Stream it now Do the Right Thing 1989

 

The whimsical style and highly animated characters really threw me off, didn't expect this at all from Lee. The character interaction and dialogue are the driving force here, and they deliver. The cinematography is extremely vibrant. The acting performances are quality.

I first saw this movie in 1990 and never forgot it.This movie definitely leaves an impact on you after watching it.Spike Lee told some real home truths about racism in a brutal way.If anything it showed the ignorance and hate in different races but it also showed the goodness and kindness in different races.The film depicted the racial tensions perfectly. As serious as the message was it still had moments of humour to lighten the audience up.The sound track was also stunning and it conveyed the feeling of a hot Summer day in New York perfectly.(By the way i have never been to New York so that shows you just how well the movie got the feeling of a hot Summer day in that city over to the audience.)This is one of the great movies of not just the eighties but also the last two decades.I loved it.

The best movie about racial tension ever made. Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing is easily his crowning achievement, it's also a film to be studied. I've always liked this film, only it's seems with time, I enjoy it even more. Some people miss the point or message here, which is understandable. The theme is in the title, not in the main characters of the film. Learn from other peoples mistakes, also this movie displays that racial conflict will always be here.

We just need to learn how to treat people of a different color with same respect as ourselves. Maybe we shouldn't use color of one's skin, for a reason to hate them even more. Do the right thing, the message is that easy, though it might be harder to live by, but we can only try.

Spike Lee offers up his first impact movie with this slow burning drama about race. The movie is full of colorful characters and the film has that intense summertime tension of some older films like Too Kill a Mockingbird. Danny Aiello is great as the pizzeria owner trying to balance out the tension while trying to harbor his own racial tendencies. The film really takes off when all the tension becomes too much to bare and the characters let loose of all the built up anger they have. It's a real treat to watch.

Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" is a simmering film which centers itself on the subject of racism and subsequent violence that sprouts from it. With his dead on approach, the film can be easily misinterpreted as one that campaigns for racism. It could have appeared to have taken sides with any one particular ethnicity but Lee effectively keeps it from going astray.

Although very compelling, it bombards you with such dark, disturbing themes and facts without giving you enough time to digest them. It differentiates itself from other films which deal with the same subject, by concentrating on racism and its effects in a small neighbourhood rather than on a political front. It has no message, questions or answers on the subject but fiercly confronts it, displaying it boldly without diluting it with even a drop of humanity.

No plot exists, it doesn't entertain but it is the kind of movie that radiates with brilliance, purely on artistic grounds. This being the fifth Spike Lee film that I've seen after 25th hour, Inside man, He got game and Malcolm X, I realize that there exist genuine trademarks in his films which initially, I disregarded as references to his other films. He is one of the few directors of today with a truly distinctive voice as a film maker.

Lee had a clear-cut vision of the character, Sal and was insistent on casting Robert De Niro. This is evident when Danny Aiello flawlessly portrays Sal with mannerisms similiar to De Niro's Jimmy Conway, Sam Rothstein and Nick Wells.

Definitely a great film, the best movie of 1989 and one of the best movies on racism on par with American History X.

Controversial. This is the one word that perfectly describes everything about this movie. The director? Controversial. The subject? Controversial. The movie? Controversial. Spike Lee is one of the better directors of the modern era, and definitely the most outspoken. Almost all of his movies have to do with being black and almost always have black stars. Do the Right Thing is like this, and it is Spike Lee's masterpiece. Everything he tries to accomplish with his movies, is done perfectly in Do the Right Thing.

Do the Right Thing has been honored all over the world as a fantastic film. It was nominated for the Palm D'Or at Cannes, two Academy Awards, 4 Golden Globes, and was honored at Number 96 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies prestigious list. It is considered a classic in most people's minds, and in mine as well. Everything is done right in Do the Right Thing. It is everything that Spike Lee has ever tried to accomplish with a film, and is everything he will ever accomplish with a film. Honestly, I would have retired after making such a good movie.

I don't think there is one thing that you could say about this film. So, I won't. Here's why this movie is so good. First off, Spike Lee. The script he provides is very insightful and perfectly portrays a hot summer day in Bed-Stuy, New York. This is one of the best summer movies of all time. The script translates perfectly onto the silver screen, because Lee takes the helm at director. Lee wrote the script in a short two weeks, so you had to know this was either a disaster or a masterpiece. Spike Lee gives so much insight into the lives of this racially diverse neighborhood. Some people think he is a racist and all about Black Power, but he shows how racism does no good, and repeatedly uses the symbol of the Public Enemy song, "Fight The Power". The song appears 15 times in the film and is the central point Do the Right Thing is trying to make.

Do the Right Thing is all about a hot summer day in Bed-Stuy. There really is no central plot in it. Mookie, portrayed by Spike Lee, is a pizza delivery man who delivers the pizza throughout his community on foot. As he delivers, you get to see all these different people and their lives. The racial tension between all these people slowly starts to grow, until it ultimately escalates into riots and death. It uses political allusions to the infamous Howard Beach Incident and the Tawana Brawl. The production design is a small detail, that made a difference. It showed how much Lee cared. He filmed completely in Bed-Stuy for authenticity, and the production design was all red and orange, to emphasize how hot the day was. It also symbolized the anger filled in everyone and foreshadowed how this movie was going to end.

The decision for Lee to star, direct, and write was great. For some, it doesn't transition well. For Lee, it works. He has this vision for Do the Right Thing, and for him to be doing everything, elevates this film to classics level. The acting all around was fantastic. Lee does good, and Danny Aiello really steals the show. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won several awards at different, smaller awards. The rest of the ensemble cast including Rosie Perez, Ossie Davis, John Turturro, and Giancarlo Esposito are great and add all there energy into Do the Right Thing. The effort of everyone on the staff of this movie was 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.

Do the Right Thing is viewed as a classic in my mind. Why? To put it in a sentence, it gives an intriguing insight into not only Bed-Stuy, but all racially charged communities in America. It shows how stupid it is and not only entertains, but successfully proves its point and teaches us something worth knowing.

This shows the other side of racism. makes yopu think that its no good from any shide it shows. This is a movie to enjoy. Its slow but enjoyable. Great cast

Masterpiece, magnum opus, and tour-de-force; these are the kinds of words used to describe DO THE RIGHT THING.

No movie that I've ever seen has ever more realistically described the urban jungle- the people and the lives they live every day. For me and many suburbanites, the world of Spike Lee is an alien landscape. It's a place we see occasionally on the news- a huge drug bust, perhaps, has taken place. But that doesn't give you any of the flavor of street life, which is the biggest boon of Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING.

VERDICT:
8/10 Ghetto Blasters

I'm not really sure how I feel about Spike Lee. Wasn't crazy about him talking smack about Clint Eastwood over the whole "There's no Black people in Flags of Our Fathers" thing and his movies can be pretty hit or miss.

But if there's a Spike Lee joint worth pointing out, it's this one.

- Read the rest of my review at ctcmr.com -

I've seen many movies depicting the tragedies of racism in society, but Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing is by far the best out of all of them. The movie takes place on one hot summer day filled with situations of racism and stereotypes between the black people and Sal who owns a pizza place. Mookie is the main character who gets caught up in all of this. Eventually, these tensions push much further leading to a tragic event that leaves Mookie with the choice of which side to take, and in which questions the viewer if he does the right thing or not. The movie is based on the morals and tragic values of racism spoken by Martin Luther and Malcolm X, and I believe Spike Lee succeeded in representing these values very well with the story on screen. A powerful film that is highly recommended.