Customer Reviews

Black August

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall, Black August is a very good movie. Dourdan does a superb job in his role as George Jackson. The only problems I have with this movie are the use of artistic license that create historical inaccuracies and the weird scenes that involve Dourdan practicing Kung Fu while his voice over narrates real letters written by Jackson.

Historical Inaccuracy....
In the movie, lawyer Stephen Bingham is shown to have smuggled in the 9mm handgun for Jackson's escape plan. In reality, Bingham denies smuggling in a weapon and was even acquitted for his alleged involvement in the plan. Furthermore, there is a lack of proof that Jackson had an escape plan ready. Also, former Black Panthers and students of black history claim that the actual 9mm handgun found at the scene was impounded by the FBI in a raid on a Black Panther safe house two years earlier; which suggests that Jackson's death had been a political assassination followed by an extensive cover-up.

In other words- Buy this movie and take a history class.

First of all this is the most inaccurate depiction of the events surrounding George Jackson's death that could have been put on film. It seems as if the film was written by a team consisting of FBI agents, prison guards, and police officers. The perspective of George Jackson was completely left out. One example of this is the fact that Jackson was portrayed like a wild animal in a cage, constantly screaming with rage and striking out into the air. However if you read his book you learn that his personality was the complete opposite of the uncontrolled caged animal that they portray. In Soledad Brother you learn that Jackson often meditated, practiced talk fasts, never smoked, was an avid reader and in general practiced an ascetic lifestyle however you see none of this in the film.

Another glaring example of the numerous inaccuracies found in this movie was the alleged gun in the afro magic trick that he pulled in the end of the movie. It is utterly appalling that this was even depicted in the film. It is obvious that George Jackson was assassinated by the racist prison guards and the story about the gun was produced after the fact. There are numerous links available on the net that discuss how it was demonstrated during the Stephen Bingham trial (Bingham is the guy who supposedly smuggled in the gun, who was acquitted) that the gun could not have been hidden in a tape recorder, as it was alleged, and that his legal folder had been searched by hand and had gone through several metal detectors. However none of this is in the film instead they actually portray Jackson taking a gun from his afro and starting a prison riot without explaining how he could have possibly got a gun.

Another blatant inaccuracy is the movies depiction of Jackson starting the riot when in actuality the famous San Quentin riot was not started by Jackson and took place only after his murder as a response to him being shot while on the prison yard by himself. After viewing this movie it's obvious that TCinque Sampson (writer and director) didn't know George Jackson, never read his books and made a movie based on FBI reports and the testimonials of the prison guards that shot and killed George Jackson leaving the perspective of Jackson, his family and friends completely out of the picture. This is a poorly made film based on disinformation so save your money and time and skip this one.

This is one of the most powerful stories I've ever watched about the Soledad Brothers. Gary Dourdan is a superb actor! I've admired his work since "Different World & Laurel Canyon." I allowed my students to watch & it sparked major interest in the Black Panther parties mission and the injustice in the prison systems(which is still prevalent today).

Black August was a very interesting and riveting movie. Gary Dourdan is a wonderful actor and made it so realistic.

This is truly a wonderful movie.
I enjoyed it so much and so did my son.
Thanks a mil.
Tina Foushee
Washington DC

I enjoyed the movie and was surprised to see that it was based on a true story.