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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: If I could give it 10 stars, I would!
Review: This is a very important film that really makes you think. Although this film has some very disturbing images, I just wanna say that they were there for a special purpose. If the images were not in the film, I think the film wouldn't have that great of an imapact on people as it really did. The directing as great and the acting was exellent. I really do think Edward Norton should have won for best actor instead of that illiterate dork, Roberto whatever. His preformace really did stand out of the rest of the nominies. The film is a very powerful film about todays racism. I think this film did an exeptional job with portaying that. I believe Edward Norton is a great actor and only good thing will come to him. This film is a must see!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you haven't seen the movie, Don't Read My Review!
Review: American History X is a really good movie, but there is one thing that is terribly wrong with it. If you have'nt seen the movie, don't read the next line. If a character in a movie is also the narrator, that person cannot die in the movie. In this movie, the narrator does die. Therefore, this movie isn't the best. It goes against the rules of storywriting and film making. The movie is good and very well done, but the mistake they made ruins it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: American History X isn't a movie its masterpiece
Review: This movie is ranked among the best movies i have ever seen. This movie totally wrecked me up the whole day after i saw it in the morning. It was so emotionally involving and i learned so much from it. Its incredible beyond words. I think it should have to be seen in high schools as a part of the black american unit or something. I am very incredible impressed with everyone's preformance in the movie and i will have it in my hands permanently in no time. Please see this for my sake, and mostly for your sake.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A brutal masterpiece of a film
Review: By the time I was done watching the 2-hour epic "American History X," I was so stunned that I could hardly speak. My mouth was gaping with the marveling awe of impeccable filmmaking by director Tony Kaye, the tears were flowing freely from my eyes, and my heart stung with the emotional intensity of the film. It is, in a word, a masterpiece of modern film art.

Edward Norton perhaps has hit the high point of his career here as skinhead Derek Vinyard. Vinyard is a brutal white supremist who, after being sent to jail for three years, comes back to Venice, California to find that his younger brother, Danny, (superbly acted by the talented and underrated Edward Furlong of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day") is heading in the same direction as he once was. And now, being a changed man, Derek must stop his younger brother from the same fate.

The film works well with black-and-white flashbacks that brutally bite into the present day and show the audience a unique blend of Derek and Danny's past lives together. It develops almost backwards through the flashbacks, starting out with the most recent events and gradually treading back through the sludge of mistakes and sorrows that the Vinyard family has previously gone through. It works through these flashbacks brilliantly, not dulling the rest of the story at all, until the unforgettable explosive climax that stings the back of the mind long after watching "American History X."

Norton carries his own in this film. The thing I like about Norton's acting is that he never tries the same thing twice. He's always a different character in every film, which makes him such a profound actor of this time with the bland Steven Seagall and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies that keep on coming out with seemingly no end. And Furlong takes a wild ride as Danny here in the role of his lifetime. Although Furlong has unfortunately been in a limited few films, he shines here. He makes every word he says entirely believable and captures his character's burning intensity extremely well. Beverly D'Angelo has a small part in this film as well, yet despite her character's few scenes, D'Angelo, as Doris Vinyard, the emotionally wounded mother of Derek and Danny, does so well here that you can just feel her pain come right through the screen. She does her best acting in "American History X" and should have been commended with at least an Oscar nomination (but then again, Norton himself should have grabbed an Oscar and unfortunately didn't).

"American History X" is a tragic film, and not one that should be watched by just any person. It's perhaps one of the most brutal films of the year, next to Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan," and has an intensity shining within that jolts a viewer. But it is a masterpiece, maybe even more so than some thought "Private Ryan" was. The impeccable acting, the agonizing content, the savage way of portraying it... It'll blow you away after every time you see it. And even after that, you'll want to go back and watch it again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Powerful And Important.
Review: "American History X" is an extremely powerful and important film. It sizzles off the screen with burning intensity. Director Tony Kaye displays his talent as a filmmaker here. His cinematography, both in color and black & white, makes Venice look like a training ground for the Apocalypse. Edward Norton gives his best performance. "American History X" also studies the mechanics of racism and how it feeds into the minds of weak-spirited individuals, how evil can blind a person's thought processes and drive that person to committ horrible acts. The music here is also effective and flows with the film's mood, if not enhancing it. This is an important film, which I think, should be shown in high schools around America. It is a powerful study of hate. I just wish that the screenplay by David McKenna didn't try to cover so much in only a 24 hour period. "American History X" would have been a classic of modern cinema had it been at least a 3 hour piece. It doesn't go into the realm of masterpiece as it would have been with a genius screenwriter and director like Oliver Stone. Still, this is a powerful, important movie that everyone should watch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A powerful motion picture against the racism legacy.
Review: American History X is one example of motion picture that can be called cinematographic art! It is absolutely not a film for those who go to the movies just for fun; it is, in fact, for those who face art as an object of reflection about our world, ourselves and our lives. Proving that some legacies must end, it is a motion picture in which the image worths a thousand words, concerning a serious and real drama that affects not only the America but the whole world: the prejudice, one of the most irrational attitudes of the human kind. It is even better due to the remarkable performance of Edward Norton. American History X is definitly one of the best motion pictures ever produced concerning the racism legacy and one of the most powerful movies of all times! Simply unforgettable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: absolutely great
Review: Before we watched it my husband thought it was just another racist movie. But after watching it we were both speechless and after finishing the credits, all he can say is "beautiful". That summarizes everything with the movie. Derek expressed the things that have bothered so many people. Its just up to us to decide if we should just leave it or do something about it. But one thing is for sure, Violence is never going to do anyone good.

Edward Norton is such a great actor. He should have won the Oscars for his portrayal. Furlong too was good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Powerful and disturbing
Review: This is one of the most powerful and dramatic films I have ever seen, although I didn't realize it as I was watching it. Its story doesn't effect you as much until later, when you start thinking about it. And then it holds on to you for a few days after that. That is what makes a good film! Whether it be controversial, makes you hate, cry, angry, sad, or happy: then it's superb craft at its best.

Edward Norton (Derek) is amazing as the young leader of a skinhead gang, and Ed Furlong (Danny) equally measures up as his impressionable younger brother. Also, Jennifer Lien (Davina) and Beverly D'Angelo (Doris) were excellent as the sister and mother.

Though the film made graphic use of violence, what was more disturbing was the dialogue. The scene where Doris brings home Elliot Gould for dinner is powerful and tears at your insides. It's the moment when the viewer realizes the extent of Derek's hate as he spouts his racist rhetoric, and finally his propensity for violence when he lashes out at his own mother and sister. (A disturbing moment when he continually stuffs paper-thin slices of red meat into Davina's mouth.) But probably the most powerful moment in this scene's sequence is the most underplayed and not over the top when Doris says to him: "I'm ashamed that you came from inside me."

This film has many disturbing and powerful moments, and the arty visuals make it even more so. With a standout cast, Edward Norton shines and showcases his frightening ability to play a character who is filled with sheer hatred, but then evolves into a more compassionate human being who realizes his original beliefs were misguided.

The ending, though powerful, was probably the weakest in terms of believability (relative to the film's story), but it will move you....and the message will stay with you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: American History X--- the most powerful movie I have seen
Review: The movie American History X was by far the most powerful movie I have ever seen. There is not too much I want to say about it because it may ruin someone else's view on the movie. Basically, I would recommend it to teachers today because of the way it relates modern racism and hatred. It is a good tool for today's youth to use and view to see how some people and races are discriminated against everyday and in every way possible. People sometimes discriminate against others without even knowing it!

A strong, powerful movie that kept my eyes glued to the screen throughout the whole time.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Intense and Mind Blowing
Review: The movie American History X gets right into the guts and the grit of racism and how bad it has become in today's society. Derek, the main character, was the local skinhead leader who helped form many of the gangs in his California neighborhood. Derek becomes incarcerated for killing two black men who were attempting to steal his car. Derek has no original remorse for his actions and believe that what he did was the appropriate thing to do because these men were black. American History X allows you to watch first hand what it is like to be in a racist gang and the things that go on in it. There are incidents of curbing, gang rape, and shootings. These are things that everyone says will not happen in their neighborhood, but they are apparently happening in someone's neighborhood. This movie tries to open people's eyes so they become aware of what is going on and that there is a problem and that it needs to be fixed. American History X is a very graphic and intense movie. If you are squeamish even a little this movie is not for you. American History X does not leave anything out, you see it all. This movie is one that you appreciate more then you enjoy it. Overall it is very well done and gets it's point across.


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