Customer Reviews

The Vernon Johns Story: The Road to Freedom

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want to see a movie that will wake you up, make you proud of your predecessors, and make you want to go out and do something constructive to improve the economic, spiritual and social status of black people, then this is the movie for you. James Earl Jones is superb as Vernon Johns, full of the essence of the word "love." Love is a verb, meaning to take action, not a feeling or some image of lust. Watch the movie with a friend, family member or someone who cares, and then go out and do something about it. Don't get excited about the movie and then do nothing about it. And don't think you are just one person and you will have no effect. Vernon Johns was one person and he paved the way for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights activists. Pave the way for a better community, county, state, nation and world. Thank you.

Through the writing of Taylor Branch, I was first introduced to the brilliant Vernon Johns and his unacknowledged role in the civil rights movement. I subsequently read "Voices for the Dexter Pulpit" (ed. Michael Thurman) and the unpublished biography of Johns written by Henry W. Powell of The Vernon Johns Society. The brilliant performance by James Earl Jones is as close to written accounts as one would expect. This is a "must see" for anyone who teaches the civil rights movement. Provides for a great debate topic - Johns v. MLK - why did one succeed and the other not?

A must see movie, James Earl Jones does and excellent job playing Vernon Johns, a brave,Christian Preacher in Alabama at Dexter Baptist Church. I have seen the movie twice, and would watch it many more times. A film to help us understand our past, and hopefully grow in our future. This movie should be shown again on tv and should have never been taken out of print.
Amy Jo

This is a movie that is a must for those who are brave enough to look into the eyes of a fearless man who walked in the spirit and power of a "John the Baptist." America only acknowledges Dr. M.L. King and Mrs. Rosa Parks, but they stood on the shoulders of Rev. Vernon Johns. He was the beginning of the "revolution for righteousness." He showed them how to take the reigns for control of their own lives. They listened. Excellently written script. A classic that should be required viewing in every junior high school. I only regret that neither Johns, nor King ever got to enjoy the respect, appreciation and acclaim they so very much deserved. This is a classic, fit for ANY home or age.

James Earl Jones gives life to the story of Dr. Vernon Johns, who preceded Dr. King in the Montgomery, Alabama pulpit that was to change history. There has rarely been a film that has so graphically detailed the savagery of racism in the deep South before the outbreak of the Civil Rights movement. Although he passed away in 1965, Dr. Johns deserves a prominent place in the history of the struggle for freedom and equality. This DVD is a must for the classroom, lest we ever slide back to the old levels of degradation.

WARNING; THIS MOVIE MAY CAUSE A CHANGE OF HEART IN ITS VIEWERS. This is a great movie about a modern day prophet who is rejected byy his own people, but continues to spread the word. I give it a 4 1/2!

James Earl Jones at his finest portraying a passionate Southern preacher at the dawn of the modern Civil Rights movement. Guaranteed to inform and inspire, no matter what your color. (First enjoyed when Jareen Abdul-Jabbar co-produced it in 1994.)

This is a man that everyone should know about. He's done alot for the Civil Rights Movement. I admire him for his broad thinking. He was right for dealing with what was at that time.

This is an incredible story of a real man with a determination to live his life in truth and faith. His wasn't afraid to 'rock the boat' in the segregated south of his time, whether it be sitting on a bus or from the pulpit of his church.

Much of this story is seen through the eyes of his daughter as she comes to appreciate her often absent, often embarrassing and always stubborn father. He teaches truth to his congregation, to his community and to his daughter.

This wonderful made-for-TV movie has a great cast, head up by the incomparable James Earl Jones, in the role of this heroic preacher.

Could there really have been a Vernon Johns speaking truths in a time when we as a people were too afraid of or too comfortable in our misery to hear? Yes, there was. A true prophet. A John the Baptist, if you wil, preparing the way for Martin Luther King. But, why was Vernon Johns rejected. Perhaps he spoke too strongly. James Earl Jones portrays him gloriously. A titan who will not bend, who demands attention even if you will not give him the respect he deserves. This story should be taught to our children until they can recite it like a litany. I have started with mine. Now it is your turn. And where is the dvd?