Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad (1994)
A number of slaves risk their lives to escape their masters with their only help coming from the famous secret slave escape network.
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This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
This is an excellent made for TV film about how the underground railroad actually worked. The film centers on Sarah (Janet Bailey) a house slave who has it the easiest in the group. A Canadian abolitionist on his first trip to the south manages to convince a group of slaves to make the trek to Canada.Along the way they encounter Harriet Tubman as well as a pair of black and white bounty hunters which reminded me of "Django." The film is less intense and graphic than "12 Years a Slave." A little grand on the speeches and light on some of the acting, as expected for a TV film.
True, there is a number of clichés in this movie and yet the overall result is moving. Canadians are not particularly well aware of this relatively short part (about 11 years) of their history and this movie does not stray too far from the harsh reality it describes. Perhaps it is the saving grace of clichés: like stereotypes, they tend to have a good foundation in reality. I don't know for sure for the Canadian "Birdwatcher" but for the rest, it does jib well with what I know from reliable sources. So, if you want to present the "Underground Railroad" to someone not already familiar with it, it is a very good, enjoyable, introduction.One caveat, the sound track does not seem correct with large volume variations adding to the difficulties in understanding strong accents. Also, the lack of closed-caption (or any subtitle) will not help you either. A better language support-sound track would have certainly improved its rating.
I think perhaps one of the reasons I liked this movie is that part of it was filmed on my Father's farm in southern Ontario.My great-great Grandmother was a Creole living in Ontario and I feel this movie showed the plight of runaway slaves quite well.The casting was rather good--who expected Juleesa could act like an uneducated slave?I'm not one of those people who picks a movie apart so I really found it entertaining.