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American History X (1998)


DVD Cover
Five out of Five

Movie

Rating: R (graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity)
Length: 119 minutes

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Audio

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

Captions

None

Purchase

Plot

This movie looks at racism through the eyes of two brothers, Derek (Norton) and Danny (Furlong) Vinyard. After their father’s death, Derek becomes involved with and then a leader of a local skinhead group. He is sent to jail after killing two blacks that tried to steal his truck (one murder is quite gruesome). You watch as Derek’s perspectives slowly change as he spends time in prison and how he tries to change things upon his release.

Pros

Will someone please explain to me how Ed Norton did not win the Best Actor Academy Award that year? The range of emotions he pulled off was incredible; I loved the look of pure evil/pride on his face when he was arrested.

Another nice touch was how they chose to use colors; flashbacks were done in Black & W, current reality was done in color.

Cons

Some people will complain that this movie is too violent; a G/PG rated movie simply wouldn't get the message across.

Extras

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Biographies
  • Filmographies
  • Theatrical Trailer

Recommendation

Every teenager should have to watch this movie prior to attending High School. An extremely powerful message delivered by a strong script and some very fine actors.

Director

Actors

Fairuza Balk - Stacey
[Almost Famous, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)]
Avery Brooks - Dr. Bob Sweeney
[15 Minutes, Star Trek DS9]
Joseph Cortese - Rasmussen
Beverly D'Angelo - Doris Vinyard
[Christmas Vacation, European Vacation, Vacation]
Edward Furlong - Danny Vinyard
[The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Terminator 2: Judgment Day]
Elliott Gould - Murray
[A Bridge Too Far, Bugsy, MASH, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve]
Stacy Keach - Cameron Alexander
[Escape From L.A.]
Jennifer Lien - Davina Vinyard
Antonio David Lyons - Lawrence
[Hotel Rwanda]
Edward Norton - Derek Vinyard
[The 25th Hour, Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, The Italian Job (2003), Kingdom of Heaven, Primal Fear, Red Dragon, The Score]
William Russ - Dennis Vinyard
Ethan Suplee - Seth Ryan
[Blow, Cold Mountain, Evolution, Mallrats, Road Trip]
Jason Bose Smith - Little Henry
Alex Sol - Mitch McCormick
Guy Torry - Lamont

Links

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