Rating:  Summary: Outstanding Review: Well a lot of the movie is about racism but my favorite part was Radio Raheem giving the story of love and hate. How love is always battling hate all the time and here comes love and back comes hate and bang boom love comes back and KO's hate. Really made me think.
Like during the course of a day....when you go to work....you put a fence of hate around you and also lets say if youre an employer you hate on an employee to make them go. 'Do your job or youre fired'....its a heck of a motivator. On the other hand....I think its FAR more dangerous to love than to hate because if you love you make yourself more vulnerable and theres always the danger that could be used against you. But like radio raheem said....love always triumphs over hate.
Great movie, go pick it up, one of Spike Lees best.
Rating:  Summary: May be one of the top ten American films ever Review: "Race" may not be a film category but as a subject it has it's slot on Amazon and it has played a central role in USA film since USA film began just as race has and does in the history anbd psyche of the USA. BIRTH OF A NATION, THE DEFIANT ONES, PINKY, COLOR PURPLE, PRIMARY COLORS, GONE WITH THE WIND, GONE WITH THE WIND, GLORY, THE SEARCHERS are just some that spring to mind, which have race as a central issue, or drive the action. Now, nearly 20 years since its first release, DO THE RIGHT THING looms as one of the great American films of all time with race as a central issue. I've seen it at least 20 times and have concluded it is pretty well faultless, with perhaps some shift in tone in the last 10 minutes redeemed by the strange confrontation about money,and then reconciliation between Sal and Mooky. Just consider one tiny scene when Ossie Davis (as da Mayor) opens his first can of beer for the very hot day ahead, and has an interchange with "Mother Sister" who looks down on him from the window of her stoop window. The moment begins with the music of Banford Marsalis in the form of an arco bass quickly filling the ears with sweet yearning, with the music slowly building throughout the scene. Ossie Davis gives one of his exhilarating "philosophical" orations at this point, not too long, but TO the point. In brief, the film is all of a piece. There is no part in it - including the powerful to-camera racist recitatives and the stunning performance by Mr Samuel L. Jackson as the DJ - that is less than significant or relevant. It sings with a humanity and soul. One of the best American films of all time.,
Rating:  Summary: SPIKE LEE IS ALL THAT! Review: "Do The Right Thing" was the best movie of the 80's. Spike did a wonderful job showing how differnt races relate to each other. He creates memorable characters that will never be forgotten;like Mookie, Sal, Buggin' Out, and Radio Raheem. This is the best movie Spike has ever made, and one of the best movies of the past century.
Rating:  Summary: One of the best of all time . . . Review: . . . and another Spike Lee project cheated by the Oscars.
Rating:  Summary: Words can't do justice... Review: ...but I'll write some words anyway. What can I say? Criterion has once again outdone themselves with a stunning presentation of one of the greatest films of all time. This two-disc special edition of Spike Lee's 1989 masterpiece is astonishing. Not only do you get the film, you get multiple commentaries by the director, cinematographer, production designer and more. Plus a gorgeous transfer -- one of the best I've seen on DVD so far -- that highlights the vibrant colors of this landmark film. The second disc contains a slew of extras -- trailers, music videos, a revealing documentary, press conferences, storyboards...the works. The film itself, if you haven't already seen it, has been justly praised as a masterpiece. It centers around a Brooklyn neighborhood in one day of a massive heatwave. Racial tensions rise to incendiary levels when a young resident makes it his personal crusade to boycott a local Italian pizzeria. The performances, including Danny Aeillo, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson and many more, are second to none. The film is also very funny...the late stand-up comic Robin Harris delivers some of the movie's funniest lines. Rarely has such a great movie received treatment like this that it so richly deserves.
Rating:  Summary: Spike Lee always does the right thing! Review: 1989's acclaimed and controversal film about racism in a slum town really hit me. I was very impressed at how well directed it was. Spike Lee has always swept me off my feet with his brilliance, creativity and reality. He always has a great cast, fun lines and brilliant style. He is also as good an actor in this as well as others (including Jungle Fever and Malcom X) as he is a director and writer. Danny Aiello gave a great performance, as did John Tutorro. Samuel L. Jackson had a small but fun part as well. All in all I really enjoyed Do the Right Thing. However, I do not fully agree with all of Spike Lee's views on racism. While this was a phenominal film about racism, it seemed to overfavor the racist black people a lot, whereas ANY racism is wrong. Other than that though, this was a great film. This is certainly something that would probably offend many people. Its R rating reflects extreme racist content including violence, pervasive strong language and brief nudity.
Rating:  Summary: Slow motion cartoon Review: A film's being "incendiary" is fine if you've gotsomething to say, but this film is just a cry-baby rant peopled byanimated stereotypes. I almost expected each character to come with his or her own dialogue balloon/cloud a la the Sunday morning funnies. Spike Lee, at least in this case, doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the word "subtlety," with characters screaming at the tops of their lungs every few second and behaving in way that makes the Saturday morning Animaniacs appear to be on downers. The Italian-Americans are depicted as mindless and clueless; the Korean-American grocery store owners are made to look ridiculous. I also got the feeling that the whole tragedy in the plot should be dumped in the lap of the Danny Aiello character for having the utter temerity not to change his restaurant's "Italian Wall of Fame." Shame on him for not immediately doing what was demanded of him!...the film presages great cinematic accomplishments like Tarantino's films and "The Big Hit." The emperor's clothes look great!
Rating:  Summary: Not About Answers, but Questions Review: A lot of people criticize this movie because of its ending. To do so misses the point of the film. Do the Right Thing is one of the few films that deals with race honestly - it doesn't end with everyone hugging and happy singing Kumbaya. Instead it takes a realistic look at race relations in an inner city neighborhood that has faced white flight, and is now facing gentrification. It's a scenario playing out all over the country, and the tensions that arise in the film can probably be found in any American city today. The difference is, Lee is willing to face those challenges in the eye, instead of dancing around them like most of us do. A bit about the characters. Some have argued that they are caricatures, or simple, or racist, or unlikable. That is the point. Should somebody die because they are obnoxious? Should someone's life work be destroyed because of what they represent, instead of who they are? Yes, the characters may seem at first one dimensional, but look a bit closer. The issue isn't whether Mookie is lazy, or Sal's son is racist. The issue is how do people relate to each other, and when the lines are drawn, where do their loyalties ultimately lie. The fact that the ending is inconclusive, and forces people to think (a rare thing in films nowadays) shouldn't detract from the movie's rating. Even if you don't agree with the ending, or dislike the characters, this is a must see film.
Rating:  Summary: Ignore social volatility at your own peril Review: A pastiche of humor, rage and a political message; unfliching and searing in its content. Shares the stage with Raging Bull as being one of the greatest films of the past twenty years.
Rating:  Summary: Sheer Brilliance. Review: A powerful ironic film that explains why racism is so difficult and so intractable a problem. This brilliantly written and directed film has received far less attention than it deserves. Of special note is Danny Aiello's performance as Sal, who translates his pride almost unknowingly into an insensitivity that becomes tragic. Although he ends up totally incapable of understanding any of what befalls him, Aiello's Sal shows himself worthy of the compassion you cannot help feeling for him. The extremely funny scene in which each ethic group spews epithets about another is a classic. It alone is worth the price of the movie.
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