[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of a 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

[7] Joe Leydon of Variety wrote "Thunder Soul offers a heaping helping of uplift".

[8] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle wrote "[The film] tells the story of the Kashmere Stage Band, and before the film is through, this high school band you've never heard of will have earned a top spot on your personal hit parade".

[9] According to Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times, "Though [the film] sometimes overplays the sentimentality, [it] gets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation".

According to him, despite portraying Johnson as a "benign dictator", "[the film] represents a feast for the senses, a soulful celebration of the black musical renaissance of the late '60s and '70s".