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

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

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

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

A dazzling chronicle of the African American music expo that was meant to accompany the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight title bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Congo).

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 24, 2009

A non-stop head-bobbing knee-bouncer.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 24, 2009

As the record of a cultural event, Soul Power is a hit-and-miss affair.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 17, 2009

Gluttons for these artists and for music festivals in general might wonder, as I have, whether there's any way the filmmakers might share more of the remaining 123 1/2 hours.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 16, 2009

Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte pads out the concert footage with not always stimulating backstage stuff, but the music makes it all worthwhile.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 10, 2009

A vibrant and joyous new documentary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte does a terrific job re-creating a landmark moment, with behind-the-scenes footage complementing triumphant performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

This is musical history that deserves to be placed alongside the best of its era.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

An edifying glimpse at a moment in black history when the world really was looking on.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

The documentary gives us a tantalising taste of what appear to have been some incredible performances. Such is the quality of the footage and sound recording that you rather wish the film was longer.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

Leon Gast's documentary When We Were Kings, about the 1974 Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire, now has a great companion piece.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009

The concert footage is excellent, with Brown in decent form, even if in truth he was already a decade past his creative peak. Good music movie, thin documentary.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 10, 2009

Ali motormouth footage left over from When We Were Kings. Actually, this whole film was made from WWWK leftovers, we learn. But we manage to forget that detail whenever the music soars.

| Jul 10, 2009

Offers a vivid glimpse of a fascinating moment in musical history, racial politics and global pop culture.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2009