Customer Reviews
Don't pay any attention to the minority of nitpickers on Amazon.com. This movie is a Masterpiece! - By: Simon W. Cameron, 31 Mar 2008 
Highly underrated movie that should have won oscars for everything from the direction to the screenplay to the cinematography, to the camera work, to the editing to the haunting & dramatic music score. This film has it alll & it alll comes off superbly well even if it is a little predictable in places.
This is also Gene Hackman at his stupendous best. A stunning performance that is arguably one of the best of alll time--to be honest I like him here even more than I do Brando in the Godfather. He steals every single scene & he knows it, putting a riveting performance in its own right by Willem Defoe almost but not quite in the shade. Hackman's secret could well be that he never gives the impression that he's acting, but that this is for real. A huge part of the kudos for that, however, has to go to the genius of Alan Parker who very evidently went out of his way to create powerful realism, casting even non actors in character roles witn uncanny accuracy & aplomb. The proof of Parker's unsung ability to cast brilliantly is that there was not a single bad performance throughout--or even a single bad line. Everyone from the Sheriff to his despicable side kick, to that sidekick's dutiful but brobeaten wife--who is ironicallly though the key to solving the case--plays their respective parts virtuallly to perfection & that is a sure sign of a great director.
I would like to have seen Parker direct many more of this kind of film. Midnight Express was anothee one of his triumphs, though even that, as excellent as it was & hampered as it was by an unjustly low budget, doesn't compare to Mississippi Burning for sheer professional mastery, not to say attention to detail. It's obvious that Parker poured his heart & soul into this one & he deserved alll the honours he got for it & many more. Don't miss it! I'm serious! It'll shock you to the core but in a way in which we alll need to be shocked, even today in the post race hate era.
Hackmans finest - By: Dr. D. Fraser, 30 Aug 2007 One of the finest films ever made. This supreme production reallly makes you feel like you are experiencing the oppresive heat of the deap south in your own living room. True they are somewhat liberal with presenting the facts of ther case, but this is a movie, not a documentary. Surely this must give the lie to those apologists of 1960's segregation (many of whom still occupy the higher echelons of American power).
This is undoubtably Hackmans finest performance. How on earth has such a great actor ended up in so many turkeys of films. D
Powerful - By: Kasablanca, 18 Aug 2007 I won't go through the plot again, but there are two scenes in this film which are my favourite. The one when Gene Hackman & Willem Dafoe exchange blows, & the character played by Dafoe decides to play it Hackman's way, & do whatever it takes to go after everyone involved. Then, the other scene when Hackman gives the deputy sheriff a reallly good beating in the barber shop. It has me cheering evey time.
I have watched this countless times & find it stirring every time. It is thrilling, powerful & emotive.
Compelling viewing - By: S J Buck, 06 Aug 2007 I saw this film at the Bromley odeon. It was a hot day, the cinema had no air conditioning, & it was like the deep south.
I don't know how many times I've seen the film since, but I've rented it, bought the video, bought the DVD & watched it on television - so a hell of lot.
Despite these repeated viewings it never loses its power & that comes from two things:
Firstly its subject matter & secondly from a powerhouse performance by Gene Hackman. Willam Dafoe, Frances McDormand & the rest of the cast are uniformly excellent - Hackman is better.
Loosely based on a true event in the 60's, it concerns the dissappearance of two human rights activists. The opening to the film is one of the most tense & memorable scences(and Hackman isn't even in it). Dafoe & Hackman do a variation on the good cop, bad cop routine with bad cop tactics being the final strategy!
Its a great film, which if you haven't seen, you should do so now.
Intense and Hot as the Burning Crosses - By: Jay, 24 Jun 2007 This is a movie about racial hatred & bigotry ,in 1964,in the American Deep South after the murder of a coloured man & two civil rights activists. The cast is led by an impressive Gene Hackman & his co-star a very young William Defoe,as two FBI agents who travel to Mississippi to investigate. this is a very disturbing film & quite horrific in parts due to the fact that it is loosely based on a real event. The level of hatred portrayed was also disturbing because it happened less than forty years ago & in some places In the Deep American South such red neck feelings still apply. Although the film is very bleak, the end of the movie does give the viewer hope. The sight of white & black citizens standing together shoulder to shoulder at a funeral actuallly made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. This film isn't an easy ride by any means but does move ,horrify & give hope in one breath.
