American Gangster (2007)

Gritty Gangster Epic

Ridley Scott's American Gangster is a gritty portrait of the New York drug underworld in the early 1970's. With great performances by both DenzelWashington as drug kingpin Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as cop Richie Roberts the film takes on both the gangster lifestyle and the currupt police problem of New York.

The film has all the earmarks of an epic. The story written by Steve Zaillian, while a bit long at times, effectively portrays life on the streets at the time period. The camara work by Harris Savides is both gritty and dark.

The disc I viewed was the HD DVD and while presenting a great picture and sound field is not without its problems. Now that HD has fallen to Blu Ray this may just be a passing footnote to the industry. The disc presents both the HD movie and the standard definition extended cut( some 18 minutes of additional scenes). Both versions present an audio commentary by Scott and Zaillian which is very informative. Scott takes on the problems of filmmaking on such an extensive project while Zaillian talks about the writing.

The HD special features include the deleted scenes that were placed back into the extended version and a five minute featurette with the real Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. The problem is that this is all that is included as extras. The standard definition disc have many more additional features that are not included in the more expensive HD package. December 1, 2008

HARLEM + HEROIN + TWO FAMOUS STARS. Does it equal an Academy Award?

American Gangster (2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition)
GANGSTER MOVIES COME IN VIVID SPURTS, like machine - gun fire. In the early '30s, hard guys like James Cagney, Paul Muni and Edward G.Robinson paraded the sick dazzle of Prohibition - era thugs. Forty years later the Corleones ruled, but on the margins were the subgenera of African Americans gangster films: SUPERFLY, BLACK CAESAR and their bloody kin. Beneath the violent fantasies of these films was a historical fact: African American mobsters were seizing power from the Italians, who had run the underworld. AMERICAN GANGSTER, is the real - life microcosm of that story. Frank Lucas (DENZEL WASHINGTON) was a Harlem drug lord who, the Vietnam era, revolutionized the Heroin trade by importing the nasty white stuff directly from Southeast Asia, often in the caskets of U.S.soldiers. As Lucas amassed a $50 million fortune, investigator Richie Roberts (RUSSELL CROWE) pusued him. Their story was told in a magazine article that is the source for this film. Director RIDLEY SCOTT and scriptwriter, STEVEN ZAILLIAN (who last collaborated on HANNIBAL) aren't your standard shoot-em-up types, so they'll be painting Lucas as a prototype of white-collar criminals and, even more crucially, highlighting
the element of race in the heroin business. The Mafia, considered African Americans as its customers, not the rivals. Lucas and the more notorious NICKY BARNES(played by CUBA GOODING Jr.) changed all that. The movie surely has another motive. The three actors and Zaillian, are all Academy Award winners, as is producer, BRIAN GRAZER( for A BEAUTIFUL MIND ), and Scott helmed GLADIATOR to a BEST PICTURE statuette. November 28, 2008

Pretty good movie, great acting

This movie was pretty good, I am not a huge fan of gangster themed movies but I got it because Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe were in it and they always are great to watch. It's a good plot, it is based on a true-story which I really liked. What I enjoyed most were the special features which show the viewer the real story that inspired the movie. If you like crime dramas, or dramas in general than you will most likely enjoy this movie. It is a little on the long side but it's worth the time. November 18, 2008

Two Great Actors Elevate This Scarface-Like Story

The best thing this movie had going for it - which is no surprise - is the acting duo of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. How many bad movies do you see with either of those guys starring in them? Not many, and neither actor disappoints here. Both play fascinating guys, Washington, a big gangster ("Frank Lucas") and Crowe, an honest cop ("Richie Roberts")

This movie reminded me a lot of the '83 "Scarface" film in which Tony Montana (Al Pacino) rises from the bottom up to be a big drug lord, only to have things crumble big-time. We see a similar tale here with "Lucas," except that his fall is sudden in this stor.

Director Ridley Scott and photographer Harris Savides also give us a slick- looking film, very pretty spots and stylishly-directed. The story wasn't quite as good as the "hype," but I was never bored despite the two- and-a-half-hour length of it. I was a bit confused in the first 25 minutes but things straightened out after that.

It was entertaining enough for me that I'd watch it again.
November 17, 2008

Blu Ray American Gangster

I had rented this in plain DVD (best I could get from Netflix after waiting over a month). My wife liked it so much bought it in Blu Ray. Fairly gruesome but fantastic actors make it well worthwhile.. (And entertaining) November 16, 2008

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