Mississippi Burning (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

A riveting crime thriller that feels shockingly relevant.Mississippi Burning (1988) is directed by Alan Parker with a gritty realism and brutal violence that hits hard. This is a film so startling and infuriating that you will never forget it. It takes on the FBI investigation into the racist hate crimes of the KKK in 1960's America that feels as if this took place in present times, sadly.Parker uses documentary style interviews with the backward racist Mississippi local characters to imbue the audience with a feel for how hateful and regressive the local population in the setting really are to their core. Parker pans the camera around the town constantly showing the average white community member with their distrustful glares and hateful venomous words. Mississippi Burning is a testament to persevering against adversity in the name of justice. No matter how violent and crooked the police and citizens get, the law can always get these criminals.Parker invokes powerful imagery from the first shot of a white man and a black boy drinking from segregated water fountains whose water flows from the same pipe. Mississippi Burning longs for a peaceful country in which black communities will not be terrorized by racist white people. It is a demonstration of the fear tactics Republicans and klan members use to discourage black communities from voting or speaking out against these hate groups.Mississippi Burning effectively displays the harsh and unkind truth that black communities in America constantly feel in danger and oppressed by their white neighbors. However ugly the reality of the situation, Parker captures all the pain and agony with a refreshing truth on camera. His direction is peerless as we see stunning cinematography of this Southern urban wasteland.Parker offers profound reasoning for the hatred with dialogue mentioning the conditions of poverty and ignorance that teach hatred instead of it being born in white Americans.The cast is as incredible as the overall film. Willem Dafoe presents the honest justice of the FBI trying to change the country's perception with law and order wonderfully. His resolute stance is so earnest and caring, you cannot help but like Dafoe in Mississippi Burning.On the other hand, the gruff and macho Gene Hackman delivers an excellent performance as the more straightforward Southern tough guy. His depiction of a man conflicted by the racist viewings of his upbringing against his righteous attempts at uncovering evidence to convict the murderers is fascinating. Similarly, Frances McDormand gives a great acting performance as a hairdresser taught to be racist from birth that relents on her life choices. You almost feel sorry for her character. These three leading roles carry Mississippi Burning into cinematic greatness.The supporting roles are a variety of hideous racist sheriffs like Gailard Sartain's negligent officer to the violently racist and abusive deputies like Brad Dourif's monstrous character. They are as unsettling as Michael Rooker's grotesquely racist character is vile. Lastly, R. Lee Ermey gives a fantastically furious performance as the racist and complacent mayor of this Mississippi town.I must mention Trevor Jones scored Mississippi Burning with tense synth heavy songs that leave you stuck in the scenes. His ear for how to build suspense is particularly outstanding during the chase sequences in the car.In all, Mississippi Burning is a cinematic classic of creative visual direction from Alan Parker matched equally in brilliance by the high caliber acting from Willem Dafoe, Gene Hackman, and Frances McDormand. This movie will frighten, upset, enrage, and shock you. But I feel all the more informed and emboldened to progress America into a more tolerant, accepting, and understanding nation after having witnessed the nightmarish sight that is Mississippi Burning.

Mississippi Burning is a perfect example of the power of Hollywood. It starts with an image of segregated water fountains and then a black church being burned. Then you have the three civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney killed by racists in Mississippi. Will this movie then be about the struggle of African Americans for freedom? No, it’s about how two white FBI agents saved the day and figured out who killed Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner with no comment about how the Bureau actively tried to subvert the civil rights movement. Some might say but this was based upon history where the FBI really did look into the murders except this is the movie business where history can be whatever it says it is. Hollywood is notoriously racist unable to make major movies about African Americans marketed to a wide audience without whites being in the lead. Mississippi Burning is a perfect example of that.The myth of the FBI is started when two agents Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) show up at a police station and one of the officers asks if they’re from the Federal Bureau of Integration. Then the two go get some food at a local eatery and sit in the back in the segregated section. Then Anderson asks Ward if he admired the dead civil rights workers to which he replies don’t you? Then someone fires a shotgun at their hotel room and burns a cross outside. This all creates a myth of the FBI being the real heroes of the moment instead of the dead and others who took on the racist south against all odds. It makes out the agents to be the victims of the racists with the shooting and cross. This is really Hollywood at its best making up its own history.C

Ofcourse, Gene Hackman says it all EXCELLENCE above all! The movie reminds everyone in the USA about the right to vote or should i say the inability to vote for some! While race mattered more in some paces than others states like Mississippi did not want change of the good old boys club (KKK) and were prepared to keep it that way against the FBI's presence! Yes, from a legal aspect the rules of law were not followed to the letter but by the spirit from the FBI. Its a shame that murdering three innocent boys serving those in need would be the ones killed, however, there were many people killed that are not even known to this date as racism was tolerated without legal worries back than! Its no small job to take down a Sherrifs department then or now, but the FBI when conducting a investigation can and will succeed if there is wrong doing! This movie is tough to watch make no mistake about that! I hope to see the rating of this movie reach 9.0 or higher!

I really enjoyed this movie. It had strong racist language and violence in it, with a lot of references to the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1964 during the years of segregation. It also saddened me too, for the way people can treat other people just because of the color of their skin, and what they had to endure in those days, which even though, in the USA everyone has equal rights, racism and white supremacy still endures today. I feel it would be difficult to make a film like this in today's Politically Correct world, apart from the film Selma that came out 6 years ago, about Martin Luther King, doing his civil rights march that involved some violence, until the white populace joined them and the march went ahead without the Police violence. Although Mississippi Burning is now 31 years old it promotes a strong message that it is morally wrong to kill, use violence and intimation against people just because they are black or from other non white ethnic communities. Overall a masterpiece.

The film is fantastic (seen it before, Classic) , however the DVD was obviously faulty as after about 45 mins the picture just kept freezing and jumping, cleaned DVD and tried on 3 other DVD players but all the same. After 2 hours the film jumped to the last 10 minutes - I could not be bothered to send this back so binned it. A friend got me another copy from a Boot Fair for £1 in perfect condition. Brilliant film and nice to have a copy.

Mississippi Burning remains one of the most powerful films about America's long struggle against racial prejudice and violence. Both Hackman and DaFoe are superb, as are the supporting caste (especially Brad Dourif, who is always effective when portraying unsavory characters). The contrast between Hackman's veteran policeman and DaFoe's fresh-faced and naive youngster allows for some truly exceptional dialogue which helps to illustrate and make sense of some of the most bitter of social conflicts.

Powerful civil rights drama with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe at the top of their game. Was bought as a present but saw it many times including in the cinema when first released in the late 1980's. Excellent supporting cast including the always reliable Frances Mc Dormand and Brad Dourif as a sinister deputy. A must see for lovers of cinema.

INTENSE DRAMA set in 1964 in a Ku Klux Clan racist town where FBI agents are attempting to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of three youths involved in the Cival Rights Movement. Not seen this for some years, and I find now that it has lost none of its intense dramatic power, much of which is down to the incredible performance of Gene Hackman who clearly demonstrates he is one of cinemas greatest stars. If you have not seen this movie for a long time, re-live it now - the best of its kind. KAN