The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
| Release Date: September 2, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 1, 2015
What is clear from this sober yet electrifying film is that the power of the Panthers was rooted in their insistence — radical then, radical still — that black lives matter. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKatie WalshSep 3, 2015
It’s clear that the Panther legacy lives on, and Nelson’s film is a necessary primer for understanding the party — in it’s own words. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 3, 2015
What we see in Stanley Nelson’s urgent and necessary documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the story of an organization that meant many different things to many different people, and that changed so dramatically during five years or so in the national spotlight that it could almost be described as reshaping itself month by month and putting forward a distinctive face at almost every moment. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 24, 2015
It's a strong reminder of the times, then and now. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonSep 2, 2015
The film avoids hagiography, and in doing so, brings out the undeniable humanity of its subjects. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonOct 20, 2015
This is a forceful, initially uplifting, ultimately sobering illustration of how much protest matters, how far those in power will go to stifle it, and how ugly and criminal those efforts look in hindsight. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 24, 2015
An organization that stubbornly resists being pigeonholed, the Black Panther Party emerges from this documentary with its significance enhanced but some of its tactics questioned. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 10, 2015
Straight history is not the whole point here, as Nelson enthusiastically conjures a sense of what it felt like to be a Panther and to be a young black person inspired by them. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 2, 2015
Strikes an intelligent balance between funk-scored pride and a more universal story of activism threatened by in-fighting and accidental celebrity. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlSep 1, 2015
The film, with its traditional mix of talking heads and vintage footage, does not try to hide the Panthers' advocacy of violence. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianJeff BakerOct 9, 2015
Uses a deft mix of archival footage and interviews with historians and some very articulate Panther veterans. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 17, 2015
If “The Black Panthers” has been designed to leave viewers outraged and energized in equal measure, it succeeds with admirable style. It counts both as essential history and a primer in making sense of how we live now. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeSep 2, 2015
This is mostly a sad and bloody tale, as the Panthers are decimated first by the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, and then by dissension in their own ranks. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel MurraySep 1, 2015
Stanley Nelson’s absorbing, provocative documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution measures how much and how little has changed since Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale co-founded the Panthers in Oakland in 1966. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveySep 10, 2015
A sturdy recap of the titular organization’s short, tumultuous history. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 7, 2015
No doubt, Black Panthers won’t be for everybody. Despite Nelson’s efforts at balance, this is a largely admiring portrait, and there will be those who wish the film focused more on the Panthers’ less savory actions and cases. But the film is also refreshingly clearheaded about the limits of idealism and provocative action. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneAug 31, 2015
With no narrator to shepherd us along, the movie feels noisy and restless. The period is revived by a wealth of songs on the soundtrack, and by the sleek and succulent Panther look. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovAug 31, 2015
It both feeds off of and perpetuates nostalgia for a time when the nation seemed more politically conscious and therefore more capable of creating lasting social change. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid ParkinsonOct 19, 2015
While strong on establishment prejudice, the coverage of clashing egos and agendas isn’t always incisive. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanSep 3, 2015
Not a particularly exceptional movie in form, but as a thorough record it is extraordinary. Read full review
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