Get on the Bus (1996)

Better the second time around

The first time I saw this movie , I wasn't impressed with it. It seemed boring and pointless. Then I watched again with friends and got the message behind it. Spike Lee has made a great male bonding film that everyone should see no matter what color you are. April 8, 2008

A GREAT BUS ADVENTURE!!!!

THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD MOVIE. I THINK THAT THIS MOVIE IS WAS PRETTY GOOD. I ENJOYED IT. CHARLES S. DUTTON AND AN ALL- STAR CAST GET ON THE BUS TO GO ON TO THE MILLION MAN MARCH IT IS A GREAT ADVENTURE AND A THRILLNG BUS RIDE. THIS IS A BUS RIDE WHERE PEOPLE DISPLAY THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AND LET EVERYTHING AMD EVERYONE HAS TRIBLUATIONS ALONG THE WAY BUT IN THE END ARE VERY HAPPY TO MAKE IT TO THE MARCH!!!! January 16, 2006

Spike Lee at his best and worst...

His best: social journalism. Nobody brings perennially pressing issues to the screen as consistently and vitally as Spike Lee---love or hate his films as you may, there's no argument that he does a superb job of provoking debate and reflection. Here it's Lee's two favorite topics, racial history/injustice/relations and (less prominently but still significant) gender/sexual issues...treated with a vast amount of humor and often insight.

His worst: at times some of his films implode when Lee gets on his soapbox and goes too heavy-handed---the Message blots out the Movie. This happens towards the last one-third, with the last 10 minutes especially preachy and contrived. The film craft breaks down, characters and dialogue that before had been pretty much spot-on suddenly verge into labored allegory and caricature.

It's like Lee drew up a laundry list of Pressing Societal Problems (brings to mind Larwence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon") and tried to allot 5-10 minutes for each one. Sometimes he does so with grace and wit, but sometimes he stumbles into glibness and stereotyping.

I was a little disappointed that Lee didn't show more of the actual Million Man march, maybe explore the controversial Louis Farrakhan a little bit more deeply. I was however pleasantly surprisd that Lee does take a fairly mature, gutsy stand on homosexuality and homophobia absent in some of his earlier films.

Had Lee made this film more as a straight (or pointed) documentary rather than trying to turn it into a heavy-handed inspirational treatise, I'd gladly give it 5 plus stars. Even in its current form it's well worth watching. April 27, 2004

One of my favz - Great actors makes it a wonderful film

This is according to me a very good film, it's actually one of my fav's.
What makes it so good is the feeling u get from watching the movie, U feel that u are a passenger on the bus observing the others.
There are some great performances in this movie unlike Spike Lee's HE GOT GAME that had a player in the NBA in the lead and pretty much everybody except for DENZEL & Hill Harper didn't know how to act.

Great performances from GABRIEL CASSEUS, HILL HARPER, OSSIE DAVIS and the rest of the cast. March 30, 2004

A thoughtful film

Get on the Bus is one of Lee's best works. Poignant, funny and introspective, it tells the tale of various black men from various walks of life; a father and his estranged, angst-ridden son, a gay couple, an arrogant actor, an ex-Crip turned Muslim, a half white cop and Ossie Davis as the "spiritual grandfather/moderator" type. They travel from California to DC for the Million Man March, and along the way come to terms with prejudice and hatred they have felt without as well as within.

Some may criticize the "stereotypical" treatment of the white characters, but this may be a bit much. The Jewish Bus driver is an honorable character, and in a scene with him and Charles Dutton, director Lee let's him speak his side of the story "OK, I may have some problems with blacks....but no more worse than the problems you have with whites. I don't have anything to prove to these guys". Randy Quade's redneck cop may have been over the top, but suffice to say, there are people in parts of America who still treat people that way.

Overall, I think this film is definitely Lee's most underrated work. March 9, 2004

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