Popular reviews

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½

  I'm a fan of films that retrace the life of a figure or a historical event. I was once at this school where if you answered the bonus questions correctly, they counted those as well, thus I received more than an A+ on tests numerous times, up to 20 points more than usual.

  The historical truth in this film is quite fascinating. Not only was it a historical milestone that transformed a country forever (though it hasn't quite heal and some of the racism and social division is still felt), but the fact that it all resulted in a large part apparently of a kidnapping/bank robbery adds to the intrigue.

  And, for the most part, the film does its best…

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  Review by Cameron Menefee ★★★

  6/10

  Silverton Siege started off strong, but halfway through the film it got kinda redundant & lost its edge.
  Despite the weak 2nd half, I still enjoyed this film due to solid cinematography, production values, story, social commentary, and the handful of action bits. The acting performed could've been better, the direction needed more polish, and who knows how accurate or inaccurate this film is to the real life South African incident.

  Watched on Netflix (a South African Netflix film after all).

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  Review by joshrowley ★★

  Interesting; low-budget; predictable; sad; simple; straightforward; unsatisfying.

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  Review by Lizzy ★★★½ 1

  As it always was, activism is shrugged off by majority powers until it goes violent, fulfilling the prophecy that all oppressive systems make for themselves as they label their personal threats as terrorism. The rich fear the poor, as does White-enforced apartheid fear Black-enforced retribution. Force hands and you’ll get hit. If anything, this is a piece of unremitting, rose-tinted radicalism, rarely slowing the motion of pent-up class aggression from a South African angle. It’s unfortunate that it was barely about the Silverton Trio, though. Tell the stories as they deserved to be told.

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  Review by Evan ★★★½

  "What's the price of freedom?"

  "Silverton Siege" is a well-made and effective bank hostage thriller with great performances from the main trio. The film keeps up a tense and compelling pace during its 100min runtime. Mandlakayise Walter Dube did an amazing job in directing this. Beautiful cinematography, wrapped in sincere writing and capped off with great action sequences.

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  Review by Julia Grohlo🇨🇦 🇻🇳 ★★★½

  Inspired by one of the most sensational events in anti-apartheid history: the siege of Silverton in 1980. If Netflix with its habit of stereotypes and clichés at times it could have been a better movie by not moving away from the main subject which is still this group that launched the liberation movement of Mandela who by the way was a great man and it would have been nice not to disrespect him by throwing his name around with a stupid context

  BUT, it's still a good movie thanks to the talented and incredible actors who shine under the camera and show how much the Africans had to fight to get their freedom. Well ...2023 when we see the news it will go without comment. Hopefully, despite the film's major flaws, it will awaken some consciences. "We are humans, through other humans, as long as one of us is chained, none of us is free"

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  Review by Diego Rocke ★★★

  Premisa interesante, sobre todo porque está basada en hechos reales, sin embargo, la película en si me dejó completamente frío. Pasaron cosas pero nunca logré conectar, está pasable pero hasta ahí.

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  Review by leah prem ★★★★★

  it was so nice to watch a movie about such a important moment in history that many people don’t know about. it’s such a beautiful story even with all the violence. watching my parents getting emotional about some scene that reminded them of their childhood during apartheid made me so sad and angry that that was the world we lived in and even though it’s been many years some people still carry those same hateful beliefs.

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  Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★½

  The World is More Than Enough 11: Crime Travelling

  35/30 - South Africa

  Based on the real life siege that took place in 1980 and was one of the key moments in building towards Nelson Mandela's eventual freedom, Silverton Siege is a surprisingly sturdy thriller.

  I say surprisingly because it's a Netflix film and nobody should ever trust them. I used to, but looking back I wonder if I was suffering from a head injury or something. But this is pretty good. Sure, it's shot through with a smattering of siege film clichés and takes significant liberties with the truth. It is exciting and strong throughout, however.

  A large part of that is down to Thabo Rametsi's superb lead performance…

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  Review by Ivica_Pusticki ★★★½ 2

  SILVERTON SIEGE starts very strong, very intenes, with a bang (literally), but after the first 15 minutes or so, it downshifts and slows down, and remains mostly at that speed until the last 10 minutes or so. Then it bangs again...
  The movie is apparently based on actual events, but at the same time, it seams that the story is only loosely based on real events, and most of it is fictional. But that didn't bother me because I didn't know anything about the actual story anyway, plus the whole story, true or not, was well written and interesting to watch...

  Anyway, this is a good movie...with great performances, occasional tension and dramatically engaging story, but it's not a movie I plan to re-watch or that I will remember in a week or two...

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  Review by lyds🌷 ★★★★

  2022 ranked

  Started this movie out of curiosity and little did I know it would be so good.

  I thought the beginning was slow and not very clear on where the story was going but it took a whole other turn when they demanded the release of Mandela out of prison. I think that’s when I really started enjoying the movie bc it all made sense. The story — based on true events — is very moving, important to tell.
  I don’t condone holding hostages to defend a cause AT ALL but I feel like in most countries, when you’re an activist and rightfully demand more rights, you are considered a terrorist when your demands are considered a threat to the government in place.

  Acting on point, actors are amazing. Need more people to watch this movie. (Little did I know Arnold Vosloo was a South African actor!!!!)

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  Review by Matthias Bruneel ★★★

  Silverton Siege is based on true events but it takes considerable creative liberties with its story. This didn't bother me all that much since director Mandlakayise Walter Dube still manages to convey the essence of these three characters quite well.
  The story follows three freedom fighters in South Africa in 1980. When one of their sabotage missions goes wrong and they find themselves pursued by the police, they seek refuge in a bank and keep everyone inside hostage. What follows is a tense standoff between them and the police and their only demand is that Nelson Mandela is freed in exchange for their surrender.
  The main strenght of this movie, for me at least, are the three lead actors here.…