The Great Debaters (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Great movie! I watch this movie several times since I purchased the movie. I never tired of watching this movie. I think it is important to remember how difficult life can be but never give up! All Great Cast/Acting.

Reverend Farmer Sr. was a real stickler for the truth and education. He taught his son, “We do what we have to do so we can then do what we want to do”. This is a real gem to latch on to and meditate on and do, for a good life. I love this movie. The truth of words is rewarding. Accepting the banter of two separate opinions and trying to perceive which one is the real truth, God-given.

Very interesting book and movie

The Great Debaters (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) Denzel Washington as poet Melvin B Tolson, Forest Whitaker as James Farmer Sr first Nego with a PhD in Texas. James Farmer Jr was 14yo when he joined the debate team, inspired by his father's passion for justice. 7 years later the younger James Farmer age 24 founded CORE the Congress of Racial Equality. Second disc interviews the original participants of the Wiley College debate team and their memories of the rigorous debate Boot Camp imposed by coach Melvin B Tolson. Bonus Disc compiled over 60 CDs worth of African American folk music, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Marian Anderson opera, singers, banjo pickers which surround the living experience of the young college students, their era, and their challenges. Additional 28 page booklet with film stills and commentary complements the two DVD discs. Costume ideas were gathered via scouring vintage stores across the US for 1920s-1930s clothing. Brooks Brothers has been tailoring suits for men since 1800s and agreed to recreate appropriate 1936 suiting for Forest Whitaker and Denzel Washington. Harvard agreed to permit filming in Memorial Hall, first movie filming in the theater for 40 years to recapture the atmosphere of the live broadcast in 1936 of the debate between Wiley Negro college Texas with total enrollment of fewer than 400 students vs Harvard University. Debate Boot Camp featurette follows student actors learning debate format, time restrictions, technique, style during rehearsal prior to filming. Fascinating study of oral debate tradition formal structure, timed presentation, impromptu debates, debate coach critiques of posture diction etiquette. Interviews with the young actors who credit mentoring by veteran Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker for burnishing their professional skill sets. The young actors read books by authors mentioned in the script (eg Zora Neale Hurston WEB DuBois), read American history of the Jim Crow era, engaged in Debate Boot Camp which shaped genuine team bonding and familiarity with debate constraints evident on film. Two disc version was enormously satisfying with in depth featurettes, interviews and history, plus 28 page booklet of stills, quotes, interviews. 5* for students interested in debate as a speech style, how to conduct preparation, cognitive flexibility to assume either pro or con stance in contention depending on Resolution assignment, diction, grammar, posture and proficiency in researching and speaking extemporaneously as the Wiley College and Harvard teams had to confront a change in the stated resolution 48 hours before the live radio debate.

Good movie

Good movie

I am a huge fan of Denzel Washington. Several years ago, I imdb'd him to see if I had missed any of his films, and this one popped up. I had never heard of it. I tried for a couple of years to catch it on cable, to no avail. And I couldn't find it on Netflix (streamed), Hulu, or HBO-Go. Nor was it on Amazon Prime's free streamed movies (a pretty sucky selection...let me take this opportunity to say that it's a good thing that I'm a frequent enough Amazon user that their Prime pays for itself just in the saved shipping costs, because their selection of free streamed movies and free Kindle books is an insult to anyone with a brain....I count myself a member of that group, of course). Anyway, I finally gave up and paid the $2.99 to watch it streamed on Amazon, and it was money well spent. It tells the story of the debate team at Wiley College, an all-black college in Texas in 1935, and their effort to debate nationally against teams from white schools. Denzel also directed it, and I found it to be excellent. Not only was the debate arc intellectually stimulating, but the civil rights arc was quite suspenseful (and also shameful to a person of my Caucasian persuasion). One of the members of the Wiley College debate team of 1935 was 14 year old James Farmer, Jr., son of the president of the college and future initiator and organizer of the 1961 Freedom Ride. Five stars might seem like a high rating for such an obscure film, but it meets my criteria in every area, and I am unable to find any weak points or field any solid criticism against it. Plus, I was on the edge of my seat more than once, and also used up a tissue or two. That's five-star territory in my book !!!

Truly inspiring movie. Based on a true story. Can't recommend this enough.

Dieser Film ist wirklich sehenswert und anspruchsvoll. Wer gern mit Worten umgeht, kommt voll auf seine Kosten. Außerdem erlebt man eine wichtige Epoche der amerikanischen Geschichte - das Kapitel der schwarzen Befreiung- aus der Sicht der Hauptdarsteller in einer eher gemäßigten Art, die aber um so mehr unter die Haut geht. Die Klugheit und Weisheit der Schwarzen in einem Wettstreit mehrerer Universitäten ist spannend, spritzig, witzig und überzeigend. Denzel Washington überragt in seiner Rolle, aber auch die anderen Darsteller sind echt überzeugend.

デンゼルワシントンが好きで見ましたが、黒人差別に立ち向かおうとする内なる強さがディベートチームからひしひしと伝わってきて、クライマックスでは自然と涙がこぼれました。

C'est un grand film, très captivant de bout en bout, il évoque sur fond ségrégationniste, la lutte pour les droits civiques, le combat des Noirs Américains pour une vie plus juste !!!

Oprah Winfrey produced a great film here. If you are looking for a film to watch with your children, then this is the one. Although it is rated 15 I would say any child from the age of 13 can watch this film as it will most definitely give them food for thought. My 15yr son and I watched this and he enjoyed. This film contains so many moral messages of life such as when all odds are against you never to give up, but go back to the drawing board and come back bigger and stronger. Denzel played his role as a professor very well pushing the boundaries in Texas with his radical ideas. Without spoiling the storyline for you, this film is rather inspiring as you watch a group of young adults come together to acheive something that many others thought they were incapable of. I give this film two thumbs up a well thought out storyline with an excellent cast to execute it. You will not be disappointed :)

The great debate(REINO UNIDO),en formato blue ray,viene con audio,propio claro,y frances,y con subtitulos en español e ingles,pero sin version en castellano,pues esta pelicula nunca llego a españa,he subido la parte trasera de esta pelicula para ver el producto que se vende en esta pagina web,se puede comprobar lo que he escrito en el comentario,audio en ingles y frances,subtitulos en castellano,todo aparece en la foto trasera.trasera de la pelicula en formato blue ray,en (dvd) no viene con subtitulos en castellano.