Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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7.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: October 27, 2014

Summary: Produced by Mick Jagger and directed by Alex Gibney, the documentary about the Godfather of Soul features footage from the 1964 concert film, "T.A.M.I Show," as well as interviews from former band members.

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, Documentary, Music

Season 1 Episodes

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Critic Reviews

100

David Wiegand

Oct 27, 2014

In addition to electrifying footage from a number of live concerts, including the famous “T.A.M.I. Show” in which Brown upstaged the Rolling Stones (the film’s producer denies that was the case), Mr. Dynamite gives us fascinating insight into the evolution of Brown’s music. Read full review

Joshua Alston

Oct 27, 2014

Alex Gibney’s Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown is an assured threading-of-the-needle, slowly working its way to the sweet spot where the man and the legend overlap. Read full review

Ray Rahman

Oct 27, 2014

Like a James Brown show, the result is both generously proportioned and extremely tight. Read full review

Alessandra Stanley

Oct 27, 2014

This is a smart, informative and compassionate look at the artist known as the Godfather of Soul, whose music changed America. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

Oct 27, 2014

Mr. Dynamite isn’t hagiography, and we hear enough about Brown’s personal flaws to make him quite human. Read full review

Robert Lloyd

Oct 27, 2014

Though neither naive nor mum about its subject's destructive complications and contradictions, his brutal youth and abuse of women, Alex Gibney's film concentrates on Brown the performer--both as a musician and as a public political personage, the voice of black pride (say it loud!) and economic self-sufficiency. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Oct 27, 2014

Director Alex Gibney’s take is most memorable for its generous use of early and unseen performance footage, but beyond the fancy footwork on display, the project, bloated at a full two hours, seldom gets under its subject’s flashy veneer. Read full review

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kevinluv

Nov 18, 2014

This Is a Fantastic documentary with wonderful videos and interviews with the "hardest working man in show business". What makes it such a strong documentary is the filmmaker leaves aside for the most part Mr. Brown's foibles, and just concentrates on one thing, the greatness of JamesThis Is a Fantastic documentary with wonderful videos and interviews with the "hardest working man in show business". What makes it such a strong documentary is the filmmaker leaves aside for the most part Mr. Brown's foibles, and just concentrates on one thing, the greatness of James Brown, because when James Brown hits the stage, he puts his entire soul into his performance and his music, that is what made him such a compelling person to watch and why he was so widely appreciated.
You must give credit and pay homage to the man who didn't fit what had been the norm for black entertainers in regards to color, height, and demeanor as when it came to being shown, packaged and marketed in America, James Brown broke the mold and blazed the trail ways that so many have used since then. Here is a chance to admire the man told in an engaging way!… Expand

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