Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Arnold Perl and Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., Delroy Lindo and Spike Lee
Country: United States
Running Time: 202 mins
Year: 1992
Spike Lee’s films are one of a kind. There’s nobody else making films quite like him, from his early outings like She’s Gotta Have it and Do the Right Thing, to his more recent efforts like Da 5 Bloods and BlacKkKlansman, his films all stand the test of time (well, apart from his Oldboy remake…) and one of the big films I still needed to see from him was Malcolm X. Thankfully, Icon Home Entertainment recently announced that they were releasing the title in 4K over here and I jumped at the opportunity to check the film out.
Where do you even begin with a film like this? It might be the biopic and from the very first moments of the film, using a Malcolm X speech alongside footage of the Rodney King beating while the American flag burns in the background is powerful, haunting stuff that had me hooked from the first moment. What I didn’t expect was for the first hour of the film to almost feel like a slice-of-life experience, following Malcolm in his early years as a gangster, before his eventual arrest which led him to the Muslim religion.
While the first hour can be light on tone, the following two and a half hours are incredibly captivating for completely different reasons. Seeing Malcolm preach the religion’s message, find a following and also love in the character of Betty is constantly engaging and thanks to Spike’s excellent direction, the gorgeous cinematography from regular collaborator Ernest Dickerson and of course, the phenomenal lead performance from Denzel Washington, Malcolm X is the rare film that justifies its gargantuan runtime of three hours and twenty minutes with ease.
It never feels like a moment is wasted, and even the sequences that feel more like they’re out of a hangout movie (in the first hour in particular, as previously mentioned) are entertaining, interesting and marvellously constructed. For the longest time, my favourite performance from Denzel Washington was in Training Day and while I still think he’s excellent in that, his work here is arguably one of the greatest performances not just of his career, but of all time. I won’t lie and say I was incredibly knowledgeable about the events that this film adapts, but after doing some research after the fact, it seems that a lot of care was placed into making the events accurate to what happened, which is always a plus in a biopic such as this.
If you somehow haven’t seen Malcolm X yet (like myself a few days back!) then I implore you to give it a shot. It’s the defining work of all of the key players involved for a reason, and stands tall as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made for a reason. It’s great to see it make the jump to 4K UHD over here in the UK and it’s a must-own for fans of the film.
Film:
Malcolm X releases 29th July on 4K UHD and Blu-ray via Icon Home Entertainment. I checked out the UHD disc and it looks magnificent, although it was my first time watching the film, so I had no other discs to compare it to. The Dolby Vision grade is delightful and if you’ve seen a Spike Lee film before and you’re a fan of his style, this disc will absolutely stun you. The picture quality is phenomenal and the DTS HD M.A 5.1 audio track sounds great too. Optional English subtitles are included. Overall, this is my favourite outing from Icon Home Entertainment on UHD yet. The following extras are included:
20 minutes of deleted scenes, introduced by Spike Lee
Theatrical trailer
Premium O-ring
Limited edition poster
Four art-cards
The deleted scenes run for 21 minutes and feature an introduction from Spike Lee. They’re an archival inclusion, so if you’ve owned prior Blu-ray releases, you know what you’re in for here.
A theatrical trailer is included.
I wasn’t provided with the o-ring, poster or art-cards, so I’m unable to comment on those.
Unfortunately, Icon’s release of Malcolm X misses out on the huge assortment of extras included on the US Criterion Collection release, but for those who aren’t super interested in extras and want a great watch to watch the film, this release will fit the bill. A great transfer, solid audio and a spectacular film to boot makes this a must own.
Disc/Packaging:
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