Rating: 
Summary: another Sayles gem
Review: Flat out, John Sayles is the most INTERESTING film maker operating today. Whether discussing the big chill{the return of the seacaucus seven}or the Blacksox scandal{eight men out} or an Irish Legend{the secret of roan inish}, Sayles is on target,literate and ENJOYABLE. Matewan is a cold heart in american history,when workers actually cared about their fellows,and were willing to put themselves, LITERALLY, on the line. This story takes place in WestVa. in the 1920's. The always excellent Chris Cooper{a sayles staple} is brilliant as the pacifist union leader of the united Mine Workers. James earlJones,the corporate shill who was once an accomplished actor, and turns out what might be the finest performance of his career as a poor mine worker. The cinematography is pitch perfect{the legendary Haskell Wexler,I later discovered, was responsible}. Even the child actors are superb{a notoriously difficult feat}. The scenes of the poverty as gut wrenching, as is the violence. Sayles spares us little. The ditty I sold my soul to the company store has mnore meaning after watching this movie. A brilliant social and political commentary, and a master crafstman at work. HUGELY RECOMMENDED. Also, the astounding award winning documentary, Harlan County USA.
Rating:
Summary: based on true incident in Matewan, WVa, World Book Encyc.
Review: Have used this movie in course in social work graduate and undergraduate programs, in the human behavior and social environment (groups and communities) sequence. Sayles' Lone Star is equally effective as it includes families'more than Matewan. What's especially appealing about Matewan is that its so plausibly real-you know that this version could very well be what actually happened. Makes for great discussion. In same caterory as Grapes of Wrath and On the Waterfront.
Rating:
Summary: Hits home
Review: I have seen this movie several times and each time I find something new. My great-grandfather was involved in the coal wars. This movie is based in fact, with some creative license: Sid Hatfield was the sheriff and there was a battle and a war. It brings the pages of my history book alive. It reminds me of stories I have been told. When you watch this movie you can relate to what life was like for our families at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Matewan- A true story
Review: I have talked, in the far past, to people who lived thru this experience. Now they have all past away, but this movie keeps their story alive. Matewan is a big part of our heritage even if it is not well known.
Rating: 
Summary: stinks....
Review: I watched this movie.... It stinks...it is long... it is muffled... and most of all, it is boring! I am sorry for have ever watching this stinky flic! Take heed!
Rating:
Summary: A truly great movie by a great filmmaker
Review: I've watched this movie many, many times because I have frequently showed it to my Advanced Placement U.S. History classes during the post-A.P. Exam period. I never get tired of it. Joe Kenehan, the United Mine Workers organizer who tries to help the coalminers in Matewan, may be my all-time favorite movie character. I'm getting old, I guess (age 61), but I still believe in heroes. Joe Kenehan was a hero. The fact that the movie is based closely on real events makes it all the more fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: A Piece of American Coal Mining History
Review: If you can relate to the suffering and struggles of Appalachian coal mining families and individuals (white, black, European immigrant) in the first half of the 20th Century when unionization was taking hold in the coal mines, then I recommend that you buy this video. You will be rewarded with breathtaking drama and scenery.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully placed, pictured and performed
Review: It seems not widely known that this poignant and proud film was shot in Thurmond, WVa., a once booming and now all-but-abandoned coal town absent from many maps, where main street is indeed a railroad track and where a visit today is a step back in time . . . to that very time . . . a time born of coal mines and railroads I was fortunate to visit and photograph with my wife, who's from Huntington, just last summer. Having walked amid the the water tanks, the coal and sand towers . . . the bank and hotel fronts . . . the homes later seen in an earlier time through the movie made this an extremely absorbing film for me. My wife would probably not agree, as such things about the history of West Virginia, where she is visiting again this week, and depictions of its people, like the Okies in "Grapes of Wrath," seem to strike her with a different, harder kind of edge. To me, Thurmond is as wonderful a setting for "Matewan" as Sayles's movie is a palpable depiction of life for men and families struggling powerlessly -- almost -- for each day. The darkened "streets" of Thurmond today, like the blackened miner's face at the film's end, say it all at a glance. See it.
Rating:
Summary: An exploration of America's terrible dark side
Review: It's difficult not to get your personal feelings called into play when watching an obviously slanted film like Matewan. John Sayles, like Oliver Stone, is an obvious agit-prop master for the left. But so are several others. However, those others do not get the responses that Sayles has evoked because they don't have half the movie making talent that Sayles possesses. There is no fence-sitting when watching his films, and that's because his visions and messages are clear, uncompromising and passionate. Matewan is his highest achievement in those regards. Using the coal miners' unionization efforts of the 1920s as his springboard, Sayles explores one of the dark truths at the heart of free-market capitalism: the unblinking willingness of those in power to crush--physically and spiritually--those who work.
Sayles' gritty realism, the gaunt faces of the actual citizens of West Virginia who serve as extras in the film, Haskell Wexler's recreation of a long-gone era, and, of course, the great performances all around, drive that dark point home. Sayles' script, although a little long-winded at points, illustrates well how employers pit worker against worker, worker against scab, scab against scab. In fact, the workers do as much violence to each other as the bosses do to them. Don't dismiss this as a masnifesto disguised as a film. In the tradition of On the Waterfront (also based on an actual event), the characters, situations, and dialogue are all convincing. This is a great film but be sure to see it on video, not DVD, as others have pointed out. Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS
Rating: 
Summary: Great film - awful DVD
Review: John Sayles' best film merits a far better DVD treatment than this technical travesty. Others here have mentioned the film's amazing cinematograhy, fine performances (indierockers note: a young Will Oldham -- later of the band Palace Brothers -- has a featured role) and stirring story. But it bears repeating that this digital transfer is *atrocious*. The film is presented in "full-screen" format, lopping off the edges of Haskell Wexler's beautiful frames. Celluloid scratches and "reel change" hole-punches are visible throughout. And the sound, if you can believe it, is worse -- it's in hissy, almost inaudible MONO, for God's sake! Zero commentaries. Almost no bonus extras, unless you count a few panels of "production notes." Not worth a purchase. Wait for the morons at Artisan to get their collective act together and give this fine film the gold-star release it deserves.
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