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Whistle Stopper - Do the Right Thing
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $6.99
Your Save: $ 12.99 ( 65% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Danny Aiello, Rick Aiello, Paul Benjamin, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783227948
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 0783227949
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 1998-07-22
Running Time: 120
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1989-06-30
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Summer in the city
Comment: Director Spike Lee wastes no time turning up the heat in this provocative allegorical dramedy about race relations in America, filtered through a day in the life of Brooklyn's multi-ethnic Bed-Stuy neighborhood. From the opening credits, which literally explode onto the screen with a muy caliente Rosie Perez busting some serious moves to the strains of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power", to the jaw-dropping climax, this is one of those rare films that manages to engage mind, body and soul all at once. One of the few films on the subject that is not afraid to admit to and confront the fact that bigotry comes in all colors. I think it remains his finest work to date. The cast includes Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro and Giancarlo Esposito. Criterion-what took you guys so long?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Shockingly overrated
Comment: The entire world loves this movie for reasons I have yet to comprehend. There is not one single likable character to be found in this picture, least of all the main character, whom Spike Lee presents as a saint for inciting a race riot. Not coincidentally, Mookie is played (badly) by Lee himself.
What Lee has constructed is a fantasy playground for himself. As his body of work shows, he's primarily interested in the lives of black Americans. His vision, however, often manifests itself as immature and highly unrealistic. For instance, not only does Mookie get to dramatically kick off the race riot (by throwing a garbage can through a window), he also gets to come back and hobnob with the proprietor of the destroyed pizzeria. Oh, and he gets to keep the money Sal owes him, plus more if he wants it.
Go ahead and rate my review as unhelpful if you want, but in my opinion this movie, like so many other made by Lee, presents his wet dream of race relations: Blacks, whites, and other minorities are equally stereotypical and horrible, but blacks are at least cool, which allows them to commit outrageous acts of destruction and get away with it. What an awful message; what an awful movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A beautiful movie, by the genius of our time.
Comment: Do the right thing is amazing!!! As we all know it is the tale of race relations in America, set in Brooklyn in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. This movie glows as it shows the racial tension that still goes on today. Lee shows that as diverse as America is, instead of diplomatically talking out our differences, we fear what we do not understand and as minorities fight ourselves, while (some) of the racist majority laugh as they like to see our downfall. It is downright dazzling that Spike Lee can show culture whether black, Italian, Chinese, and white in a fun perspective when talking about race. The day like this one has happened in communities across America racial tension and all and it is about time that somebody said documented it. This being stated a common point is often missed in the film when Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Who did the right thing? They and the black characters both did. By buggin' out boycotting Sal's Pizzeria for selling pizza to African Americans in their community, and not acknowledging them (pictures on the wall), he represents Martin Luther King. MLK boycotted to make a difference and when inspiring leadership he found it hard to get followers in some states (like buggin out did). When they burned down the shop as a act of revolution for killing radio rahiem it was Malcolm X, not to say that Malcolm was violent, he was nonviolent, and peaceful man who believed in self defense, however, he said that revolution is violent and that is what happened. In the end Spike Lee communicated how a man lost his shop and another man lost his life becuase we did not, and still at times are not working together to solve our problems. Spike Lee is the last classic director we have in illustrating what America tries to hide, and challenges us to change it!!!!
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Summary: Film Masterpiece
Comment: This is still Spike Lee's greatest film and a powerhouse. I have a personal favorite but I like this one very much. A hot Brooklyn day, a pizza place, a black neighborhood and an Italian pizza parlor combine together in a violent night. It creates strong emotions and one can really identify with the people living in this neighborhood. Spike Lee is great in his films and should consider acting more often. Very moving and will stay with you long after. I've seen it several times and the impact is the same as it was when it was initially released. It's sad that nothing has changed all that much and may have gotten worse in spots. New York City is better but other cities have fallen behind.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Spike Lee's Best Film
Comment: A must see for any movie buff, or culture warrior. Spike Lee does it again in DTRT. A true representation of racial lines, and racial divides done in a way that will have you laughing and angry. Bravo Spike Lee, Bravo.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Spike Lee's incendiary look at race relations in America, circa 1989, is so colorful and exuberant for its first three-quarters that you can almost forget the terrible confrontation that the movie inexorably builds toward. Do the Right Thing is a joyful, tumultuous masterpiece--maybe the best film ever made about race in America, revealing racial prejudices and stereotypes in all their guises and demonstrating how a deadly riot can erupt out of a series of small misunderstandings. Set on one block in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the hottest day of the summer, the movie shows the whole spectrum of life in this neighborhood and then leaves it up to us to decide if, in the end, anybody actually does the "right thing." Featuring Danny Aiello as Sal, the pizza parlor owner; Lee himself as Mookie, the lazy pizza-delivery guy; John Turturro and Richard Edson as Sal's sons; Lee's sister Joie as Mookie's sister Jade; Rosie Perez as Mookie's girlfriend Tina; Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee as the block elders, Da Mayor and Mother Sister; Giancarlo Esposito as Mookie's hot-headed friend Buggin' Out; Bill Nunn as the boom-box toting Radio Raheem; and Samuel L. Jackson as deejay Mister Señor Love Daddy. A rich and nuanced film to watch, treasure, and learn from--over and over again. --Jim Emerson
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