In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

Morgan Freeman
as Theodore Joadson

Nigel Hawthorne
as Martin Van Buren

Anthony Hopkins
as John Quincy Adams

Djimon Hounsou
as Cinque

Matthew McConaughey
as Roger Sherman Baldwin

David Paymer
as Secretary John Forsyth

Pete Postlethwaite
as Holabird

Stellan Skarsgård
as Tappan

Razaaq Adoti
as Yamba

Abu Bakaar Fofanah
as Fala
CinemaSerf
Steven Spielberg took the helm for this rather classy, if very wordy, depiction of the celebrated legal battle that resulted from the mutiny of slaves aboard a Spanish ship in the late 1830s. A timely intervention from the US Navy rescued some of the crew, but then subjected the erstwhile cargo to a...