The Big Cigar

I'm not sure how we're watching the same show - this series was brilliantly written and brilliantly shot. Could it have been a movie? Sure, but I don't think anything is lost in the series format. Personally, I can't stop watching and I have recommended this series to everyone I know.

The series does a great job of humanizing Newtown, we see the complexity of a man who ultimately wanted to do the right thing for his people. The story development is superb, it really sheds light on a little known historical figure in a way that is honest. The actors brought the characters to life in such a way that you forget you're watching a show, you feel like you were there and part of the story. They did an excellent job with the series.

A brilliant performance by Andre Holland. This is one of the best true stories I'd never heard before. Highly entertaining. Fast paced. Thought provoking. Don Cheadle brings all the 70s style and flair. The soundtrack is 10/10. It's an in depth, nuanced, unique portrayal of a revolutionary in crisis, at a crossroads, a complicated often misunderstood man grappling with his choices, his direction. Something we rarely see. The love story between Gwen and Huey is deep and emotional, highlighting the impact of women in the party. And if nothing else, it's an incredibly fun thing to binge. Strongly recommend. Don't miss out!

Apple is getting good at making historical miniseries: Franklin, Manhunt and now The Big Cigar. You can think of each as a snapshot of the overall American saga of the search for freedom, in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.

The Big Cigar is the most cogent of the trio, focused just on one aspect of Huey P. Newton's life: fleeing trumped up murder charges with the help of some Hollywood admirers.

André Holland and Alessandro Nivola lead a very accomplished cast. They should have gotten some Emmys attention. The story has many "oh come on" moments but apparently is largely true, even the part about the underwater Jesus who had it in for the Black Panthers.

The one fault of the miniseries is the over-reliance on jarring flashbacks, with several flashbacks per episode that makes the whole thing jump around like a jack in the box on meth. It's only six episodes long, can't we just have one episode be the flashback and the rest normal?

This show is brilliant. It has all the great elements in terms of events (action, romance, suspense); above that, it's brilliantly written (you can tell that from the dialogues), and it's reasonably historically accurate - in any case, in terms of highlighting the Black Panthers. This show does justice to history.

Why does it have such bad reviews?? Beats me. Is it too smart? That's a possibility - most series are mindless nowhere stories, while this actually has a point, and historical background. Is it because most of the people reviewing it can't cope with the facts that a poor minority was actually more progressive and accomplished more things than the majority what conspired against it? Maybe Americans just still aren't ready to accept all the messed up stuff their country / government / nation / etc. Did.

In any case, this show is absolutely fantastic, and it puts the finger right where the booboo's at. As far as I'm concerned, I'm recommending it to everyone, and I'm sure it will get more recognition in the future.

Shouldn't have been a show it should've been a movie. There are some nice actors in there. The story is interesting, but not as good as you would hope it would be but it's entertaining for if you do not have anything else to watch that's why it is ranked almost as low as the top 20 on Apple TV there's other shows that aren't even on anymore and it's even beating it. It doesn't seem like it's close to the history. The history is vague, not a lot of people will understand this show because it's not popular history and I think they should've done a better way of showing off the black panthers and their movement instead of making this over the top movie of a movie.