Do The Right Thing (20th Anniversary Edition)

The temperature isn't the only thing getting hot in this contemporary classic from director Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Crooklyn). Tempers flare, emotions run high, and a white-run pizza parlor in a black Brooklyn neighborhood becomes the center of a violent conflict on a scorching-hot summer day in the filmmaker's (and star's) acclaimed, controversial look at race relations. The amazing cast includes Ruby Dee (American Gangster, A Raisin in the Sun), Ossie Davis (Grumpy Old Men, Doctor Dolittle) Danny Aiello (Moonstruck), Giancarlo Esposito (Ali), John Turturro (She Hate Me) and a blazing film debut by Rosie Perez (White Men Can't Jump). Special features include audio commentary by Lee and his cast, a "making-of" documentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, extended scenes, trailers, and more, all in a 2-disc 20th Anniversary Edition.

 

MoviePlot Description:
Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez). Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

 

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Audio Tracks:
Original Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Closed Captioned: No

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen

Disc 1:

20th anniversary edition feature commentary with director Spike Lee

Feature commentary with director Spike Lee, director of photography Ernest Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas and actor Joie Lee

Do The Right Thing: 20 Years Later - new retrospective documentary with the cast and crew

Deleted & extended scenes - 11 newly discovered scenes cut from the final version of the film

Disc 2:

Behind the scenes - Spike Lee's personal video footage from the set of the film

Making Do The Right Thing - in-depth documentary on the making of the film

Editor Barry Brown - interview with the editor of Do The Right Thing

The riot sequence - storyboard gallery of the climatic riot sequence

Cannes, 1989 - press conference from the 1989 Cannes Film Festival