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American History X

American History X

List Price: $19.96
Your Price: $14.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is THE movie to buy.
Review: This is the movie that should have garnered Edward Norton an academy award. While he may have had some stiff competition at the awards ceremony, I think it's east to argue that this is the best performance of the year. Notable also are excellent dramatic turns by Beverly D'Angelo and the usually annoying (see Pecker) Edward Ferlong. This movie actually sucks you into the racist reteric it preaches throughout, and goes to show how careful we have to be with what we say in front of our children. Take my advise, just buy this film. And don't worry about Edward Norton, the way he carried movies like Rounders, ...Larry Flint, and Primal Fear, there will be plenty of time fo academy awards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Movie I have Ever Seen
Review: I really loved this movie because it shows people how life is out there in the real world. There are times that people like to watch movies with a happy ending but life is not like that. Someone is always getting hurt in life. This movie also tells how it is in prison and how people have control in there. For anyone reading this review, I advise you to see this movie. I don't think that I will ever see a real-life movie as good as this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very emotional heartfelt film, very impartial and tragic.
Review: Absolutely excellent, Kaye's ( or actually from what I heard Norton's) film is very harsh and at times very violent, yet never for a moment loses its humanity and impartuality. The main protagonists themselves, despite their obvious social misunderstandings, are very sympathetic and are likable to the audience. It is this quality that helps gel the movie during sometimes cliched situations. Overall the film has a very semi documentary/"Cops" type of cinematography which is at times breathtaking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: both sides of the fence
Review: when you watch this film, look at both sides of it. NOT just the nazi's racisim but that both sides of the color spectrum show sings of hate .

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best movie I have ever seen
Review: This is the greatest movie i have ever seen. It shows forms of violence that can only send a chill down your spine. Edward Norton was great, but Edward Furlong deserved more attention, sometimes it is harder to play the silent than the outspoken.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a great movie
Review: i've seen this movie three times now. its a shocking, violent, brutal movie. after seeing this i feel edward norton should have gotten the oscar for best actor, this is the most contoversal movie i have ever seen

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMERICAN HISTORY X CHEATED OUT OF AN OSCAR!!!
Review: This is the greatest movie to come along in a very long while. Unlike regular HOLLYWOOD productions, AHX tackles some very controversial subjects, such as racism, reverse racism, violence, and the truth about gangs and gang life. Nothing is glorified.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Strong Message
Review: This film is truly superb and gives a strong message past the obvious but poignant observations about the neo-nazi society. The message is really how all hates and prejudices, no matter how well justified, are really pointless. "How have these negatives beliefs made anyone's life better?" is what the film is asking. Also, this film is one of the only films in history to give a realistic depiction of and give events that would actually lead to someone with deep-seeded beliefs reforming.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: amazing!!!
Review: brilliant and it really opens your eyes and makes you realize how sinful this world has become.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bloated and violent film showcases Norton's acting prowess
Review: Movies given to excesses of almost any kind can be forgiven, provided they adopt an ideological position - even an unpopular one. Unfortunately, movies can also simply be given to excess. That is more or less the case with American History X, a bloated, gratuitously violent film about home-grown racial bigotry.

Derrick Vineyard (Edward Norton) starts out as a shy, bookish boy whose father peppers his dinner-time conversation with mild racial epithets. Dad's ignorant extemporizations, along with the circumstances of his death, are supposed to then help explain Vineyard's transformation from a Wally Cleaver-like character to Ward and June's worst nightmare - the leader and eloquent spokesman of a group of Venice Beach skinheads. But, you ask, what about the Beaver?

Well, he is here too, in the person of Derrick's younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong)-- a vulnerable, ideologically labile teenager whose hero worship of his older sibling is painful to watch. Then however, after Derrick commits an especially brutal crime and is given 3 years in the gray-bar hotel, Danny is suddenly left on his own. Predictably, he becomes a skinhead himself and falls under noxious influences like Cameron (Stacy Keach at his unctuous best). Meanwhile older brother Derrick becomes a reluctant prison bride (watch for a particularly harrowing "bridal shower scene."). Danny's sole champion during this his older brother's sojourn is the school principal (Avery Brooks), who still believes the kid is salvageable.

Prepare yourself at the outset for non-linear, trendy filmmaking -- flashbacks, black and white sequences and slow motion cinematography. In contrast, the real-time action takes place over roughly a 24-hour period, during which time a born-again Derrick (released from prison and transformed back into a good guy) must deprogram younger brother Danny before it is too late. Meanwhile, Danny has to complete an essay assignment given to him by the principle, which the latter hopes will provide an epiphany for the boy and make him see that racism is a bad thing. (Duh?)

But also prepare for some admittedly powerful, gut-wrenching scenes, highlighted by Norton's inspired performance, Furlong's poignant naiveté and Keach's subliminally homoerotic portrayal of an aging neo-Nazi messiah. Elliot Gould also appears in flashback and does a nice turn as a prissy ideologue who supposedly further fuels Derrick's hatred (though, like everything else, hardly accounts for it).

Finally, you will probably arrive at the ending before the film does -- because it is essentially given away at the beginning -- but you won't be bored. Nor, for that matter, will you be particularly inspired. You will simply remember some of the scenes. Perhaps we all should.


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