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A film that can make you shed tears of sadness and tears of joy would be considered quite a step in the career of a common filmmaker. The fact is, Steven Spielberg, probably our greatest story-teller, has been doing this in various movie formats for years. THE COLOR PURPLE, at the time, was considered risky, especially after action classics like JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In hindsight, this film should have come as no surprise, for Spielberg had made us cry tears of joy and sadness in E.T. Critics called COLOR PURPLE his entrance into intellectual fare. It is quite an entrance. No special effects, no swashbuckling, just brilliant story-telling based on a literary classic by Alice Walker. One surprise is how Spielberg could present such a moving film about African-Americans in the deep south. Slavery is gone, but in the south depicted here, it seems as though blacks are using other blacks as slaves.

Spielberg is always put down for sentimentalizing his pictures or adding an element of childishness to please the audience. This is really the first of overlooked films from his career that you cannot make these observations. It is the first in a line of films people either didn't see or wouldn't see because there are no aliens. EMPIRE OF THE SUN, ALWAYS, SCHINDLER'S LIST, etc.. His awesome talent is obvious with this specific picture because A) he uses mostly untrained, first-time actors, B) he tackles a subject most felt was unadaptable to the screen, and C) it is pure drama with no strings pulled where characters grow and change over the passage of roughly 30 years. It is almost epic-like in look and scope and the fact that it did not garner a single Academy Award from 11 nominations is a travesty and an insult.

Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous as the tortured Celie, an unattractive woman given away by her incestuous father to an abusive Danny Glover, who she only knows as "Mister". The film follows a path of occasional beatings and mental torture she goes through while with "Mister". The PG-13 rated film is pretty open to the sexual issues raised by the Walker novel. This is not "The Burning Bed" in Georgia by any means. There is no blatant revenge taken as might be expected. It happens gracefully. Goldberg perfectly plays a human being, someone in need of love and someone who deserves it. The films' most poignant and heartbreaking moment comes when Goldberg and her sister, Nettie (played by Akosua Busia) are separated, maybe forever. (Possibly foreshadowing Holocaust separation of child and parent?) You may have to check for a pulse if you are not moved by this sequence.

The color purple stands for the beauty of the fields and flowers surrounding these poor people. There really is something to live for, but love triumphs over all. Spielberg bashers take note: the guy can make an unforgettable classic without any cute aliens.

RATING: 10 of 10

Steven Spielberg, proving he's one of the few modern filmmakers who has the visual fluency to be capable of making a great silent film, took a melodramatic, D.W. Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit. You can argue with the appropriateness of Spielberg's decision, but his astonishing facility with images is undeniable--from the exhilarating and eye-popping opening shots of children playing in paradisaical purple fields to the way he conveys the brutality of a rape by showing hanging leather belts banging against the head of the shaking bed. In a way it's a shame that Whoopi Goldberg, a stage monologist who made her screen debut in this movie, went on to become so famous, because it was, in part, her unfamiliarity that made her understated performance as Celie so effective. (This may be the first and last time that the adjective understated can be applied to Goldberg.) Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and actress (supporting players Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were also nominated), it was quite a scandal--and a crushing blow to Spielberg--when it won none.

Alice Walker's epic novel is put on the big-screen by director Steven Spielberg and the results are excellent. The film deals with the maturity and independence of a mistreated black woman (Whoopi Goldberg in an Oscar-nominated role) from the years 1909 to 1947. The audience gets to experience all of her triumphs and tragedies through the film's running time. A very strong cast of supporting players make the film memorable as well. Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Margaret Avery, and Oprah Winfrey (the last two Oscar-nominated) all shine with the great screenplay and Spielberg's subtle direction. Somewhat forgotten on Spielberg's list of credits, but still one of his very best films. 5 stars out of 5.

Review following a 2020 rewatch of this brilliant movie. Tears streaming down my cheeks on several occasions throughout and writing after a few minutes to reflect and recover. Leads all fantastic, particularly Whooping Goldberg. She was gentle, pathetic, strong and fierce and times throughout and all felt honest and believable. I was truly taken in her journey and came out almost exhausted from the roller coaster of emotions that she, and me, went through. Danny Glover does the impossible by being genuinely unlikeable through the majority of the movie. Oprah was another standout and well deserved of her Oscar nom. Overall, an outstanding movie that crushed my heart and had me sobbing but beautiful at the same time. Long yet fast paced. I'll watch again in a decade and have no doubt that I will be crying again.

In 2005,this will be the 20th Anniversary re-released of one of the most unforgettable motion pictures ever devised for the screen. However,this movie is worth seeing since it comes from one of the most distinguished directors in Hollywood......The man who brought us the greatest films ever made..."Jaws","Close Encounters","Raiders of the Lost Ark","E.T.", "Jurassic Park","Schindler's List","Hook","Poltergeist","A.I.-Artficial Intelligence","Minority Report",and so many more.

But this movie,"The Color Purple" was one of the most powerful and meaningful films ever made and to this day it stands out as a classic example of great cimema at its finest. Based on the novel by Alice Walker(who wrote the screenplay with collaborator Menno Meyjes),and directed by Steven Spielburg.

I saw this film at a premiere they had in 1985,and to this day it moves me in such a way that I had never felt,and it is moved me to tears every time I see this masterpiece,20 years later. This film showcased a lot of brilliant talent,since it had an all-African American cast which starred Danny Glover,Whoopi Goldberg,Margaret Avery,Oprah Winfrey,Adolph Caesar, Laurence Fishburne,Rae Dawn Chong,Akosua Busia,Desreta Jackson, Willard Pugh,Leonard Jackson,Carl Anderson,and a lot more.

The film is worth seeing! Highly recommended! Grand performances all around! Anything that has to be directed by Steven Spielburg is worth seeing. Great drama at its best! It also goes to show how unfairly African-Americans were really treated back then,not just by their white counterparts,but by their own race as a whole,and this movie shows that how really cruel that is. It was one of the top ten grossing boxoffice movies of 1985,and was nominated for an impressive 12 Academy Awards including Best Picture,Best Director,and Best Actress(which Whoopi Goldberg should have won!)not to mention musical score from composer Quincy Jones. See this in the widescreen version on video and DVD!