An intricately woven account of drug trafficking and police corruption in Harlem in the early 1970s.
American Gangster (2007)
Runtime: 2 hrs 37 mins
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Carla Gugino
Screenwriter: Steve Zallian
Producer: Brian Grazer, Ridley Scott
Composer: Marc Streitenfeld
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 2, 2009
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Disc 1: AMERICAN GANSTER: Unrated Extended
- Feature 1: AMERICAN GANGSTER - 2 Hours 38 Minutes
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
- Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - Ridley Scott - Director; Steven Zaillian - Writer
- Feature 2: AMERICAN GANGSTER - 2 Hours 57 Minutes
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
- Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - Ridley Scott - Director; Steven Zaillian - Writer
- Disc 2: Bonus Disc
- Alternate Opening
- Deleted Scenes
- Featurette - 1. Case Files: Script Meeting
- 2. Case Files: Heroin Test Show & Tell
- 3. Case Files: Setting Up the Takedown
- 4. Frank and Eva's Wedding
- Making of - 1. Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - Tru-Blu: The Real Story
- 2. Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - Killer Threads: Costumes
- 3. Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - Crime War: Production
- 4. Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - Into the Arena: Ali vs. Frazier
- 5. Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - Rhythm of the Street: Sound, Music and Editing
- Featurette - 1. Case Files: Script Meeting
- 2. Case Files: Heroin Test Show & Tell
- 3. Case Files: Setting Up the Takedown
Reviews
Ridley Scott's American Gangster offers both belated history-lesson and demented hero-worship, and seems to be intended as a kind of gift to black America. One hopes that black America will have nothing to do with it.
Scott is something of a romantic at heart. His film is nowhere near as jaded or as hard-bitten as the '70s films such as The French Connection or Serpico that it hopes to echo.
Here's a startlingly original true-life story told in an oddly unoriginal way. And that attempt at instant classic status in the title doesn't quite convince. It's got no more dark grandeur than American Idol.
Sharp, observant and true to the period, the film-making is, on the whole, less determined to show its virtuosity than in Scott's other work.
Length does not add substance to the drama, even where reality adds weight to the argument.
A cocksure upstart that has swaggered onto the scene, confident that it can take its place at the table with the big boys.
American Gangster tells a fascinating story with impeccable production design and two powerhouse performances, but Ridley Scott is no Scorsese and the film never really comes together.
An entertaining romp through familiar cop-and-crim cat-and-mousery, bolstered by strong star turns from Washington and Crowe. Still, it has neither the intelligence nor the grip to jump from the merely good to the truly great.
Scott’s best film since Gladiator is a classy cops ’n robbers thriller where the latter outclasses the former. Crowe tries to redress the imbalance with a committed performance, but you can tell he knows it’s Washington’s movie.
Like much of his oeuvre, Scott’s scaled-up movie is bigger than life – and lesser for it. But while never digging deeply or darkly enough to match its own grand vision of itself, slick technique drives the story forward with pace and style.
Impeccable production design and searing performances. But the tale unfolds in a superficial way that makes it impossible to care about what might happen.
Telling a true story doesn't excuse a filmmaker from making his movie stand out from the many others that have traversed similar ground.
It feels familiar, even Washington's performance of real-life Frank Lucas feels like something we've seen before.
Inflated talk of American Gangster as a modern masterpiece--or even an Oscar-worthy picture--ignores the fact that there's not a single memorable setpiece in the film.
Best of all, there are top-flight performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe who create interesting, rounded characters out of potential clichés.
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