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| Reviewed by: Chris Burton 20 Oct 2008 American Gangster
| |  Drugs have had an unbelievable effect on America in the last fifty years. Crime is up. Murder is up. Everything's related to drugs. The heroin craze of the 50's, 60's, and 70's is an interesting story to tell. Mobsters in New York, junkies on the street, and Frank Lucas on top of the pyramid. Well, let's not get into how inaccurate this movie is technically. When it comes to history, American Gangster is all over the place. But when it comes to entertainment, this is one of the most exciting films in years.
Denzel Washington is Frank Lucas, the black man who, in the 1960's, went over the head of Cosa Nostra and got his own heroin connection from Southeast Asia. Using connections with a cousin who was living in Hanoi and running a club. He introduces Frank to some men who will sell him hundreds of kilos at wholesale prices. He flies that shit in military coffins all the way back to America, and slings it on the streets of New York. Lucas, having formerly been a bodyguard for Bumpy Johnson, knows how to strike fear into the hearts of men. He murders his way to the top of the food chain, and it also helps that his shit is the best in the city. Pretty soon, he's wholesaling to the Mafia who used to control the empire from the top on down.
Russell Crowe is Ritchie Roberts, a dedicated and honest police officer who happens to also be a womanizer and deadbeat father and ex-husband. When he's not banging his divorce lawyer, he's forcing his partner to turn in 100,000 dollars of drug money. This is a no-no in the department. The wisdom goes that cops who turn in that kind of money turn in other cops who would keep it. Its a very fucked up system of honor and trust among thieves. Roberts gets turned onto the empire of Frank Lucas and his primo heroin. He spends most of his time running into the corrupt cops trying to bleed Lucas dry with bribes. There is to be a showdown.
Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and encoded at 1080p, American Gangster is a truly awesome visual presentation. Its very recent source material, so I was expecting excellence- but it was even better than I thought. Now, much of this film is intentionally washed out and grainy, but that is the wish of the filmmakers and is definitely not a detraction from the video presentation. When the colors do pop, however, they are strong and detailed. One of the final scenes, set in the snowy mountains of somewhere, is truly beautiful and detailed. A direct comparison to the standard dvd release truly shows what high-def can do. An A + for this video, definitely.
Audio is Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround, and its equally spellbinding. Every single second of this film is incredibly immersive. The surrounds are truly non-stop. And when the action kicks in, damn. Bass is incredible. Dynamic range is excellent, and dialogue and music sound crisp and clear. This is a very immersive mix that really takes this movie to the next level. A++ for the audio. |
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Copyright (c) 2007 Rock Star Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved.
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