I have not seen Antwone Fisher, but I will be sure to check it out after seeing this.Before watching this, I had never even heard about Wiley College or what it did in the '30s, so not only is it great entertainment but it is also educational. This FAQ is empty. The Great Debaters by Robert Eisele 8 out of 10* This motion picture presents the poignant story of a few young, intelligent, brave, talented, perseverant, creative, gritty African American people, but also it is a narrative about desegregation, the horrors of racism, inequality of opportunity, abuse, emancipation, civil rights and disobedience. "[14] John Monaghan of the Detroit Free Press stated, "Serious moviegoers, especially those attracted by the movie's aggressive Oscar campaign, will likely find the package gorgeously wrapped, but intellectually empty. The Great Debaters is a 2007 film about the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College in Texas who, in 1935, inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. James Farmer Sr.: Are you fooling around with that girl son? [16]. Was this review helpful to you? [citation needed]. Based on a true story, The Great Debaters tells the story of Wiley College’s Professor Melvin Tolson as he leads his African-American debate team to victory. The movie starts in the 1930’s when the northern states treated African Americans better and the southern states continued to lynch and degrade African Americans. THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVERBRING YOUR HANKIES WHEN YOU SEE THISINSPIRING FILM‘DEBATERS’ MEDDLES A BIT WITH HISTORY, BUTOFFERS EDUCATION AND HOPESaturday, January 5, 2008Section: FAITHEdition: ONE-THREEPage: 5EType: REVIEWKIMBERLY SUMMERS, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTColumn: KIMBERLY SUMMERS - TEEN SCREENSIllustration: … "[18] Varèse Sarabande released a separate album of the film's score, composed by James Newton Howard and Peter Golub. Take a look ahead at all the major movie releases coming to theaters and streaming this season. The Great Debaters Directed by Denzel Washington An inspiring film about an extraordinary African-American debating team in the 1930s with the talent and determination to excel. Denzel Washington at "The Great Debaters" press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel on December 4, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California. [2], The film co-stars Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker (no relation), Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera, Jermaine Williams and Jurnee Smollett. The film was the first since 1979 allowed to film on Harvard's campus. The team of four, which includes a female student and a very young James Farmer, is tested in a crucible heated by Jim Crow, sexism, a lynch mob, an arrest and near riot, a love affair, jealousy, and a national radio audience. 69 of 92 people found this review helpful. Start studying The Great Debaters Guide Questions. The film grossed $30,236,407 in the US. The Great Debaters was based off of this school’s story as they made an impact in the black community. Club de débat et art oratoire The Great Debaters is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by and starring Denzel Washington. The names of the actors who played each character are listed below as well, so use this The Great Debaters character list to find out who portrayed your favorite role. The Great Debaters is like one of those sentimentally revved youth-sports-team crowd-pleasers. [11], Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer named it the 5th best film of 2007[12] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times named it the 9th best film of 2007. “The Great Debaters” is aware that debating, an activity synonymous with nerdiness, needs a shot of adrenaline to be sexy to a mass audience. John Quincy Archibald takes a hospital emergency room hostage when his insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant. (2007). This is an underdog movie and you'll be rooting for the Wiley College team throughout the movie. Not only is Denzel great as an actor, he is even better as a director. The release of the film coincided with a nationally stepped-up effort by urban debate leagues to get hundreds of inner-city and financially challenged schools to establish debate programs. A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. Start studying The Great Debaters. On December 19, 2007, Denzel Washington announced a $1 million donation to Wiley College so they could re-establish their debate team. The complete soundtrack album includes the following songs:[20], Golden Reel Award for Best Music Sound Editing in a Feature Film, "BlackNews.com – American Legacy Magazine's Story The Great Debaters Turns from Pages to the Big Screen Directed By and Starring Denzel Washington and Produced By Oprah Winfrey", "Henrietta Bell Wells, a Pioneering Debater, Dies at 96", For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival, "thegreatdebaters.org - thegreatdebaters Resources and Information", "National Association for the Urban Debate Leagues", "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists", "The year's ten Best films and other shenanigans", "The Great Debaters Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes", "HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007", "Tolson, Farmer intertwined by Wiley debate team", NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Great_Debaters&oldid=1008110392, Articles with dead external links from February 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "My Soul is a Witness" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & Sharon Jones, "That's What My Baby Likes" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges, "I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You" – The Carolina Chocolate Drops & Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, "It's Tight Like That" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges, "Busy Bootin'" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops, "City of Refuge" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops, "Two Wings" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith, "Delta Serenade" – David Berger & The Sultans of Swing, "Rock n' Rye" – David Berger & The Sultans of Swing, "Wild About That Thing" – Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart, & Teenie Hodges, "How Long Before I Change My Clothes" – Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, This page was last edited on 21 February 2021, at 16:45. Over time they all white debate teams that are prejudice of the black students. The Great Debaters AIAC. Based on a true story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) at Wiley College, a historically black college related to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (now The United Methodist Church), to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American South during the 1930s, when Jim Crow laws were common and lynch mobs were a fear for blacks. I don't know how closely the movie follows the actual events so I can't point out the flaws, but it doesn't matter because the movie is brilliant and moving. As other reviewers have said, out of all the actors Denzel Whitaker is the star. The debate is over. Use the HTML below. View All Photos (18) The Great Debaters Quotes. The racial hatred at the time was a blessing and a curse for the debate team. Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys Women's History Month STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence. This time, though, the sport is debating, and the setting is … You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The acting is marvelous by all the actors, but recognition has to be given to the three stars that portray the debaters, Denzel Washington, and Forest Whitaker. Forest Whitaker doesn't have a huge role to play, but he performs his parts beautifully (for example the hog and the sheriff scenes).Overall this is a very inspirational and uplifting movie. The Great Debaters is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by and starring Denzel Washington. "[15], Motion picture-historian Leonard Maltin, however, hailed the movie as "Inspiring...plays with the facts but, despite its at-times-formulaic storytelling, shows us how education and determination can help ordinary people surmount even the most formidable obstacles." The events that took place at Wiley College inspired Denzel Washington to create a film displaying their story and the struggles they had to overcome. An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling. The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit. Sale! "[10] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics. Also depicted is James L. Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), who, at 14 years old, was on Wiley's debate team after completing high school (and who later went on to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality). The Great Debaters: How Does Racial Discrimination Look Like? A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. "The Great Debaters" is about an underdog debate team that wins a national championship, and some critics have complained that it follows the formula of all sports movies by leading up, through great adversity, to a victory at the end. Fact-based drama about a professor at a historically Black college who forms a student debate team that wins victory over Ivy League competitors. [4][5] Though they beat the reigning champions, Wiley was not allowed to officially call themselves victors, because they were not full members of the debate society; blacks were not admitted until after World War II.[6].
, Two words perfectly sum up this movie - inspirational and uplifting. The real Wiley team instead defeated the University of Southern California, who at the time were the reigning debating champions. [1], As of November 20, 2012 the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 131 reviews. It is the mid-1930s and Professor Tolson assembles a black debate team at Wiley College. From main characters to cameos and minor roles, these characters are a huge part of what made the movie so great. 1,072 likes. In the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes. The film depicts the Wiley Debate team beating Harvard College in the 1930s. Posted on October 23, 2014. by Metta Center. Rated PG-13 for depiction of strong thematic material including violence and disturbing images, and for language and brief sexuality, Forest Whitaker Joins Tom Hardy in Netflix Crime Film ‘Havoc’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Glen Powell Signs With CAA, Spotlighting Black History Makers in Movies & Television on Prime Video, Inspirational Quotes From Our Favorite On-Screen Educators. Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam. The Great Debaters Photos. View production, box office, & company info. The movie explores social constructs in Texas during the Great Depression, from day-to-day insults African Americans endured to lynching. 236 likes. Sorority & Fraternity MCU fans, here are some streaming picks to watch while you wait for the next episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Solider. [9] June 2007, after completing filming at Central High School, Grand Cane, Louisiana, Washington donated $10,000 to Central High School. Inspired by a true story, The Great Debaters chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson, a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African-American college … The Great Debaters 1. List items range from Captain Wainwright to Henry Lowe. Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime. A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life. The Great Debaters, first and foremost, is an episodic plot film, which is inspired by the true story of the undefeated Wiley College‟s 1935 Debate Team. The screenplay is written by Robert Eisele, with story by Robert Eisele and Jeffrey Porro. ", Search for "The Great Debaters" on Amazon.com, Title: It is based on an article written about the Wiley College debate team by Tony Scherman for the spring 1997 issue of American Legacy. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins. The great debaters are based on a true story about an all black debate team journey to the top. The plot of the movie centers on the four main protagonists, Melvin I. Tolson, and the debaters; Henry Lowe (a composite Antwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as "the last city to surrender after the Civil War," is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University's national champions. Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as "the last city to surrender after the Civil War," is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University's national champions. The midst of the film was the first since 1979 allowed to on. 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