Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning Image
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Metascore
65 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

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  • Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe
  • Summary: 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)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 2 out of 11
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    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.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: Barry Mcllhenney
    80
    With remarkable performances, aggressive direction and a cracking pace, this is superb cinema, even if the historical accuracy leaves much to be desired.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    50
    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.
  4. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: John Koch
    25
    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]
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See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. bh92
    10
    This film is a classic. It is truly gripping with the detectives playing two sensational performances. In particular, the violent scene at the barbers shop is excellent. The film also plays with all the emotions and sometimes is painful to watch as we witness the cruelty and suffering caused by the KKK in Mississippi.… Expand
  2. EssenceOfSugar
    5
    Comprised mostly of racial abuse and interrogations, this portrayal of a certain historical event is flawed because it is all jumbled together, thinly veiled as a historical masterpiece. The difficulty of using these racial themes within film is the accuracy that it is shown in order to be of certain historical value. It is one thing that you use an event from history and go slightly off track to improve it, it is another thing that you take an event from history and change it around into a complete mess that disrupts the perhaps flawless construction of history. Of course, this film is of little entertainment value, not because of the violent, horrific aspects, but because of the intensity. It wasn't all doom and gloom in the 1960's, but I suppose you could expect that from something titled 'Mississippi Burning'. At least the ending provided something a little more cheerful, despite the fact many people had been killed in the process.… Expand

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