The Weather Underground
Shadow Distribution | Release Date: June 4, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Along with its historical value, The Weather Underground is also a terrific movie, energetic, and articulate. It's the don't-miss documentary of the season. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
One of the most thought-provoking documentaries of recent times. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Proves to be a wonderful reality check. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Essential viewing for anyone who wants to know the roots -- and perils -- of modern political dissent. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Whether the protest movement hastened the end of the Vietnam War is hard to say, but it is likely that Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for re-election was influenced by the climate it helped to create. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Featuring seasoned warriors reflecting on whether we can best fight violence with violence is enormously compelling. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Offers a welcome perspective, reminding us that extremism in the name of a values system is nothing new -- not even on these shores. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James Adams
Stands as an important film, perhaps even a timely one as once again the United States finds itself enmeshed in fending off a guerrilla war in a faraway land. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Powerful and searching documentary. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A perceptive, fascinating and relatively evenhanded look at the most radical arm of the American student rebellion of the Vietnam era. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
This terrifically smart and solid piece of filmmaking lets the former Weathermen, now in their 50's and older, speak into the camera and reveal a bit of their personal histories as well as what the peace movement meant to them. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Fascinating documentary. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A smart, absorbing, often exhilarating documentary. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A compelling piece of work that turns out to have unexpected relevance to the current world situation. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Through masterful editing, nimble music selection and smart use of documentary materials, the filmmakers shake the dust off cultural clichés to provide a provocative survey of the past. It’s a subversively sleek enterprise. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Powerful and surprisingly timely. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The documentary plays it down the middle, neither condemning nor romanticizing the political outlaws, but making sense of who they were and what they did. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's curious that the filmmakers choose to end the story without reporting on Weatherwoman Kathy Boudin's involvement in an ill-fated 1981 robbery of a Brinks truck in New York State. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Serves as a fascinating window into an era of radical dissent that now seems centuries past. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Notoriety, they won. The revolution, they didn't. That perhaps is the secret message of the film. Dylan was right. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
One leaves with barely a clue as to how this group was able to orchestrate a successful string of terror bombings. Read full review
60
VarietyScott Foundas
Assembled in a straightforward, television-style presentation that gets the better of it. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Filmmakers Sam Green and Bill Siegel tend to shy from tough questions, allowing their subjects to wax nostalgic about bomb-throwing as yet another youthful folly of the '70s. That's tougher to swallow than some boomers' claims they didn't inhale. Read full review
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