Gandhi: Critic Reviews

[Of] importance is the possibility that the film will bring Gandhi to the attention of a lot of people around the world for the first time, not as a saint but as a self-searching, sometimes fallible human being with a sense of humor as well as of history.

A remarkable experience.

Attenborough's work lacks even the undercurrent of personality that David Lean brought to his films: the film has no flavor but that of the standard Hollywood hagiography.

Once in a long while a motion picture so eloquently expressive and technically exquisite comes along that one is tempted to hail it as being near perfect.

In playing Gandhi, an actor must be less concerned with physical verisimilitude than with spiritual presence, and here Kingsley is nothing short of astonishing.

Brilliant biography will engage preteens and up.

Attenborough's crowning achievement as a director.

Ben Kingsley's title performance is amazing, particularly in the way he ages across the five decades which the film depicts.

It's safe to say that if you knew nothing about Gandhi before going in to the movie, you wouldn't know a whole lot more coming out.

Gandhi is less personal than Reds, but also less complacent than Chariots of Fire and less doddering than Lean's own orderly post-colonial apologia, A Passage to India.

Every bit the biopic that Patton was, Gandhi is emotionally engaging but taxing on the viewer's stamina. Ben Kingsley is astounding.

Despite an intelligent title performance by Ben Kingsley and impressive cinematography in the manner of David Lean, this huge, clunky biopic offers less than meets the eye.

Despite an intelliegnt performance by Ben Kingsley in the lead, Attenborousgh's worthy biopic is too conventional in illuminating the venerable leader.

Its faults rather pale beside the epic nature of its theme, and Kingsley's performance in the central role is outstanding.

A true epic in every sense of the word!

Overshadowing even Ben Kingsley's astonishing, transcendent performance in his first major screen role is a larger, more formidable presence: that of Gandhi himself.

Solid biopic, a little long, but well done.

Attenborough's profound epic spotlighting one of the 20th century's most prolific spiritual men of peace. Kingsley's portrayal of Gandhi is impeccable and inspirational to boot