SummaryThis documentary tells the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century's most alluring and controversial organizations that captivated the world's attention for nearly 50 years.
Directed By:Stanley Nelson
Written By:Stanley Nelson
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Metascore
Generally Favorable
79
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
79
90% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sep 1, 2015
100
What is clear from this sober yet electrifying film is that the power of the Panthers was rooted in their insistence — radical then, radical still — that black lives matter.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
64% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
14% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
21% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Apr 3, 2016
8
The Black Panthers bring perfect success. With Vanguard of the Revolution, the Black Panthers know where things will start and where they'll be done and when they'll start and end.
Oct 25, 2015
8
I enjoyed this film as it is about a period of time that I found fascinating. I always enjoy films where I learn something and here I learned a lot about Fred Hampton. I enjoyed the footage and the insight into the movement in those days. That said, the film also is trying to provide a revisionist history that plays down the criminal element of the Panthers and why they were unable to integrate with the white anti war movements. The demise of Newton is whitewashed and I would have rather that they gave us the true story instead of that. Still there was more depth than you get from most of these type films. Saints they were not and that could have been more candidly portrayed.
Sep 24, 2015
80
An organization that stubbornly resists being pigeonholed, the Black Panther Party emerges from this documentary with its significance enhanced but some of its tactics questioned.
Oct 9, 2015
75
Uses a deft mix of archival footage and interviews with historians and some very articulate Panther veterans.
Sep 1, 2015
75
Stanley Nelson’s absorbing, provocative documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution measures how much and how little has changed since Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale co-founded the Panthers in Oakland in 1966.
Aug 31, 2015
70
With no narrator to shepherd us along, the movie feels noisy and restless. The period is revived by a wealth of songs on the soundtrack, and by the sleek and succulent Panther look.
Sep 3, 2015
60
Not a particularly exceptional movie in form, but as a thorough record it is extraordinary.
Apr 15, 2018
7
Un buen documental, aunque pudieron ser un poco más abiertos e investigar más. En algunas partes se siente que toman partido y suavizan mucho de lo que significo este partido. El formato es muy ortodoxo, imágenes de archivo seguidas de entrevistas con los protagonistas.
Production Company:
- Firelight Films
- ITVS International
Release Date:Sep 2, 2015
Duration:1 h 55 m
Awards
RiverRun International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Image Awards (NAACP)
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
