Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

Told with such sadness and exaltation, such mastery of image and sound, that watching it makes you feel renewed and hopeful.

Village Voice

Hirsch edits segments together to merge disparate voices, showing how for this movement, music was no universal language -- it was specific, pointed, and almost paranormal in its power.

Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten

Finds a way to impart this sad history while raising our spirits at the same time.

Washington Post

Viewers will leave Amandla! moved by the music, impressed by the musicians and dubious about the possibility of political and social healing.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey

The value of Amandla! is that the film helps the rest of the world understand, both with our ears and minds, where South Africans have come from.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

Music was the ANC's most dangerous weapon, and we see footage of streets lined with tens of thousands of marchers, singing and dancing, expressing an unquenchable spirit.

Dallas Observer by Robert Wilonsky

Cinema has done a fine job of documenting the anti-apartheid movement, even if too often the spotlight shone brightest on the white man through whom the black man's story was being told.

Chicago Reader by Hank Sartin

At times Hirsch seems afraid to trust the material's inherent drama and becomes unnecessarily manipulative, staging performances in striking landscapes and playing the footage in slow motion.

TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh

Though overlong and repetitive, Hirsch's film is vitalized by the same music that helped keep the revolutionary spirit alive.

New York Daily News by Jami Bernard

The film itself is a bit on the talking-head side, evoking none of the passion and anguish that are the music's trademarks.