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| American History X |
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Genre:Drama
Reviewed In Issue 32 Of Widescreen Review®
Stars:
Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Fairuza Balk, Stacy Keach, Jennifer Lien, Elliott Gould, William Russ, Ethan Suplee, Avery Brooks, Beverly D’Angelo |
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 DVD General Information |
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| (Studio/Distributor): |
New Line Home Video |
| (Catalog Number): |
ID4257LI |
| (MPAA Rating): |
R |
| (Retail Price): |
$29.99 |
| (Running Time In Minutes): |
119 |
| (Color Type): |
Color With Black & White Sequences |
| (Chaptered/Scene Access): |
Yes |
| (Closed Captioned): |
Yes |
| (Theatrical Release): |
1998 |
| (LD Release Date): |
4/99 |
| (THX® Digitally Mastered): |
No |
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| Credits Information |
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| (Director): |
Tony Kaye |
| (Screenplay/Written By): |
David McKenna |
| (Story): |
David McKenna |
| (Music): |
Anne Dudley |
| (Director Of Photography): |
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| (Production Designer): |
Jon Gary Steele |
| (Visual Effects): |
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| (Costume Designer): |
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| (Editor): |
Jerry Greenberg, ACE & Alan Heim, ACE |
| (Supervising Sound Editors): |
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| (Re-Recording Mixers): |
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| (Executive Producers): |
Carraro, Kearie Peak, Michael DeLuca & Brian Witten |
| (Co-Producers): |
Jon Hess & David McKenna |
| (Producers): |
John Morrissey |
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| DVD Picture Information |
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| (Principal Photography): |
Academy Standard Flat |
| (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): |
1.85:1 |
| (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): |
1.85:1 |
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| DVD Sound Information |
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| (DVD Soundtrack): |
Dolby Digital Surround |
| (Theatrical Sound): |
DTS, SDDS & Dolby Digital |
| (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): |
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| (Remastered Dolby Digital): |
No |
| (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): |
No |
| (Additional Languages): |
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| WSR Narrative Review |
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Story Synopsis:
American History X is a powerful and engrossing drama that explores the insidious way that racial hatred can root itself, and thrive, in our neighborhoods. Best Actor-nominated Edward Norton stars as a neo-Nazi skinhead who murders two black teenagers who break into his car. After his release from prison, he attempts to straighten out his younger brother (Edward Furlong) and keep him from making the same mistakes that nearly destroyed himself and their family.
LaserDisc Picture:
The black and white scenes represent flashbacks and take up about half the film. These scenes exhibit a superb grayscale with sharp and detailed images, excellent contrast and shadow delineation. In the colored scenes, fleshtones appear slightly orange and smeared, but otherwise accurately rendered. The image quality is sometimes harsh, but is exceptional in capturing the uncompromising reality of the subject matter. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1.
LaserDisc Soundtrack:
Both the Dolby® Digital 5.1 discrete and matrix PCM soundtracks are excellent though fidelity is a bit amiss. Dialogue is closely miked and, at times, has a muffled quality. The music score is powerful with an expansive soundstage that is spread wider in the discrete version. Surround envelopment is superior on the matrix PCM version, but when the discrete soundfield is fully engaged spatial envelopment is better defined with split surrounds. Bass extension is deep, but boomy at times, and the .1 LFE channel engages during gunshots.
| (Surround Bass Below 50Hz): |
Yes |
| (Aggressive System Surround): |
Yes |
| (Intense 25Hz Bass): |
No |
| (Deep Bass Challenging): |
No |
| (Aggressive 0.1 LFE): |
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| (Holosonic Soundfield): |
Yes |
| (Aggressive Split Surround): |
Yes |
| (Center Back Surround Imaging): |
No |
| (Directionalized Dialogue): |
No |
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality: |
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Superb Music Score Recording Quality: |
Yes |
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality: |
No |
Superb Color Fidelity: |
No |
Superb Cinematography: |
Yes |
Reference LaserDisc: |
No |
Collector Edition: |
No |
DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
The black and white scenes represent flashbacks and take up about half the film. On the LaserDisc, these scenes exhibit a superb grayscale with sharp and detailed images, excellent contrast and shadow delineation, but the anamorphically-enhanced, dual-layered DVD is more finely detailed with higher resolution. In the colored scenes, fleshtones appear slightly orange and smeared on the LaserDisc, while the DVD, viewed in component video, is subtle with better clarity. The DVD is superb in all aspects of image quality and is exceptional in capturing the uncompromising reality of the subject matter. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1 on the LaserDisc, anamorphic and letterbox DVD. Both the Dolby® Digital 5.1 discrete soundtrack on DVD and LaserDisc and the matrix PCM LaserDisc soundtrack are excellent though fidelity is a bit amiss. Dialogue is closely miked and, at times, has a muffled quality. The music score is powerful with an expansive soundstage that is spread wider in the discrete version. Surround envelopment is superior on the matrix PCM version, but when the discrete soundfield is fully engaged spatial envelopment is better defined with split surrounds. Bass extension is deep, but boomy at times, and the .1 LFE channel engages during gunshots.
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