Product Details

• Actors: Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham, David Strathairn
• Directors: John Sayles
• Writers: John Sayles
• Producers: Amir Jacob Malin, Ira Deutchman, James Glenn Dudelson, Jerry Silva, Maggie Renzi
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Italian
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Evergreen Ent
• VHS Release Date: April 29, 1997
• Run Time: 135 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304383657
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,144 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

A little-known chapter of American labor history is brought vividly to life in this period drama from writer-director John Sayles. It's a fictional story about labor wars among West Virginia coal miners during the 1920's, but every detail is so right that the film has the unmistakable ring of truth. The tension begins when the Stone Mountain Coal Company of Matewan, West Virginia, announces a lower pay rate for miners, who respond by calling a strike under the leadership of a United Mine Workers representative (Chris Cooper). Proving strength in numbers, the miners are joined by black and Italian miners who initially resist the strike, and a fateful battle ensues when detectives hired by the coal company attempt to evict miners from company housing. Violence erupts in a sequence of astonishing, cathartic intensity, and Matewan achieves a rare degree of moral complexity combined with gut-wrenching tragedy. The film salutes a pacifist ideal while recognizing that personal and political convictions often must be defended with violence. To illustrate this point, Sayles enlisted master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who creates the film's authentic visual texture--a triumph of artistry over limited resources. The result is a milestone of independent filmmaking, and Matewan remains one of Sayles's finest achievements. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

184 of 195 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great film - awful DVD, November 6, 2003

By 

tokyo111 (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matewan (DVD)

John Sayles' best film merits a far better DVD treatment than this technical travesty.

Others here have mentioned the film's amazing cinematograhy, fine performances (indierockers note: a young Will Oldham -- aka singer/songwriter Bonnie "Prince" Billy -- has a featured role) and stirring story. But it bears repeating that this digital transfer is *atrocious*. The film is presented in "full-screen" format, lopping off the edges of Haskell Wexler's beautiful frames. Celluloid scratches and "reel change" hole-punches are visible throughout. And the sound, if you can believe it, is worse -- it's in hissy, almost inaudible MONO, for God's sake!

Zero commentaries. Almost no bonus extras, unless you count a few panels of "production notes."

Not worth a purchase. Wait for the morons at Artisan to get their collective act together and give this fine film the gold-star release it deserves.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bleak mood sets the tone of this coal mine strike story, March 16, 2003

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This 1987 film, written and directed by John Sayles, is based on a real incident from the 1920, when workers from a West Virginia coal mine went on strike. Chris Cooper stars as a labor union organizer who comes to the town which is run the Company that have just brought in a trainload of black men as well as a group of Italian families to do the work of the strikers. James Earl Jones is cast as the leader of the blacks who says out loud that he understands people can't help calling him the "N" word, but no man can ever call him a "scab". Will Oldham is cast as a 14-year old mine worker and sometimes preacher. There are heroes and villains in this film, and Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp are the kind of bad guys you love to hate.

The pace is slow as the story unfolds, each actor giving depth to his or her role. The Union is represented as a good and unifying force for the diverse types of people caught up in the drama. The company is represented as bad. Really bad. Not only did they exploit their workers and push people out of their homes, they also did not stop at brutal murder. There were enough personal stories to keep the film interesting although I found some of the speeches a little long and talky. It was all about mood and bleakness and John Sayles sure is a master of setting the mood. Most of the extras in the film lived in the area of Appalachia where it was shot and the close-ups of their faces added to the film's authenticity.

One of the problems was that the transfer of the film to DVD wasn't done well. The sound was muffled and some of the words were indistinct. And the shots set in the forest were so dark that it was hard to tell what was going on. I enjoyed the film although I thought it was too long. Followers of John Sayles work will enjoy it though, as well as those with an interest in union struggle.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully placed, pictured and performed, February 23, 1999

By 

B. Toye ([e-mail]) (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matewan [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It seems not widely known that this poignant and proud film was shot in Thurmond, WVa., a once booming and now all-but-abandoned coal town absent from many maps, where main street is indeed a railroad track and where a visit today is a step back in time . . . to that very time . . . a time born of coal mines and railroads I was fortunate to visit and photograph with my wife, who's from Huntington, just last summer. Having walked amid the the water tanks, the coal and sand towers . . . the bank and hotel fronts . . . the homes later seen in an earlier time through the movie made this an extremely absorbing film for me. My wife would probably not agree, as such things about the history of West Virginia, where she is visiting again this week, and depictions of its people, like the Okies in "Grapes of Wrath," seem to strike her with a different, harder kind of edge. To me, Thurmond is as wonderful a setting for "Matewan" as Sayles's movie is a palpable depiction of life for men and families struggling powerlessly -- almost -- for each day. The darkened "streets" of Thurmond today, like the blackened miner's face at the film's end, say it all at a glance. See it.