Soul Power

Basically a waste of time. Behind the scenes footage of (nothing really) people building a stage, native Africans being poor, Mohammed Ali bragging, and artists eating. ONE song each by every band. The Bill Withers and James Brown songs were great, but that doesn't warrant wasting 90 minutes of time. Just watch those videos on-line and go on with your day. I really was looking forward to see the performances of these artists in their prime. If you are looking for the same, you will be vastly let down. Just filler. I removed the paper cover and the disc itself, kept the plastic case for future use, and threw the rest in the garbage, I was so disappointed. Avoid like Ebola.

Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's film 'Soul Power'is a remarkable concert documentary that was filmed in Zaire in 1974,as part of the Muhammad Ali/George Forman fight,known as The Rumble In The Jungle. This was a 12 hour,three night festival of musical talent from various parts of Africa,as well as the United States. The film begins with footage of the preparations for the concert,and the red tape and b.s. that goes along with putting on a concert of grand scale. Once the music begins,it's no holds barred. The musical talent includes,James Brown,The Crusaders,Miriam Makeba,B.B. King,The Fania All Stars (with the late,great Celia Cruz), The Spinners,and a host of others. Interview footage of Muhammad Ali, Don King,and others representing the boxing match also figures as a foot note (for further details,check out Leon Gast's 'Once We Were King',which Levy-Hinte edited),about the actual match itself). The music will have you stomping holes in the floor of the cinema that is screening it. Rated PG-13 by the MPAA,this films contains a rude word or two,and some mature thematic elements

Entertaining. Nice to see Muhammad Ali and James Brown and Celia Cruz and the dance styles of the Crusaders. The other African performers were on top of their acts, too.

You will look back on James Brown's bid to give some direction to the black movement as uncomplicated. And it is nice to see that so much as changed in the way of overt discrimination in the U.S.

I felt that I wanted to see a 4 hour movie. I wanted to see the entire concert, and that is good. It has a really funny part wherein Muhammad Ali plays with someone. I won't tell you what it is about.

James Brown pleads with you to go out on the side walk and tell yourself: "I am somebody".

I loved the performance by Cuban artist and Diva Celia Cruz. There were no negatives in the movie except that much of it is hand-held, grainy color. Again, I just wanted it to go on and on.

I got my monies worth.

In 1974, George Foreman and Muhammad Ali had a fight in the jungle in Africa. They also decided to schedule a music festival too six weeks before the actual event. The top performers like Celia Cruz, James Brown, the Spinners, Bill Withers, Sister Sledge and others performed on stage. This documentary covers how they set up the concert. Most people are unaware of this event actually happened except for the actual boxing match. The documentary is a bit uneven at times without a narrator. They all seemed like to have a lot of fun though and it was an adventure of a lifetime.

Soul Power is a sizzling documentary which shows a glimpse of Africa in the early 70s, some of the greatest Afro-American entertainers at a difficult transitional stage in American history, Muhammad Ali, and the hijinks of staging a massive festival in the age of walkie-talkies.

This review is primarily meant to address the pans which dismiss Soul Power for being composed of stock footage, and to correct the assertion that Miriam Makeba is the only African performer to appear.

In the first case, it's NOT stock footage. It's footage that, for whatever reason, was unable to be edited or released within a reasonable period after the event. The footage was certainly shot with the aim of creating a film much like the one presented. Only now there is a patina of history which adds a huge dimension to the film. The film quality is exactly what should be expected for a documentary of this era, shot in Africa, and any expectations otherwise are naive.

It's likely that the film would have been edited differently had it been released in 1974 or 1975; the engrossing build-up would probably have been shorter, and the actual concert element would have been longer (my only qualm with the film). But we don't know what additional footage exists (aside from the deleted scenes), so there may not have been many options for the editors. And certainly, film stock buried for nearly four decades is susceptible to damage (see the deleted scene featuring Muhhamad Ali, the GOAT, leaving for Africa). In view of the circumstances, the footage is often gorgeous. Some of the conversation snippets are so fascinating they seem scripted.

In addition to Miriam Makeba, there is a wonderful dance troupe who take the stage as well as Tabu Ley Rochereau and his band Afrisa, and OK Jazz- probably the biggest names in African music during the 1960s/70s before Fela Anikulapo Kuti's ascendancy- and their performances are stunning (with an additional Tabu Ley set piece in the deleted scenes).

Overall, a great flick.