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American History X

American History X

List Price: $19.96
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: amazing amazing
Review: its a great, powerful movie, wth amazing acting in it. i loved every second of it- its so real and... there are just no words to describe the feeling one gets out of watching it. you get to hate your ancestry. WATCH IT!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A film that should be shown to every high school student
Review: This film is a master piece! I will not pretend to say that i don't have any racist feelings because i do. So i had mixed feelings while seeing this film. Part of me was going "ya!" and part of me was ashamed.We will always have hatred in america. Those who say they do not hate are phonys. I do have hate but seeing this film it gives hate a place to put that hate on a shelf. You WILL learn from this film and that is exactly the message that this film has. We are here on earth to learn and this movie is a wonderful example of how to learn to control and understand the people we fear. Give this film a change, you will learn alot about people and about yourself. As far as the acting? Hats off to Ed Norton! He's a rare Hollywood talent who has all my respect. He knows his craft and is excellent at it. The supporting cast is also equally as good. This is a very powerful movie and hope that it is listed as a very important film in the 20th/21st Century.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 'X' marks the spot
Review: I won't classify this as a review, more of an after thought of the movie.

I've watched 'American History X' three times. First time at the cinema, once at a friend's place and most recently, at my brother's home (he hasn't seen this movie before). Each time I watched it, each time I marvelled at the intricate character portrayal and intense subject matter of this film. If anything, it's an indication of a great movie for me.

Brilliant performances by both 'Edwards' who paired up as credible onscreen siblings.

Sure, racism is nothing new and some may scorn at the propagandistic approach of this film. To me, every good movie has a story to tell and a message to bring across. 'American History X' doesn't just tap on racial discrimination, it tackles on issues like family, social problems, and education at a rather poignant level as well. Before we start getting too critical about the relevance of this film, let us not forget that this is afterall a fictional story, not a documentary. There will be imperfections and loop holes. But for what it's worth and what it trys to achieve out of it, this film deserves our kudos.

What I feel is most significant about the film personally in terms of its message is this: when you act insensibly in life and end up hurting yourself, you always end up hurting someone else along with you. Your actions may sometimes have a far more sinister repercussion than you expect. As the youngest child in the family, I suppose I've always looked up to my elder brother as a mentor, probably the same way Danny (Furlong) looked up to his (Norton). Perhaps another reason why I like this film so much is because of the strong bond between the brothers and the impact each has on the other - something which I can relate to.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: is racism a new concept to you people????
Review: Apparently, I am one of the few who didn't think this movie was a work of pure genius, or even muddled genius. While Edward Norton's performance is worth watching, he can only do so much with the dialog he's given and the formulaic change-of-heart plot. Bad Ed seethes with free-floating hatred and takes off his shirt a lot, exposing a torso in an advanced state of Nazi buffitude; Good Ed keeps his orange prison jumpsuit zipped and acts like Gandhi wearing a "kick me" sign. Ed Furlong is, as usual, excellent as a troubled young man with adorably floppy hair.

The message of this movie seems to be, "Racism is bad, but..." with the "but" semi-legitimizing a thin thread of White Right whining. Prior to watching this movie, I was of the opinion that most citizens of the USA had given some thought to ideas about race and "fairness" and the murky area where these concepts intersect. So how to explain, then, why so many reviewers have been "blown away" by this simplistic, patronizing piece of [junk] posing as a serious look at a serious issue? I don't feel any different about racist behavior than I did prior to viewing this film; I am completely creeped out by how many people seem to have needed this stupid film as an impetus to change their thinking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Smarter
Review: This is an excellent movie. A film about learning, a film about life...this is an excellent movie and it is moving as well as disturbing. WATCH THIS FILM!!!! This is a great movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Powerful Movie
Review: This is a good and powerful movie. It shows us what the world is actually to life. They take a problem that has existed in the world for years and expanded on it and it moves people with the power behind it all.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: One of those things
Review: Edward Norton, that whiny Yale grad is one hell of an actor his performance makes this movie watchable, but only a actor of his calibur could save this movie from being complete dreck. Where should I start with the complaints, ah yes. The liberal bias in Hollywood is present, and you want prove watch this. It seems that you are either a liberal(the good guys) or a conservative homophoic racist fascist bigot. There is no in-between, its just that easy. The dinner table scene with Elliot Gould is the best example. While Edward Norton is spewing his hate filled diatribes, the only opposition to his speech is a pretty left-wing point of view. If a conservative was sitting at the table, I think he would be just as outraged at the language Norton uses, but no we can't add even a little bit of debate into this. Its the liberal way or the fascist way. Well, now that I'm done with that, I'll get to the plot. Ultimately, its a little predictable and overwrought. And the ending, I mean come on, what the hell is that supposed to be, I know we're going to make an ending that will make people think, why, what the hell. Basically, its a copout and I think a happy ending would have worked better, just because the ending this film has is pretty much a ridiculous anti-climax, and that voiceover at the end needed to go, it just made me laugh. But I'm done with this, Eddie makes it watchable but ultimately this film is pretty substandard.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: powerful
Review: this was a powerful film that sent a real tough but good message out about hate groups. in the end it comes back to haunt the ones involved. i was truly saddened by the ending of the film and hoped that wouldnt have happened.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Powerful, but ...
Review: I did not see this movie until very recently, and had heard quite a bit about it from many colleagues and friends of mine. So, indeed, I sat down to watch it with the expectation of being moved or struck by some conflicting theme that lay within the boiling heart of this movie with the tagline "Some Legacies Must End".

I was disappointed, and would like to say why. First of all, I can't malign Edward Norton. I think that his performance is .. breathtaking, and certainly worth seeing the movie for. Indeed, I don't say that one shouldn't see this movie. However, and I won't give away the ending, it's not worth owning. Edward Furlong was a welcome presence here, and one I hope to see more from - and I don't remember his name, but the large man who drove the bug truck - was wonderful. I hated him every second.

However, the plot was lacking. There was no subtlety, and the characters seemed so one-sided as to almost be farcical ...types of actual people. The point may have been, in this movie, to provide no subtlety, and to be violent with the plot and imagery, but I think some of that was lost in the intent. The opening scenes were of a beach or an area like that, with waves slowly lapping in over the sands. If that was meant to convey some great metaphor, I think I must have missed it. Flashbacks in black-and-white seemed meaningful, and the character of Derek was intelligent as well as conflicted, but I didn't understand his metamorphosis, and I found it extremely hard to believe that his younger brother would simply .. alter his ways just like that.

All in all, I'd only give this movie the three stars on the basis of the strong, strong acting. It's only missing the last two of plot and development.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They Don't Know What to Make of It
Review: Almost 400 reviews have been written on this movie here, so I'm not going to go into a long analysis. But there are a few things about it that I think are worth pointing out.

I saw the movie only after it had come out on video some time after it was released. But I remember that when it was originally released in theatres there was a firestorm of controversy on campus and in the press, which I sort of ignored. I had little idea of what the movie was about other than "skinheads." I thought maybe the controversy stemmed from its violence.

The negative reaction came mostly from minority interest-groups and the leftist and "guilty white liberal" crowd. In fact, what was hilarious in retrospect, a group of self-styled moral guardians (professors from various departments) held an emergency conference on this movie shortly after its release. I guess they didn't quite know what to make of it and were trying to come up with some sort of "official line" on it.

Looking over some of the reviews, you can see that this reaction is not the exception but rather the rule. After seeing the movie myself, I understood the reason for the controversy. It doesn't make the skinheads look good by any stretch of the imagination, but it does attempt to turn the prevailing mythology of victimhood on its head. It makes the daringly subversive suggestion that the skinheads maybe have a few good reasons for feeling the way they do.


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