Do the Right Thing (1989) (20th Anniversary Edition)

[KB24SD]

I ordered this movie from amazon on the 4th of July and it shipped on the 5th.
My order says that I should be getting it tommrow. That's how long it takes since I am currently working over seas right now in Germany.

Can wait to watch this movie on blu-ray .

[JamesHale]

The review is spot on with 4.5, but I'd almost give the video quality a 5. To me, it looks SO good. I own 480 blu-rays and would have to say this one is in the top 3 or 4. Never looked better!

Highly recommend the blu-ray for this masterpiece!

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by JamesHale

The review is spot on with 4.5, but I'd almost give the video quality a 5. To me, it looks SO good.

I guess they didn't give it a perfect 5 not because of the quality of the picture, but the fact that its orange tint isn't prominent enough. Some people are pretty upset about this. I know that Spike Lee filmed the 20th reunion extra for the Blu Ray so he has been involved in the production of the Blu Ray. If he was upset about the picture not being orange enough, he surely would've protested. For me, there is only ONE split-scene, one tiny piece of the movie where I find that the orange tint could've been more prominent: The very first shots of Radio Raheem. In the audio commentary, it is mentioned how it was a cloudy day when this was shot yet they managed to camouflage it by having this orange tint. But on the blu ray, you can clearly see that it is a cloudy day in that scene. This is the one place where I wish that the orange tint would've been stronger. Otherwise, I find the orange tint to be strong enough throughout the rest of the movie. Maybe it's not strong enough for other people, but for me it certainly is. Eitherway, I would MUCH rather have the picture quality as it is than it being more orange but with the usual Universal trademarks of DNR and EE.

In my opinion, this movie has the best picture quality of ANY Universal Blu Ray release I've seen. That might not be saying much considering that Universal has the worst rep of all studios when it comes to the picture quality of their Blu Ray releases, but the picture quality for Do The Right Thing really is great no matter what Blu Ray you compare it to. I would also like to mention that of all my Blu Rays, I would give this DTRT Blu Ray the highest grade for the extras. An insane amount of extras fitted on a single disc next to a great picture quality of the movie with a great bit rate. And a nice blend of 480i and HD extras, including the deleted scenes being in 1080p. Overall, for me it's the best Blu Ray I have after Taxi Driver.

Also, I don't think that this will get a Criterion release. If it was a barebones release, then maybe. But the fact that this is the 20th anniversary edition where they've included all the extras from the Criterion release plus new exclusive extras strongly indicates that Universal won't share this one with Criterion. Besides, hasn't the Criterion DVD been out of print for a long time now and is hard to find?

[William H Pratt]

What is the difference between this BD re-release & the 2009 BD release,which I already own?


PS: Seems the re-release version is not Region Free as was the 2009 release. What else??

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by rocks off

So did Criterion lose the rights to publish this one or something? I've never actually seen the physical Criterion disc on store shelves (I rented it) so I assumed it was an older release that went out of print. I really wish they would do a proper release of this. I usually don't mind slight changes to picture but this one seems insane to me.

Universal's Blu-Ray is Ernest Dickerson-approved, and it has all but one of the Criterion extras. You're never going to get anything better on Blu-Ray -- if you really prefer the old look, then you need to just get the old DVD.

[Narcissus]

What, No Jordan IV Blu Ray Pack?

[jag2007]

Love this movie. Where is Mo Betta Blues, that and this are my favorite Spike Lee flicks.

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by William H Pratt

What is the difference between this BD re-release & the 2009 BD release,which I already own?

PS: Seems the re-release version is not Region Free as was the 2009 release. What else??

I second the query. But I suspect it is simply a re-packaging, part of U's 100th anni celebration.

[thebluemax]

"Malcolm X" is my favorite Spike Lee film, followed by "Do the Right.." and "25th Hour"- where in the hell is this movie on Blu-ray???

[JetsFoo]

Originally Posted by Narcissus

What, No Jordan IV Blu Ray Pack?

sup bro do you collect jordans or sneakers in general!?!?

[bootsy]

Originally Posted by thebluemax

"Malcolm X" is my favorite Spike Lee film, followed by "Do the Right.." and "25th Hour"- where in the hell is this movie on Blu-ray???

I second this. Awesome movie.

[bullets]

I picked this up as a blind buy from Target with the 100 year universal slipcover. I enjoyed it , especially scenes with Rosie Perez ...

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by thebluemax

"Malcolm X" is my favorite Spike Lee film, followed by "Do the Right.." and "25th Hour"- where in the hell is this movie on Blu-ray???

Clockers is by far the best Spike Lee joint.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Gremal

Clockers is by far the best Spike Lee joint.

Um, no. No way even close. MALCOLM X and DO THE RIGHT THING tower over CLOCKERS and they aren't the only Spike Lee joints that do.

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

Um, no. No way even close. MALCOLM X and DO THE RIGHT THING tower over CLOCKERS and they aren't the only Spike Lee joints that do.

They're all good, but Mo Better Blues might be the cream of the crop. That film nails it across the board.

[retablo]

Personally, Do The Right Thing is the only film Spike's ever hit out of the park. Too often, his lack of storytelling ability becomes apparent in favor of trying to impress with the camera... malcolm X was an obvious attempt to do his own "JFK", but it didn't need to be 3 hours. 25th Hour is probably my 2nd favorite, but everything else I can live without. After he was reduced to substandard fare like Girl 6 and that forgettable WW2 movie he made just because Clint Eastwood didn't have any black soldiers in Flags of Our Fathers, he became irrelevant. Maybe he should stop playing the race card already and stick to making movies, not agendas.

It's just a shame the blu-ray of Do The Right Thing is altered from the original version. Removing the yellow filter takes it from the hottest day of the year to a nice Spring afternoon. People say Dickerson approved the master, but he also approved the Criterion master with the filter, as well as the original theatrical print with the filter.

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by popeflick

They're all good, but Mo Better Blues might be the cream of the crop. That film nails it across the board.

Mo' Better Blues is my favorite , but Do The Right Thing is his definitive classic.

She's Gotta Have It
School Daze
Jungle Fever
Malcolm X
He Got Game
Bamboozled

deserve the BD treatment.

Girl 6
Crooklyn
Clockers
Summer of Sam(which i do own)

i wont cry if these dont get BD

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by retablo

Maybe he should stop playing the race card already and stick to making movies, not agendas.

Inside Man is playing the race card?

Its funny how folks continue to perceive him as the "threatening" Black director decades after Malcolm X.

And because he features Black folks in his movies he has an agenda yet other directors dont?

Nonsense.

[PK22]

Originally Posted by redtornado

Thank god this movie pointed out how evil white people are.

I disagree. While Pino is a horrible racist white guy, there are plenty of horrible racist black guys in the film too. But notice the racism is never glorified, it's shown to be ugly and that it ultimately ruins lives. The people in the film who aren't racist are arguably the happiest ones.

[malakaheso]

So did Spike Lee or Dickerson actually approve the transfer, or were they just shown the film after it was done? Spike Lee doesn't mention anything about the changes to the picture in his commentary.

I would have liked to have seen a cleaned up version of this film with the orange tint intact. It is true that the tint perhaps seemed too overbearing on previous dvd versions at times, but in HD it wouldn't have obscured important details if balanced correctly.

Either way, the film itself has definitely stood the time, and Universal's transfer, while not faithful to the original intentions of the film maker, is better than others I've seen from them.