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Summary: Tell all the truth but...
Review: I had wanted to write and write and write about this great film. But I see that others have and perhaps it's best served by simplicity.This is Spike Lee's best film. It is obvious you are to take away MEANING from it--but, wonderfully, it has no answers. One might be frustrated by this, but it calls you to confront your own notions of what the "right thing" is. In fact, it asks you to consider what "right" thoughts are as well as "right" actions. No need for me to go into it here--see above and below for plot points--but know that you will react to this intense film. Once you've made a decision about what the right thing is--think again and ask yourself some more questions about who you are as you come to view this movie. A must see.
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Summary: Vibrancy that Builds
Review: I feel like the best way to contemplate the flim 'Do The Right Thing' is to draw some kind of a flow chart- the prejudice runs so rampnt, and the lines of ignorance are actually so crafted that it is difficult to even rationalize some of the hatreds exhibited. There are the semi-prosperous Koreans. There are the very prosperous, and also minority, Italian Americans. There are the low key, feuding Puerto Ricans. There are the majority, belligerent Africans. There are the police. All these rivalries are replaced by unity only in hatred. How odd, that ignorance can unite! How interesting a way to portray this, with the calculated destruction of the very soul of the town (the pizzeria) by the most wise and tolerant of them all. What Mookie- or, truly, SPike Lee- trying to establish by having someone so devoid of prejudice cast the first stone? Perhaps Mookie believed that in order destroy the ignorance- or at leasst stifle it- he needed to bring it into full light. Or perhaps he was trying to cut his losses, and create unity by sacrificing the minority. Whatever the intentions of this topical, vibrant director, one cannot help but come away with the film with a new perception of ignorance, and a new revulsion for it. His use of symbols is dramatic and well placed- the heat of the day with the urgency of the evil at hand, Radio Raheem (sp.) and his persistant, assaulting song, which is ultimately quelled (along with his life), and the most obvious union of violence and peace in the picture of Dr. King and Malcolm X, carried around and coveted by a basically solitary and misunderstood man- perhaps a symbol of the black culture as a whole? I enjoyed "DO the Right THing' for all of these things, and also for the simple humor and irony which undermines the entire film. In fact, it might be one of my favorites so far this year.
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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.
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Summary: The best film ever made about race relations in the U.S.
Review: The best film of 1989, and far and away the best film ever made on the subject of how people of different races relate to one another in the United States. Alternately funny, tragic, smart, and wildly instinctive, it's also Spike Lee's best movie (narrowly beating out "Malcolm X," another masterpiece). Based on the list of features, it looks like one more feather in Criterion's cap; it'll be on my pre-order list shortly after I complete this review. Bottom line, it should be required viewing for every single American.
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly decent story and good acting
Review: I remember being very excited to see this film after all the press it received when it came out.. However, I was disappointed by it somewhat. A much better movie than "School Daze," it still wasn't as clever in its way as his first film, "She's Gotta Have It." At least Criterion is again attempting to present some contemporary films. Everything they have put out in the last year has been restorations of films from the 30s for some weird reason.
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Summary: Racial tension on the streets, produces a masterpiece!
Review: Do the right thing is still regarded by many (including me) as the definitive Spike Lee film, from the script to the soundtrack, to the strong, sometimes humourous acting and the unforgetable ending. this film blew me away when I first saw it. At first I thought it was a full blown racial comedy, but as the film progresses you get more involved with the characters in the film, and you realise that not everything is sweet on the streets. Spike Lee is splendid in the lead role, and is solidly backed up by some great supporting actors, which include John Tuturro,(The Big Lebowski) and danny Aiello. (Leon) There is also a cameo from Samuel L Jackson as the loud and opinioated disc jockey on the local radio station. Criterion look to have finally done this film proud, with a new anamorphic transfer, and bags of extra material to back up the film. Hopefully this disc will gone down in DVD history as a classic.
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!
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Summary: I Dig It
Review: This is a great show. One of Spike Lee's best. It is an important one to see.....perhaps one of the best films made dealing with race relations.
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Summary: Do the Right Thing
Review: Ok, if you are going to understand this movie, you need to remember the title, "Do the Right Thing." How do you know what the right thing is? Which character says the title line? The Mayor. That's your clue. Is the Mayor on the side of violence? No. The Mayor stands with the Italians when his neighbors are about to burn down the pizzeria. The Mayor does, as is his wont, the right thing (i.e. he stands against the mob). Admittedly, the Italians are yahoos, but the message of the movie is: even if they are yahoos, its wrong to burn their house down! People who don't understand this don't know how to watch a movie properly. This aside, I also really enjoyed the Rosie Perez dance sequence at the beginning of the movie. Ozzie Davis is the aircraft carrier of this movie and Spike's character attracts attention away from the central message of the movie so that it message is indirect and, in some cases, completely overlooked.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant but morally repugnant
Review: This is a great filmmaking feat with a reprehensible message. Taking place in a fantasy low socio-economic neighborhood that Lee has created (there are no drugs and no crime. What is this? A Twilight Zone episode? ), he creates a brilliant piece of editing, direction, camera angles and narrative that is one of the most dynamic films ever made and then, unfortunately, uses it all to sell a sickening message: violence is okay if you get too frustrated. Lovely. That's all that American society and every individual with a couple of loose nuts and bolts running around needs to hear, right? Who isn't frustrated? And what level of frustration, I wonder, does Mr. Lee think justifies violence? Because he uses his considerable powers and skills to support an unsupportable, morally reprehensible position, Mr. Lee takes his place alongside Leni Reifenstahl (the Nazi filmmaker-see "Triumph of the Will") as a very talented and evil artist. Watch it, admire its skill, but if you walk away feeling empty and somewhat depressed, you will know the reason-it is morally and spiritually bankrupt.
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