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| American Gangster (2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $4.96
You Save: $25.02 (83%)
New (86) Used (97) from $3.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  189 reviews
Sales Rank: 790
Format: Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 174
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 61032280
UPC: 025193228024
EAN: 0025193228024
ASIN: B0011HOEY4
Theatrical Release Date: November 2, 2007
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new; still in shrink wrap!!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Over-hyped, Tedious Mess March 6, 2008
13 out of 20 found this review helpful
The mere thought of an EXTENDED version of "American Gangster" makes me want to run. Why would a movie viewer subject themselves to adding more tediousness to an already tedious film? As with any Denzel movie, the acting is great, but... the story is really, really unfocused. Yes, it's based on a true story, but movies and books are supposed to tell a coherent, focused tale, and "American Gangster" very simply doesn't.
Plot threads are built up, but never pay off. Many scenes seem pointless and nearly every single one seems over-long. Also, it appears that every other scene of the film could be titled "Frank Lucas (Denzel) does a gangster thing to shock you." It's just that. Furthermore, the scary thing about that is that when I saw this movie in the theatre, the audience cheered every time he shot someone or set someone on fire. That's more of a fault of our society than the movie, though the latter does seem to glorify Frank Lucas and put him in a very morally ambiguous area. The fact that most people took scenes that were likely put in to be shocking and disgusting as "cool" left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Again, though... my distaste paled in comparison to my boredom. Could it have BEEN any longer?
I can't believe this dreck was made by the same man behind Blade Runner and, one of my favorite movies, Gladiator. I would never, never watch this again, nor could I recommend it to any serious film fan.
2/10
Seemed like a formula flick even though it was a true story March 8, 2008
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
I wanted to see this film because there was a lot of buzz about it and because I like gangster films. However, I never read much about it first, and therefore didn't realize that it was based on a true story which happened in the 1970s. I saw it simply as another Hollywood formula flick with Denzel Washington cast as the drug kingpin and Russell Crowe cast as the honest cop who brings him down. That said, I relaxed and enjoyed the film, but I must say that I laughed out loud often because of what seemed like a very contrived plot. For example, the cop character turns in a million dollars in unmarked bills making him hated by other cops and therefore incorruptible. And the African American drug kingpin from the South buys a house for his mama. Denzel Washington plays it cool, so cool in fact that he seems unreal, especially in the scenes where he goes to Southeast Asia to buy drugs from the source. He is always dapper and in control of all emotions. His role called for little if any subtleties. Russell Crowe, on the other hand, had a more difficult role to play. His character was always full of self doubt. In spite of that, or perhaps because of that, it became a mission for him to arrest Denzel Washington. How it all plays out makes a fast, well paced film, which held my interest throughout.
It was only at the end of the film that I realized that the story was real, and then I went flying to the internet to learn more background. This gives the film a different context and I appreciated it more. But I just can't help remember how funny some of the stereotypes were.
Recommended for some light entertainment, but American Gangster doesn't even get on the playing field when compared with a show like the Sopranos.
3.5-Ridley Scott--is not a rip-off; it's an homage to every wise-guy classic to touch the screen January 4, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I like this movie for what it's worth. We're treated to either side of mobster film, both unlawful and law enforcement; "American Gangster" plays like an assortment of 'Scarface' (there's a ruthless low hit-man becoming a drug emperor), 'The Godfather' (a calm, respectful, business like man rules over his mafia empire), 'The French Connection' (undercover cops go pursuing cryptic criminals in America, who do business in foreign lands), 'The Untouchables' (incorruptible good cop selects hand-picked team of cops he trusts to bring down notorious gangland leader), and you know all the rest. It's an intriguing, entertaining, and entrancing crime story. "American Gangster" is a solid mob movie. It's amazing watching this film and realizing how long he went unnoticed and unsuspected by the NYPD.
Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington hand in non-surprising solid performances and Ridley Scott directs the story tastefully, although it could have used a bit more speed. You find yourself looking at your watch a couple of times. Where Scorsese and even De Palma have directed overlong gangster movies that keep you on the edge of your seat from the first minute to the last, Scott made this one as unagitated as most of his great movies ("Alien", "Blade Runner", "Gladiatior") - and apparently people like him for it, so maybe it's just me who's got a problem with that.
Personally, I didn't feel connected enough. The main characters don't ever meet each other until the very end and then it's over way too quickly. Especially, Denzel Washington's change of ambition seems a bit rushed there and the ending is more than a bit reminiscent of "GoodFellas". Pretty much the whole film doesn't really feel fresh anymore even though I took well to Washington's role. Sure he's just like he is in most of his other movies but we routed for him just like how we routed for Al Pacino in Scarface. In fact, Peter Travers calls this movie the black Scarface. I agree with him partially. The tense job an unbribable cop has to do in a corrupt environment, the schizophrenic life of a gangster who is a loving family man in one minute and brutal killer with no qualms in the next, the glamorous rise and fall of a gangster boss. It never really gets old, but the more movies like this are being made, the less surprising they'll become.
 A compelling crime story that never glamorizes crime and let's us see its horrible effects March 5, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
While there is a real grit to this film, it is never sensationalistic and does not glorify crime. This is the story of two real life people, Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. Frank Lucas grew up in North Carolina and fled to New York to avoid trouble with the law. On the streets of Harlem he became the right hand man of a gangster who ruled Harlem under the Italian mafia, Bumpy Johnson. After Bumpy died, Frank rethought his position in life and what he wanted to do about it.
What he decided to do was become the main supplier of Heroin in New York and New Jersey. He hatched a scheme to go to Vietnam and Thailand and from there into the mountain jungles to buy uncut heroin direct and cut out all the middlemen in the drug trade. How he got it back to the states is one of the interesting plot points of the movie and if you were alive during those years you probably remember the news stories after he got busted.
Along the way, he brings his family up from North Carolina and they build their own drug business that is so effective (the Blue Magic brand heroin they sell is twice as potent at half the price) that the Mafia works out a deal to buy wholesale from him! Yes, he is ruthless. Yes, we see the squalor of what his drugs do to people. Yes, we see the degradation of the women who work to cut and package his dope and have to work naked so they can't steal anything. We briefly see the brothels, but the way they are shown nothing could be less sexy. It is all just so sad and filthy. Unlike the Godfather films, this movie doesn't try to pretend there is nobility and doesn't separate us from where Frank's millions come from. However, Frank separates himself. We see scenes of him at Church with his mother, of them holding hands and praying around their Thanksgiving Day meal, and so on. Frank views himself as just another business man moving a commodity that people want and are going to buy with or without him. So, he rationalizes, why not cash in.
Pursuing Frank is Detective Richie Roberts. Remember, this was the time of the movie "Prince of the City" and the police force was notoriously corrupt. This was especially true of the drug squads. Richie will not take. He just wants to be an honest cop and this confuses and enrages the crooked cops, but gets him on a team trying to actually go after the big drug dealers. The death of his former partner who got into heroin gives him a lead to the Blue Magic brand. You see, the junkies weren't used to the stuff being so potent and there were many deaths from it. The movie's main plot is how Richie learns about Frank and finally brings him down. A nice twist in the film that was also a part of real life is that Richie was also going to law school and passed the bar. So, when it came time to prosecute Frank, Richie did it.
The extras disk has a feature that shows the real Richie and Frank and how they are still friends today. Richie eventually became a defense attorney and worked to defend Frank and get him out of jail after serving 15 years instead of the 70 he was sentenced to.
An interesting and honest film that I found quite compelling. Frank is played by Denzel Washington and Richie is played by Russell Crowe. They both do superb work.
 Either you're somebody, or you ain't nobody." November 8, 2007
10 out of 17 found this review helpful
Harlem thug Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) wants very much to be Somebody, and his ticket to the top is heroin, imported from Vietnam with the help of the military there and a large contingent of dirty cops here. Frank is alternately urbane and vicious, a businessman and a killer. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is a street-wise cop who makes it his business to track down the man who's running this drug racket.
This was the longest 157 minutes I've ever spent in a movie theatre. One of the problems with this film was that neither the hero (Richie) nor the villain (Frank) was a sympathetic character and I didn't care how it ended (although the epilogue shocked me). Gum-chomping Richie admits he's not a fit father and has no qualms about roughing people up in the line of duty. Frank is a slick, soulless fiend with no regard for human life. To say this movie is violent would be an understatement, but after watching so much depravity and cruelty, one becomes jaded and I stopped caring altogether.
The biggest weakness was that the two stars share the screen for a only few minutes. I was waiting and waiting to see these acting titans play off each other, and when it finally happened, it was disappointing. Washington definitely out-acts Crowe in a flashier role, and for his memorable performance, I gave the movie three stars. Very much a guy-film.
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