Review of American History X

Introduction

American History X has received acclaim from a number of sources despite the film’s difficult subject matter and brutality. Starring Edward Norton (Fight Club) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), the movie is a no-holds-barred look at the life of a white-supremacist (Norton) who whilst is prison realises the stupidity of his beliefs and tries stop his brother (Furlong) from following in his footsteps. The film is told through the eyes of Furlong, who has to write an assignment on his brother’s life for his headmaster...

Video

The video is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and is of a good standard throughout the movie. The image is sharp, detailed and doesn’t display any sign of dirt or grain. Furlong’s flashbacks are presented in black and white, giving them even more impact.

Visually, the film is excellent and contains numerous unforgettable scenes, the assault on the convenience store being one, Norton’s murder of three black youths robbing his car being another (and believe me, you won’t forget this in a hurry, it’s exceptionally brutal).

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is, like the video, of a high standard.

The film is mainly dialogue based, and all of it is clear and easy to understand throughout the film. Good use is also made of effects, but the emphasis here is on visuals and dialogue.

Features

Extras include deleted scenes, the trailer and cast and crew information – none of which is especially interesting.

The disc is packaged in the usual Entertainment in Video white Amaray case which contains the usual exceptionally irritating fold-out insert showing the chapter breaks with lots of adverts!

Conclusion

Overall, this is a good film, which takes the difficult subject matter and handles quite well. Anyone who finds violence and racism offensive had better think twice however, as the movie doesn’t pull any punches.

The strong script is backed up by superb performances, with Norton particularly good, firstly as supremacist nutter, then through his difficult years in prison and finally as a changed man on release. Furlong is also very good, although he definitely doesn’t suit the cropped hair!

The disc is well presented with good visuals and sound alongside some basic extras.