5/5 Pistols shot ring of of the ballroom night
  by
its too cool oh you enter pattie valintine from the eper hall she sees a bar tender and a cooler of blood cries out My god they killed them all

5/5 Asking First-Order Questions
  by Salvatore Rossellini
The idea that a man would be strong enough to endure over 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit is ... what can one say ... remarkable.

The other man arrested the night of the murders, John Artis, spent the same amount of time in prison as Carter. In the voiceover commentary, director Norman Jewison points out that the authorities would periodically take John Artis to his home and tell him that all he had to do was sign a piece of paper stating that Ruben Carter commited the murders, and he would be set free. Artis refused; the simple reason being that neither one of them committed the crime. As Ruben Carter put it: "John Artis is my hero."

As much as I like this movie and as much as I would recommend that as many people as possible see it, the movie gives the impression that the railroading of Ruben Carter was rooted in a personal vendetta Patterson detective Vincetn Della had against Ruben Carter. Not so. Ruben Carter's case was not rooted in a personal vendetta, a judicial misstep or a "flaw" in the political system. It was, rather a systematic, statewide attempt on the part of a *host* of New Jersey authorities to frame an innocent black man; and to frame him because of his radical political views.

Please Note: The United States was *founded* on radical political views.

Ruben Carter was far from the only political prisoner in the United States in the 1960s. U.S. jails were, and are, full of political prisoners, given that the United States government was and still is rooted in racial and economic injustice.

Corrupt police, corrupt judges and corrupt politicians in the 1960s were given all kinds of signals from the ruling class that their fervor in maintaining "law and order" would grant them unconstitutional authority in applying and interpreting the law.

Put another way: the tone established by those in power -- starting at the top with law and order, unindicted co-conspirator Richard Nixon -- "enabled" corrupt, vigilante officials to take the law into their own hands; even if their arbitrary, extralegal exercise of power meant innocents were convicted.

Maintaining law and order, preserving "the system" were and are all that matter to the ruling elite.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Fre Hampton, Medgar Evers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Louis Allen, Addie Mae Collins, Viola Gregg Liuzzo, Mack Charles Parker, Emmett Till, the four children who died on a Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama, and countless of other unknowns who were either lynched, imprisoned or murdered in cold blood -- these were political imprionments and political "hits."

-- Consider how "justice" was meted out to the men who killed the three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1964 (Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman).

-- Consider Mayor Richard Daley's "shot to kill" order just before the antiwar marchers convened in Chicago in 1968 for the Democratic National Convention.

-- Consider the Kerner Commission's characterization of what took place in the streets of Chicago during that 1968 Democratic Convention -- they described it as a "police riot."

-- Consider the attitude of the chief law enforcement officer, J. Edgar Hoover, toward Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement in general.

-- Consider the enabling message of people like *Governor* Orville Faubus, *Sheriff* Bull Conner, *Governor* George Wallace, "Governor* Lester Maddox, et al to the corrupt sheriffs, judges, police and politicians who went out of their way to punish "uppity blacks."

So it's not just one corrupt Patterson detective we're talking about; we're talking about the corruption of entire social, political and economic system -- a system that wanted to not just imprison Ruben Carter but to kill his political beliefs and kill the spirit that generated those beliefs.

Ruben "Hurricane" Carter is an extraordinary person; extraordinary to have endured what he endured. And he is celebrated for his endurance and for his courage. But how many countless people are there -- unsung, unheard of -- who were killed, railroaded and/or imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit, who *didn't* survive as Ruben Carter survived?

Quoting from a review by J. Cooper:

"The film implies that the frame-up of Carter and Artis was unique
--an aberration of justice. But as Carter was well aware in 1967, the state was out to crush the rising opposition simmering in the urban ghettos, and he was a prime target. He was outspoken, bold and had spent much of his youth in a correctional facility. ...

"He was also an outspoken critic of racial prejudice, and a supporter of the civil rights movement in the US from the early 1960s. ...

"The political issues that agitated him and about which he felt passionate are left out of the film. ...

"... the intolerable conditions of ghetto life. These were the conditions that had formed young Rubin Carter: run-down apartments, unemployment over 20 percent, poor schools and little future for youth. ...

"State forces were mobilized against the growing (civil right and antiwar) movement(s) through open police provocations, frame-ups and murders. ... This is the social background to the Carter and Artis case that is barely touched on by the film. The audience is left to conclude that it was one bad cop and one angry black man locked in battle. ...

"... the "guardian angel" jailer who helps Carter retain his dignity by bending the rules for him ... reinforces the artificial 'balance' that the filmmakers bring to the story in their attempt to demonstrate that ultimately the American Justice System "can work.'"


2/5 Great performance, Crappy movie
  by Runsilent (Philadelphia PA USA)
Denzel Washington is flawless in a terrible stinker of a corny, hackneyed, lopsided biopic of the life of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a great boxer of the 60s who is imprisoned for 30 years on charges he participated in a triple murder and then ultimately released. The material is fantastic: a terrible childhood, a mysterious murder, a successful man. But Denzel is the only person who overcomes the triteness of the script and ham-handedness of the direction. Despite Norman Jewison's efforts to canonize Rubin from the get-go, Denzel keeps it powerfully real. Any scene he isn't in is just crap, however. This is not a movie to own. Ever. But it is worth renting.

4/5 3 stars out of 4
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

If historical inaccuracies and biases are ignored and The Hurricane is viewed simply as a movie, it succeeds quite well: though a tad overlong, it's a solid bit of prison and human drama.

5/5 GREAT not good but GREAT amazing high talent actors make GREAT FILMS....this is of NO EXCEPTION.DENZEL is INCREDIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!
  by Shakaarii Melendez (NEWYORK-NEWJERSEY)
hola to all.i was a teenager when i think he was in prison etc met lesra
the 80's etc. but i know i have never heard of this until atty.told me about this amazing film. i am so happy she told me,she is a FORMER Judge. as,being a advocate on civil rights,equal protection for ALL innocent on parental-child rights in new jersey tri-state area nyc etc.i know how this man must have felt.
the fact a prosecutor can go to court proceed as if he has REAL evidence
all conjured up,fabricated withheld etc. all in the name of jealous hatred
to secure a state win shows as the judge say at the end of the film and for the "ruling"to then be UPHELD once the proof is verified of the fraud
on the court,etc. the lies fabrication,as that is a violation of the worse kind etc. i love the judge at the end of the movie said it BEST.
(what the "state"did to him,judge said analogous to my paraphrasing is and would be more worse then the actual person who DID indeed do the crime
etc.)thus must vacate his old verdict,etc and i agree wholeheartedly...

as we know how this man must have felt being the advocate i am falsely accused,people who were set up framed etc.
as right now:

we have a case actually here in
N.J.MULTI MILLION $ Dollar suits are pending currently and more to come 09
* where the state of new jersey attempted to assert presumably how this N.J.parent abused her child.That she was the"WORSE ABUSE"parent,her case was in n.j.history as quoted by THEIR THERAPIST STEPHANIE AUERBACH(Millburn N.J.) that the mother just all the sudden flip out,went all crazy,by beating child severely with a hanger,that mother inflicted EXCESSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT ON HER CHILD?

However everyone reading this review there were not 1 but SEVERAL CLEAR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN"the night in question of the child" clear color "PIX,DOCUMENTATION,POLICE/DYFS files all proving beyond ANY doubt from anyone that the state clearly LIED......
N.J. D.A.G.(Deputy attorney General here in new jersey)BROUGHT this case to the UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN ELIZABETH,NJ knowingly he has NO EVIDENCE STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT ABUSE TO CHILD,WE KNOW THIS NOW BY THE DISCOVERY,putting time line together and collecting even reports saying MOTHER DID NOT DO IT SHE WAS CLEARED,WE CAN'T SUBSTANTIATE ABUSE TO CHILD AND OR NEGLECT!
they all lied! and suit has been filed on behalf of the 2 girls damage by being torn apart from mother on a GROSS NEGLIGENT/SEVERE FALSEHOOD.

(DYFS STAND FOR DIVISION YOUTH FAMILY SERVICES)new jersey CPS agency,they all lied framing the mother for incentice,bonus etc then put child in DIRECT HARM, THE LAWSUIT FOR OUR TEAM NOW IS "PENDING"and more to come in winter 09.AS WE ARE ALSO HERE IN THIS CASE PUSHING FOR CHANGED LAWS As well tougher penalties for workers at the division who withhold,fabricate
investigatory procedure etc. regarding new jersey CORRUPT DYFS-CPS,so we know how the "hurricane must have felt"and thankful this GREAT ACTOR was
able to pop out of our t.v.screen and make us FEEL what the"hurricane"must
have Really been going through. i know MANY WHO LOVE THIS FILM ALL RACES.
we are so happy/so glad he is OUT and free now.
this stupid bias non-astute prosecutor has no proof just the officer/detec.was JEALOUS that was flagrant.they were just non-astute and
VERY JEALOUS,of this good lookin'nice talented smart black man,this is evident,that you have to set some one up because of that,how disgusting.
but we are so happy the HURRICANE fought back,after at 1st wanting to just give up he never did as he KNEW he was INNOCENT...god knew it too.

So glad the white advocate team came to help him and young black boy lesra
* AS THE WAY THEY WERE ABLE TO DISPROVE ALL OF WHAT THE STATE WAS ATTEMPTING TO DO, I LOVE IT CAN WATCH IT OVER AND OVER SINCE GETTING IT OFF OF AMAZON THIS YEAR!Albeit yes some has been altered for more drama i
hear who knows,but i love it and i am so happy DENZEL did a 10000% great job in each scene,best ethnic actor in my opinion of OUR time.love him ! he just CANNOT MAKE A HORRIBLE MOVIE,no wonder he is so great in each film
that do not happen with EACH ACTOR,denzel is wonderful in this film throughout. ACTUALLY ADDICTED TO THIS MOVIE ON CABLE FOR TWO YEARS LMFAO LOL WE JUST FINALLY DECIDED ON BUYING IT FOR THE HOUSE VIDEO VHS,DVD Collection we own here at home.THIS MOVIE IS SURELY ADDICTING! I AM HAPPY THE "Judge"knew at the end what"really happened"and was not sway
by the lieing,sneak of a prosecutor any longer,as the FEDERAL COURT SEEN
what "really happen"to this poor innocent once talented great man i was
so happy to see the ending most and the part where they were all meeting
the HURRICANE in prison etc. great throughout though. i loved each part!
as i am so happy to see so far MOST find this film just as incredible as
i do.(Smart viewers/people!) lol

as actually I AM WATCHING THIS ALL WEEKEND TONIGHT TOMORROW WITH MI
PAPI CHULO AS WE LOVE THIS FILM,FROM NEW JERSEY AREA THIS BOXER SET UP &FRAMED,FOR A CRIME HE DIDN'T COMMIT.AMAZINGLY THESE NICE PEOPLE WHITE AT THAT,AND YOUNG LESRA HELP HIM MORE THAN HE EVEN THOUGHT WAS FEASIBLE,SO
ASTUTE,SO INCREDIBLY MADE "EACH PART OF THIS FILM"SO POIGNANT,SO WELL PUT
TOGETHER,I HAVE TO GIVE THIS MOVIE IF WE CAN 100 STARS! GORGEOUS TALENTED
DENZEL IS POWERFUL,THUS MAKING HIM IMO THE BEST BLACK ACTOR FOR THIS FILM
I REALLY CAN'T SEE ANY OTHER BLACK MAN PLAY THIS TRUE TO LIFE FILM SO WELL
AS DENZEL DID.GREAT ACTORS MAKE GREAT FILMS.THIS IS OF NO EXCEPTION I LOVE
DENZEL,BUT LOVE MORE SO THE WAY JEWISON HANDLED "eACH PART"of the film with TRUTH. and even if some of it is altered,so what,great entertainment
all throughout with smiles,laughter tears,bonding throughout the movie and
heavy compassion,anger etc. just everything was in my honest opinion on
point,as i did not read the book only the movie,but i know others also
saying it was not"all true"but 75% is high enough for me! lol i love it and i am SO GLAD the fighter,ex champ in my opinion,is HOME NOW,Around
people who LOVE/CARE FOR HIM,as i hear he STILL keeping in touch with the
three NICE WHITE FOLK who help him,advocate for him assisting in his release,as i hear him and LESRA are still just as tight,as lesra in his
mid upper thirties now.so nice. going back to watch it again i love the
HURRICANE/DENZEL KEEP ME ENTERTAINED,CRYING THROUGHOUT..SAD AND FINALLY
HAPPIER TEARS AT THE END !ADIOS AND
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL..AND A HAPPY 09.GOD SPEED.