To me, this movie is perfection.

Simply Perfect

hyped garbage

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is definitely a documentary's documentary. This film does a great job of allowing you to see life through the eyes of those directly involved with this event.I find it just plain shocking and disgusting how those "officers of the law" who murdered Fred Hampton, who are supposed to exist for the purpose of upholding our rights yet never mind being tax-funded by us the people, for whom they exist, are bold enough to violate our rights!! It is even more outrageous that even with the -evidence- left at the scene, which blatantly contradicted the officers false testimonies, they were still allowed to walk free and unaccountable for murdering these two men with no real cause.It is because of this same corruption that our country is in the situation it is in right now; because of greed, lust for power, and lack of regard for their fellow man.Whether you agree with the cause Fred lived for or not, one thing can be certain; the rise of groups like the "Black Panthers" are a reflection of the society that we live in and how it fails to provide for its poor class while on the same token, blaming the poor class for its problems.This documentary did a great job of giving you more insight into the "Black Panther Party" and letting you know that they weren't just armed black people but that they stood for a lot more..It also makes you realize how similar the times are in terms of rights. In the film Fred refers to America as a capitalistic police state; fast forward to today were police or other govt officials can break in your house just on the mere "suspicion"of you being involved in "terrorism" lets you know that the same thing that happened to Fred can happen to anyone who thinks differently..All of this comes to mind as you hear his final quote of the film at the very end.Great job by all involved making the film at the time.

If you lived through the 60s, or if you are a student of political movements and truth, you will find this fascinating.The facts are simple enough: The US had an overtly racist political system, working differently in big northern cities than backwards southern towns. Although the major sweep of protest was a noble, steady stand for simple justice, some hotheads took a violent stand. One of these was the Black Panthers, and a stronghold was Chicago.Chicago was famously corrupt in the sense of an inbred political establishment, including the police. Loyalty to the establishment was the game and the truth was expendable, malleable, inventable. Well, that is an old story.The interesting element is the Panthers. We have this film as consisting of footage from before and after the murder. The Panthers are possibly honest but probably not so. They surely are passionate, and committed to "the people." The striking thing is how utterly stupid the politics is: a combination of plain unrealistic Marxism, uneducated rhetoric and logic and earnest but goofy metaphors. These guys are basically well-meaning, frustrated nitwits with guns, who had a genuinely honest complaint and a lucked into an adversary that was incompetent at lying.The second half of this film was produced by the Panthers (and their white lawyers) as detectivework to show the lies of the Chicago police. There is no controversy about what happened and it is instructive to compare it to today's obsession with terrorists. There is a frustrated people who take up an armed struggle. They mix their aggressiveness with service programs for an underserved society on whom they depend for support. In this case, it was breakfast and "education" programs. This is the model for Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. A large establishment opposes them, fears about safety abound. There is a threat of overthrow, destruction. Each side vilifies the other. But one side has governmental stability and organized forces. So they do what they believe is necessary, constitution be damned.No one listening to the news actually believed the police story, neither white nor black. Whites fabulated a story to explain away the discrepancies from the truth. This differs from today where torture is openly supported rather than lied about. But otherwise this film does what the best of history can do: give us insight into ourselves.Yes, the filmmakers, presenters and detectives are not admirable. Yes, you would not want to sign up for their childish politics. Unless you are grasping for a manufactured ethnic identity, the language and means of expression grate, embarrass. But they were fighting a great lie, a great lie in front of a great injustice.And the footage is real. So this matters.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I was 10 years old when this happened and I was taken to the apartment with my mother (a Chicago school teacher) and several of her co-workers. The black community was so up in arms about this that the schools pretty much closed down that day. We toured the apartment with the Panthers (not a police in sight). They had marked how all the shots in the walls were coming from outside to the inside. We saw the blood soaked mattress and how the apartment drawers and closets were all over turned like they were looking for something. Chicago PD was and still is crooked as hell. Fred Hampton was only 21 years old. Those young brothers (Mark Clark also) were about something great for the community and they were murdered!! Rest in Peace.

Fred Hampton, founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was assassinated by a special unit of the Chicago Police Department on December 4th, 1969 as he lay face down in bed. He was 21 years old when he was murdered. The police fired 99 unanswered shots into his apartment, wounding Fred as he slept. Apparently drugged by an informant, Hampton was unable to awaken. After the raid the police put two more shots into Hampton's head and said "Now he's good and dead." This film follows the last year or so of Fred's life and the investigation immediately following his murder.The first part of the film shows Fred speaking and organizing and provides a brief glimpse into the Panther community programs such as free breakfasts for school children, as well as a fairly good portrayal of Hampton's dynamic speaking abilities, vast depth of knowledge for someone so young, and his passion for the revolutionary struggle of all oppressed people worldwide regardless of race.The remainder of the film focuses on Fred's murder including footage of the crime scene. The attacking police unit was so secret that the local precinct was not notified to clean things up after the bodies were removed. As a result the Panthers and their attorneys filmed and collected a vast amount of evidence which proved the police and states' attorneys were lying. The police and government arguments are given, interspersed with contradictory proof by the Panthers and their attorneys proving that this was not a raid gone sour, but rather a carefully planned assassination. The photo of the police smiling joyously as they carry Hampton's body out of the apartment is ominous.This film was made right after Fred Hampton was murdered, and before the Panthers were aware that one of their own - William O'Neal - was actually an FBI informant who provided the police with the map of Fred Hampton's apartment. It was also filmed years before the information about the FBI's COINTELPRO campaign was made public. It is a great piece of history which gives a rare fair treatment to the Black Panther Party.