MLK/FBI

I guess I was never paying attention during history class. But I did not know how closely the FBI was spying on King. And they were trying to extort him as a philanderer because they believed he was a plausible national threat?

I thought this was an interesting look inside the life of Martin Luther King as he leads his people to freedom while the FBI keeps close tabs on him. It thought it was also a dark period for Hoover plus the people of America for their treatment of King plus other African-Americans in the 60s. I look forward to Feb. 2027 when more tapes will be released of MLK by the FBI, but just seems strange we need to wait so long, similar to the JFK news releases

I'd recommend this movie for history buffs and any civil rights activists

Mixed feelings on this but its key strength is the archival footage detailing MLK's life. The FBI don't come across at all well but at least we see why - the apparently revered J Edgar Hoover was a relentless decryer of any attempts from the civil rights movement to gain recognition. In context of the period it's understandable but from a modern perspective it's appalling how the colour of a man's skin marked him as a dissident simply for trying to gain equality. At least I got the chance to see and hear MLK in action all in one documentary. I would like to see this film become part of any critical race theory education package.

Extremely slow and thorough and this documentary sometimes gets caught chasing its own tail, but overall this is an enlightening look at how bad our government is in the United States. The FBI was dirty, no surprise there, but how dirty will blow your mind. While I enjoyed this film, it was distracting for me to not see any talking heads. The decision to only include archive footage and audio from people interviewed recently was odd. Plenty to dig into with this one! Final Score: 7.4/10

Maybe the most boring documentary ever made. No new information. Exhaustingly long. Dreadfully bad. They uncover NOTHING new. How is this not universally panned? So bad.

"Looking at the FBI campaigns against King, the Black Panther party, and many other people I think there's a core component to this that really is structural and functional. People hold these attitudes and we focus on J. Edgar Hoover's own particular history and person, but I think that these are attitudes that have been core to how the racial order operates in the U.S. What helped motivate these campaigns was the real fear that black people could undermine the way the country wanted to see itself. And this manifested itself not only in the targeting of leaders and the people that were visible, but of ordinary people. So, this core fear and aggression toward African Americans has a lot to do with white people's own conception of themselves and black people forcing a reckoning with the violence of the American past." Hot. Damn.

Good but a bit of a disappointment - I don't think I really learned anything..... and what was with the dozen plus clips from old Hollywood movies?

Sobering look at how those who control our government will go to eliminate a threat to the status quo benefitting those with power

Horrible use of film who claims the focus was to "shame" the FBI for filming Dr. King but whose real intent was to cast shade/doubt on Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy. An abomination and disgrace to documentaries worldwide. Have some class, talk about good things in people and try it again! If we went after everything the writers of the film did that was bad, I'm sure we could easily frame a ludicrous picture of them as well. I'm requesting a refund.