanity, not for children, violence, adult language, Adult Situations
Starring Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Frankie Faison, Pruitt Taylor Vince, and Michael Rooker
A fictionalized version of the murders of three civil rights activists on June 21, 1964 in Mississippi. The FBI comes in to solve the case and succeeds only after using unethical and illegal means. (MGM)
Also On Metacritic
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Apart from its pure entertainment value - this is the best American crime movie in years - it is an important statement about a time and a condition that should not be forgotten. The Academy loves to honor prestigious movies in which long-ago crimes are rectified in far-away places. Here is a nominee with the ink still wet on its pages.
Read Full Review >USA Today Staff (Not Credited)
A powerful drama about the murder of three civil-rights workers in the South. Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe are FBI men investigating. A legitimate Oscar contender. [6 Jan 1989, p.5D]
Washington Post Desson Howe
Mississippi Burning speeds down the complicated, painful path of civil rights in search of a good thriller. Surprisingly, it finds it
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
Parker, a director of breadth, not depth, never supplies the big answers, but he does powerfully depict the climate of the Confederacy in the "Freedom Summer" of 1964.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Wayne King
For those who know such places, Mr. Parker, who is English, evokes the texture, the gritty, fly-specked Southernness, the brooding sense of small-town menace, the racial hatred, with considerable accuracy.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Though its credibility is undermined by a fanciful ending, Mississippi Burning captures much of the truth in its telling of the impact of a 1964 FBI probe into the murders of three civil rights workers.
Read Full Review >Empire Barry Mcllhenney
With remarkable performances, aggressive direction and a cracking pace, this is superb cinema, even if the historical accuracy leaves much to be desired.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Judy Stone
Parker recreates the hate-and-fear-filled atmosphere in that small Southern town with broad brush strokes. But in the end, all of his spectacular fires send out a lot more heat than light. [13 Jan 1989, p.E1]
TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Mississippi Burning is visually splendid. Director Parker and his crew have created a film that is unquestionably watchable. As a history lesson, however, it's laughable.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe John Koch
Mississippi Burning plays loose with truth, turning the history of the civil rights movement on its head. The filmmakers shamelessly transform what was ultimately a triumph of due process and nonviolent civil disobedience into an ugly might-makes-right spectacle. It's "Dirty Harry" coming at you from the left. [27 Jan 1989, p.72]
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The glorification of the FBI, the obfuscation about Jim Crow laws, and the absurd melodramatics may all have been well-intentioned, but the understanding about the past and the present of racism that emerges is depressingly thin.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
