Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1980 and directed by William A. Graham, "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones " chronicles the life of Jim Jones (Powers Boothe) from his childhood in racist rural Indiana to the launching of his church, The Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, to their move to northern California and, eventually, The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known as "Jonestown" in northwestern Guyana. The last act, of course, involves the cult's infamous mass suicide and murders, which left 918 people dead. The movie (a two-part "mini-series") shows that Jones started out with good intentions, but his obsession with the "social gospel" and its inherent socialism (i.e. communism with a smile), as well as his deviation from sound Scriptural hermeneutics, his many adulteries and his increasing drug problem destroyed him and any positive impact his ministry had in the early years. While the movie starts out with some contrived scenes (the black boy in the barber shop), it soon picks up steam and becomes gripping to the dismal, shocking climax. Remember: THIS REALLY HAPPENED. The picture scores high marks on the female front with Meg Foster and her mind-blowing eyes, curvy blonde Linda Haynes and winsome cutie Diana Scarwid. Veronica Cartwright is also on hand as Jones' wife. ADDITIONAL CAST: Randy Quaid plays Jones' accountant, Brad Dourif his drug supplier ("physician"), Michael C. Gwynne his bodyguard, Colleen Dewhurst his spiritual mentor grandmother and LeVar Burton an increasingly suspicious disciple. James Earl Jones has a glorified cameo as Father Divine. There are numerous others. THE FILM RUNS 3 hours and 12 minutes and was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, and Dorado & San Juan, Puerto Rico. WRITERS: Ernest Tidyman wrote the script based on Charles A. Krause's eyewitness account of the events; he was a reporter who was traveling with Congressman Leo Ryan (Ned Beatty), who visits Jonestown in the last act. GRADE: B+/A-

I've seen this film literally over 100 times...it's absolutely jam-packed with entertainment!!! Powers Boothe gives a stellar performance. As a fan of actors such as William Shatner (Impulse, 1974) and Ron Liebmann (Up The Academy, 1981)I never thought an actor could capture the "intensity" like Shatner and Liebmann in those roles, until I saw Boothe as Jim Jones! As far as I'm concerned, Powers Boothe IS Jim Jones...this film captures his best performance!!!

When I first saw the video at the video store, I was fascinated. I remember seeing the Waco Branch Davidian cult compound burn and reading about Jonestown in Time and Newsweek in 1993, and I was intrigued as to why so many people would readily lay down their lives for some madman like David Koresh or Jim Jones. So, I rented Guyana Tragedy for some insight into the Peoples Temple cult. What I saw was very interesting to watch. Powers Boothe did an excellent job as Jim Jones, in my opinion. You can see how persuasive, demanding, and maniacal Jones really was. And the other characters in the movie are all well-played. James Earl Jones makes a small appearance as Father Divine, but he stands out as only he can, Darth Vader voice and all. Ned Beatty, Randy Quaid, LeVar Burton all shine here. This surprised me in that it was more watchable than I thought it would be. A VERY nicely-done movie, worth anyone's viewing.

A well cast summary of a real event! Well, actually, I wasn't there, but I think this is how it may have been like. I think there are two typically American standpoints evident in the film: 'communistophobia' and parallels to Adolf Hitler. These should be evident to most independent observers. Anyway, Boothe does a great performance, and so do lots of other well-known actors. The last twenty minutes of the film are unbearable - and I mean it! Anyone who can sleep well after them is abnormal. (That's why it's so terrible - it all happened, and it probably looked just like that). But, actually, did that last scene on the air station really take place?