Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more
Janet Maslin, New York Times: The best parts of Amistad are those that simply bring their pride, fear and outrage to life. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Read more
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Spielberg seems to be dividing his filmmaking output into two distinct halves: in the summer months cranking out no-brainer dinosaur flicks...in the winter season unveiling his serious artistic stuff to edify the adults and woo the Oscar crowd. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Thematically rich, impeccably crafted, and intellectually stimulating, the only area where this movie falls a little short is in its emotional impact. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What is most valuable about Amistad is the way it provides faces and names for its African characters, whom the movies so often make into faceless victims. Read more
Charles Taylor, Salon.com: Amistad is prestige filmmaking bereft of inspiration -- sometimes even of the nuts and bolts of craft. Read more
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: In Amistad, an admirable but disappointing effort...[Speilberg] veers between stoic political correctness and mushy Hollywood platitudes. Read more