GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Steve Pulaski The Power of One is something of a different breed for me. I normally don't watch films like these if I do not see them in school. I didn't expect a whole lot, but what I got was definitely a favorable taste. The film depicts what it was like to live in South Africa in the thirties and forties. To put it simplistically, it was hell. It was one of the most crucial punishments of the time to be black and have your home be in South Africa.The plot: PK is an English boy, and after his mother is recovering from several life obstacles he gets sent to a Dutch school. What an unenjoyable and miserable experience for such a young boy as he is victimized and tormented because of the Dutch's extreme hatred towards the English/British because of The Boer War outcome.There are details I'd rather not go into because one of which made me so upset it was unspeakably depressing. This film is one of those films where there isn't anything really wrong with the movie, but it's depressing. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Trust me, I've seen films like that that jump from happy to sad. You become so emotionally rocked you feel you're back at age thirteen undergoing puberty.After that rancid and horrible treatment, we see PK grow older and older till he reaches his teen years becoming a young adult. Along the way he meets Geel Piet (Freeman) who trains him to become a stronger, more physical human being so he can defend himself. PK learns love, loss, and violence as he tries to make a decision rather to stay or go.The Power of One has a few technical errors I'd like to point out. One, at the very end the green screen job becomes (a) very fake and (b) the human characters find themselves stuck in the mud. You'll see. The other is that PK's hair color changes frequently throughout the film. This could be his attempts to blend in, but it's never discussed in the film.The score to the film was real well composed by Hans Zimmer (The Simpsons). And there are some scenes in the film I'd like to watch again. The Power of One isn't perfect and a bit uneasy maybe for younger viewers, but it is still a solid movie about the honorable PK and the hell he was going through during the thirties and forties.Starring: Stephen Dorff, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and John Gielgud. Directed by: John G. Avildsen.

existenz48162 From what I have seen on comments, people either loved the book and hated the movie or loved them both. Well, I have never read the book and do not intend to read it, especially after reading other comments about the differences between the two.Personally, I would prefer not to read a story about yet another whiteman-sob story about how much whitefolk struggle on their own and the power he has to fulfill his dreams (at least that's how one reviewer made the book sound). I like the Hollywood adaptation that makes it about how one person can affect others and how their will surpasses themselves.Plus, Morgan Freeman rocks it out as Geel Pete.

honualoalo This movie was one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen! My teacher had us watch it in 5th grade, and ever since then I have owned the movie and recommend it to everyone. And I still cry. It is a moving story about a boy with no one left to care for him except Doc, a German pianist who is put in jail for not registering with the South African government. P.K learns how to box from the prisoners in the jail and turns to boxing in a society that doesn't accept him. Throughout the movie P.K learns lessons about life in South Africa and loses many things. It is a great representation of the culture of the time. The cinematography was well done and make the movie even more Amazing! I would recommend this movie to anyone. It will make you cry and move you beyond words. It will change your view of WWII in Africa and Apartheid.

shneur There's always a problem with casting for a film that spans childhood, unless one has a spare Culkin handy to play the younger protagonist. In this case the transitions seemed especially jarring -- not so much the looks, but mannerisms and general temperament -- as though one character had left and been replaced by another. This was not present in the novel, where in fact emphasis was placed on the continuity of person, and the roots of "P.K's" extraordinary achievements in his painful childhood experiences and losses. This is a story about the initiation of official government apartheid in South Africa in 1948, about its brutality, and about the beginnings of the insouciant individuals who would eventually overthrow it at the end of the century. That's an unusual angle from which to view this particular stain on human history. While the personal details and character development so important in the book are largely absent from the movie, its historical and geopolitical purpose is served, and I believe that makes this film worth watching.