American History X
Dug was telling me all about American History X and how great a film it was. I had already seen a few reviews and I must say that it didn’t sound like the kind of film that would appeal to me. So after all the praise that Dug gave it I thought I would give it a try and I’m very glad that I did. This is an extremely powerful and thought provoking film.
Dug was telling me all about American History X and how great a film it was. I had already seen a few reviews and I must say that it didn’t sound like the kind of film that would appeal to me. So after all the praise that Dug gave it I thought I would give it a try and I’m very glad that I did. This is an extremely powerful and thought provoking film.
Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) was a Neo-Nazi who during a long stay in Prison realises the error of his previous ways and ideals. He'd been led into this way of life by the White Supremacist Cameron Alexander (Stacey Keach), who prays upon the insecurities and frustrations of the youth of Venice Beach in order to mould them into his way of thinking. Dereks Mentor while he is in prison is Bob Sweeney (Avery Brooks) a black teacher from his old school.
When Derek gets out of Prison he realises that his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) has become involved in the Neo-Nazi movement and Derek desperately tries to prevent his brother from making the same terrible mistakes that he did before it’s too late. The film switches regularly between the present day and the past story of Dereks Prison time, with present day in colour and the past in Black and White.
As I’ve mentioned already this is an extremely powerful story and is carried further by the excellent performances of all the cast especially Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. The story kept me gripped throughout and at no point did I find my interest draining. Some of the more violent scenes are pretty gruesome with one in particular making me turn away from the screen (When you see it you’ll know what I mean).
Picture quality is very good with no sign of colour bleeding, artifacts etc. The black and white scenes come through very well. Sound quality is very good as well, the film is heavily dialogue based but when the surround channels are needed they are used well.
The extras on the disk are some deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer and some cast & crew bios. The best extra here is the deleted scenes, one of these is over 5 minutes long and is well worth watching.
As you've probably realised by now I can highly recommend this film. If your looking for an intensive and moving experience then this is just what the doctor ordered. My only complaint about the disk is the disappointing list of extras, a commentary track or background feature would have been nice here.
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