Boston Globe by Wesley Morris

It's an imperfect but ambitious film willing to confront an enormous, complex period in this country.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

A tangy raw stew of history, even if it never begins to confront the contradictions that bedeviled black militancy.

Village Voice by J. Hoberman

Black nationalism lives and breathes in this remarkably fresh documentary - a standout in last spring's New Directors/New Films - assembled by Göran Hugo Olsson.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

The pieces here are wonderful, even if the documentary fails to make any kind of overall analytical point.

Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov

It plays very much like it advertises itself: a mixtape – Fear of a Black Planet, then and now.

The A.V. Club by Noel Murray

Illustrates how the rhetoric of civil rights changed after the breakthroughs of Martin Luther King. With the world's media finally paying attention, critical thinkers like Carmichael, Davis, and Malcolm X were able to push back against the fretful questions about violence, and redefine the story of blacks in America over the centuries as one defined by violence.

Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy

It may not add up to a narrative, but it's a fascinating compilation -- a mixtape you may want to hear more than once.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Lewis

Sometimes the film, even if it's a "mixtape," bites off more than it can chew, delving into the Attica Prison uprising, heroin addiction and the Vietnam War. But all in all, this film will give you a new perspective on the past - and the present.

Variety

Like any mixtape, it offers some truly transcendent moments alongside a smattering of filler, and never quite assembles its pieces into a cohesive whole.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Black Power Mixtape's contemporary audio, though it tries hard to involve us, can't hold a candle to this kind of footage. But if having these current voices on board helped get the luminous glimpses of the past back on the screen, we owe them a vote of thanks.

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

The fact that the speakers' faces are never seen produces a feeling of estrangement that is crucial to the film's effectiveness. You become acutely aware of gaps and discontinuities: between slogans and realities, between political ideals and stubborn social problems, between then and now.

The Hollywood Reporter by James Greenberg

This is a film that should be seen by anyone who wants to learn where we've come from as a nation.

Variety by Andrew Barker

Like any mixtape, it offers some truly transcendent moments alongside a smattering of filler, and never quite assembles its pieces into a cohesive whole.

New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier

Lengthy clips of leaders including Angela Davis and Stokely Carmichael bring us back to emotional moments in this country's history.

Slant Magazine

Simply put, the documentary is full of cool talking heads pontificating rather than taking physical action.