Malcolm X

Rating:
Summary: Awesome man, excellent tribute
Review: Denzel Washington makes this little understood nearly mythical man breath. After studying the life of Malcolm X in a sociology of religion class, we watched this film to relax a bit. The script seems fairly accurate to history, and the imagery helps bring the conflict, drive and sincerity of Malcolm X to life.
In the movie, it becomes so obvious that Malcolm had just reached a kind of Buddhist nirvanna in his Islamic faith. Had he been allowed to live, his newly found spiritual insight gained from his pilgrimage to Mecca most likely would have helped to enlighten other Americans, Muslim or Christian, white or black. Malcolm appears on the verge of something even greater than he had previously been. Malcolm appears to be on the verge of becoming a national and perhaps even global spiritual and secular leader at the time of his death. Denzel makes more mourn the death of a man I never met. Inspiring, insightful. I'm grateful to Denzel and Spike for bringing me this "joint."

Rating:
Summary: So what if Lee took "dramatic license"
Review: There appears to be a debate by reviewers here that Spike Lee altered some of Malcolm's history to make a more entertaining movie. Others feel that the civil rights leader was the embodiment of evil, undeserving of this filmed tribute.

No film is perfect and no docudrama is historically accurate (see "Braveheart" or "Titanic", for example). But, "Malcolm X" is totally engrossing from start to finish, with great acting from not only stars Washington and Bassett but from Albert Hall ("Baines"), Delro Lindo ("Archie") and a remarkably realistic portrayal by Al Freeman, Jr. as the Honorable Elijah Mohammed.

Veteran actors Lonette McKee, Peter Boyle, Christopher Plummer, and Ossie Davis round out the superb cast and add a touch of clout to the proceedings.

Whether or not all of the story is true, the outstanding performances make up for any inaccuracies.

And, yes, I, too, read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the book.
Review: Not as good as the book. Read the book and you will get a more meaningful experience and understand Malcolm more.

Rating:
Summary: Malcolm x: good person , excellent movie
Review: I thought the movie was written and produced well.It showed how good of a person Malcolm was and what he had to endure to get where he was.The scences were portrayd well and i like how Spike Lee added otherhistorical african americans into the story. Overall it was a good movie.

Rating:
Summary: The film Spike Lee was born to direct.
Review: I can't think of another filmmaker besides Spike Lee who's as qualified to direct this 3-hour epic about the slain leader Malcolm X. It was really the film he was born to make. Although it falls a notch below "Do the Right Thing" (still his best film and a qualified classic), it features a dead-on performance by Denzel Washington. Denzel definitely deserved to win an Academy Award, though he lost to Al Pacino. But Oscar or no Oscar, this DVD is worth picking up: the picture and sound are excellent with no print flaws, scratches, lines, or marks whatsoever. My only beef is that the film has no extras except production notes. It's my sincere hope that Warner Brothers will revisit this film and come out with a deluxe 2-DVD edition, for this is too important a film. If you haven't grabbed this, then what are you waiting for?

Rating:
Summary: A Big Snub
Review: In Spike Lee's "Malcolm X", Denzell Washington gives a should-have-been award winning performance as the controversial civil rights leader. Lee traces Malcolm X's life from the streets of Harlem through his conversion to Islam to his ascendancy to the heights of the civil rights movement to his violent end.

What really makes this movie more than anything else is Washington's performance. When he won the Oscar for best actor for "Training Day" my immediate response was that this was a make up for the Academy skipping him for "Malcolm X". Washington's performance in "Training Day" was typically good; but, it lacked the power and authenticity of his performance in "Malcolm X". Washington's performance in this movie is not just the best of his career, it is one of the best ever given in an American movie.

Equally strong is the performance of Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz, Malcolm's wife. Bassett gives the role just enough strength to act as a counter-weight to Washington's power.

Was "Malcolm X" the best picture of 1992? Probably not. However, it certainly should have been amongst the finalists. A large part of the reason for the snub was likely due to Lee's unfavorable reputation within the film industry. That personal feelings kept this film from the running is wrong. And this is said by someone who has a decidedly unfavorable opinion of Lee also. Whatever you think of him personally, Spike Lee did make an excellent film in "Malcolm X".

Rating:
Summary: life of a black man
Review: The first time I saw this movie I was fortunate as I had read the book "The Autoboigraphy of Malcom X" by Alex Hailey, on which the movie was based, and fewer people could have translated the book into a movie like Spike Lee did.Mr Lee is one of the few film-makers to burn the American flag on the big screen, in the opening sequence of the movie,symbolizing the hatred that the black people had for the government of that day which was for whites only.The film contrasts the three different

times of Malcolm X, was a hustler then a prisoner and finally a minister who came to be feared by those who brought into Islam.Not only was he feard within his community but also by the white people( FBI/CIA) to drive a wedge between Malcon X and the Nation of Islam.I guess many people have a problem with this movie as it only potrays the truth as it was in those days.For anyone who knows nothing about the history of the black people around the world, and why black peoplef Africa and Carribeans seem to be behind in every aspect of this life, this movie is an excellent choice

Rating:
Summary: A great, yet underrated, epic
Review: Greetings,
I will write this review from a different angle, trying not to repeat what other reviewers have already strongly stated about Spike Lee's "Malcolm X."
It's a sweeping, briskly told story, always captivating.
And so don't let my small critiques (NOT criticisms) of the movie make you think this movie is not worth purchasing. Anyone who likes historical-based drama, civil rights-themed films, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee films and/or Malcolm X must buy this.
My critiques are small. Spike Lee could have done without the ending connecting Malcolm X's battles for equality, justice and recognition to Nelson Mandela. While it's somewhat poignant, it doesn't quite work as the film's ending. It might have served better as a separate feature from the movie -- maybe in the middle or at the end of the credits.
And my second critique has to do with historical fact (although I know there are many things it altered and overlooked in the name of making a well-flowing movie). Malcolm X died in the arms of Japanese-American civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, not in the arms of his wife, as is shown in the movie. Showing him dying in his wife's arms may have made for a more dramatic, poignant scene, but it's not fact.
But, again, don't let these small critiques turn you away from the film. If its quality could be measured in awards, it would have been the big winner at the typically political, money-based, skewered Academy Awards. Those films the Academy Awards will be forgotten in a matter of years, whereas such films like Malcolm X will still be seen decades from now.

Rating:
Summary: life of a black man
Review: The first time I saw this movie I was fortunate as I had read the book "The Autoboigraphy of Malcom X" by Alex Hailey, on which the movie was based, and fewer people could have translated the book into a movie like Spike Lee did.Mr Lee is one of the few film-makers to burn the American flag on the big screen, in the opening sequence of the movie,symbolizing the hatred that the black people had for the government of that day which was for whites only.The film contrasts the three different

times of Malcolm X, was a hustler then a prisoner and finally a minister who came to be feared by those who brought into Islam.Not only was he feard within his community but also by the white people( FBI/CIA) to drive a wedge between Malcon X and the Nation of Islam.I guess many people have a problem with this movie as it only potrays the truth as it was in those days.For anyone who knows nothing about the history of the black people around the world, and why black peoplef Africa and Carribeans seem to be behind in every aspect of this life, this movie is an excellent choice

Rating:
Summary: A Really Good Film
Review: Spike Lee's presentation of Malcolm X was very successful because the Malcolm's character, played by Denzel Washington, was very beleivable and the storyline was real.

First, Denzel Washington made the character realistic. When he gave speeches throughout the movie, every movement and how his voice sounded made me believe I was actually listening to Malcolm X give a speech. One scene that sticks out is when Denzel played Malcolm giving his "Bamboozled" speech to the people on the streets of Harlem. This scene was excellent.

Also, the story was excellent. Every scene in the movie was well played out, and the most realistic part in the movie was in the end. When they killed X, it was real. It was in front of his family, and he didn't try to fight because he knew that he was going to die soon anyway. I didn't know much about Malcolm X before I watched this movie, and watching this movie gave me a lot of details and made it easy for me to understand how he came to be who he was and why he beleived in what he did.

In conclusion, this movie was really realistic. The actor and story were really well played. I really enjoyed the film.