... worth catching for its awesome views of B.B. King ("The Thrill is Gone") and soul daddy James Brown in the time capsule of 1974 Zaire.

| Jun 18, 2020

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 16, 2011

Soul Power is a window into a time when anything seemed possible.

| Aug 26, 2011

B.B. King. Bill Withers. Miriam Makeba. Celia Cruz. And James Brown, earning every inch of the title, "Godfather of Soul," who all by himself probably deforested a few acres around Kinshasa with the volcanic blast of his set.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 13, 2009

Does its part to widen this historic concert's potential audience base.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 2, 2009

Watching Soul Power is like flipping through Polaroids of that era. The color is a little washed out and everyone looks amazingly young.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 17, 2009

It's hard not to wish that maybe there was a little less of Muhammad Ali promoting himself and a little more of the concert.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 16, 2009

...if you are a fan of any of the musicians ... or maybe I should say if you're completely unfamiliar with any of the musicians mentioned - then Soul Power is well worth seeing. Or at least hearing.

Full Review | Original Score: 87/100 | Sep 9, 2009

For a documentary about a music festival, Soul Power doesn't include nearly enough music.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 4, 2009

The movie is surprisingly dry and flavorless. It certainly doesn't help that filmmaker Jeffrey Levy-Hinte put this collection of footage together without any narration and with a bare minimum of narrative captions.

| Sep 3, 2009

The performances are fine, but this feels like a companion piece to 'When We Were Kings' rather than a work that can stand on its own...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 28, 2009

Soul Power leaves you wanting more, and not in a good way.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 21, 2009

It's best seen as a breezy entertainment and a reminder of how potent some of these performers -- many of whom are dead -- were in their primes.

| Original Score: B | Aug 14, 2009

Soul Power turns out to be an unusually resonant time capsule, one that weaves together theatrics, musicianship, cosmopolitanism and sharp political critique in a vibrant look-back that's at once celebratory and wistful.

Full Review | Aug 14, 2009

It's impossible not to be moved.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 13, 2009

Ultimately it's the music that makes this film a cause for celebration -- especially the chance to see 'Soul Brother #1' James Brown and his blistering band perform at their absolute prime.

| Original Score: B | Jul 30, 2009

It packs the emotional and historical power of a heady 'family gathering' celebration of African and, to use the term then in fashion, Afro-American pride.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 30, 2009

Soul Power is the indispensable companion film to Leon Gast's thrilling 1996 documentary When We Were Kings.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 30, 2009

A footnote to a masterpiece.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2009

Watching the Godfather of Soul on the big outdoor stage, you think back to his appearance in The T.A.M.I. Show a decade earlier. And then you think: I feel good.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 24, 2009