Spike Lee Joint Collection (Clockers/ Jungle Fever/ Do the Right Thing/ Mo` Better Blues/ Crooklyn)

Product Description

Five groundbreaking films from prolific filmmaker Spike Lee come together in this collection. Starring such heavyweights as Rosie Perez, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and John Turturro in career-defining roles, the films include CROOKLYN, DO THE RIGHT THING, CLOCKERS, JUNGLE FEVER, and MO' BETTER BLUES. See individual titles for descriptions.

Format: DVD MOVIE

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Clockers
Based on the riveting bestseller by Richard Price, this 1995 crime drama was directed by Spike Lee with such authority and authenticity that it has the hyper-real quality of a stylized documentary. Fully capturing the thoroughly researched detail of Price's novel, the film focuses on Strike (newcomer Mekhi Phifer), a young, ambitious "clocker"--or drug dealer--who works the streets of his New York housing project, selling drugs for a local supplier named Rodney (played with ferocious charisma by Delroy Lindo). Just as Strike is struggling to get away from his dead-end life of crime, another dealer is murdered in a fast-food restaurant and local detectives (Harvey Keitel, John Turturro) consider Strike the primary suspect. In cowriting the script with novelist Price, Lee uses this murder mystery to explore the plague of guns and black-on-black crime in America's inner cities, in which drugs and death are familiar routines of daily life. The film doesn't pretend to offer solutions, nor does it dwell on the problem with numbing insistence. Rather, this taut, well-acted film takes the viewer into a world often hidden in plain sight--a world where options seem nonexistent for youth conditioned to have little or no expectation beyond a probable early death. Lee and Price are deadly serious in handling this volatile subject (which incorporates racism, powerless law enforcement, and political indifference), but Clockers is also blessed with humor, insight, and humanity. It's one of Lee's most confidently directed films, signaling a creative maturity that Lee continued to develop throughout the 1990s. --Jeff Shannon

Jungle Fever
Spike Lee's 1991 story about an interracial relationship and its consequences on the lives and communities of the lovers (Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra) is one of his most captivating and focused films. Snipes and Sciorra are very good as individuals trying to reach beyond the limits imposed upon them for reasons of race, tradition, sexism, and such. Lee makes an interesting and subtle case that they are driven to one another out of frustration with social obstacles as well as pure attraction--but is that enough for love to survive? John Turturro is featured in a subplot as an Italian American who grows attracted to a black woman and takes heat from his numbskull buddies. --Tom Keogh

Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee's incendiary look at race relations in America, circa 1989, is so colorful and exuberant for its first three-quarters that you can almost forget the terrible confrontation that the movie inexorably builds toward. Do the Right Thing is a joyful, tumultuous masterpiece--maybe the best film ever made about race in America, revealing racial prejudices and stereotypes in all their guises and demonstrating how a deadly riot can erupt out of a series of small misunderstandings. Set on one block in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the hottest day of the summer, the movie shows the whole spectrum of life in this neighborhood and then leaves it up to us to decide if, in the end, anybody actually does the "right thing." Featuring Danny Aiello as Sal, the pizza parlor owner; Lee himself as Mookie, the lazy pizza-delivery guy; John Turturro and Richard Edson as Sal's sons; Lee's sister Joie as Mookie's sister Jade; Rosie Perez as Mookie's girlfriend Tina; Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee as the block elders, Da Mayor and Mother Sister; Giancarlo Esposito as Mookie's hot-headed friend Buggin' Out; Bill Nunn as the boom-box toting Radio Raheem; and Samuel L. Jackson as deejay Mister Señor Love Daddy. A rich and nuanced film to watch, treasure, and learn from--over and over again. --Jim Emerson

Mo' Better Blues
With Mo' Better Blues, the story of a young trumpeter's rise to jazz-world stardom, Spike Lee set out to counter Clint Eastwood's cliché-ridden biopic of Charlie Parker in Bird. But the final product, a slick, glossy drama (with hip-hop jazz provided by Gangstarr no less), is just as superficial as the numerous Alger-esque stories of music stardom to which movie audiences are accustomed.

Denzel Washington gives a typically charismatic performance as the trumpeter in question, as does Wesley Snipes as his sax-playing rival. And as with most Spike Lee films, there are numerous solid performers in small roles such as Bill Nunn, Latin-music star Rubén Blades, and comedian Robin Harris. One character, however, attracted unwanted attention: John Turturro's role as an unscrupulous music-industry exec. Critics called the Turturro character, who is at once money hungry, swarthy, and perpetually shrouded in darkness, a classic anti-Semitic caricature. But the charge seems almost irrelevant in Spike Lee's cartoonish, overstylized world of impossibly hunky jazzmen, curvaceous hangers-on, and incessant bebop. --Ethan Brown

Crooklyn
Spike Lee's semiautobiographical, 1994 film about the good and bad times for a Brooklyn family in the '70s has passion and nostalgic good feeling, but it is also a mess of random reflections and arbitrary storytelling. The centerpiece of the movie is a little girl (Zelda Harris) who views the ups and downs of her parents' experiences (mom and dad are played by Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard), and who navigates the life of her neighborhood. Lee tosses in a lot of '70s detail (watching The Partridge Family) and other diversions (Harris's journey through suburbia), but he has no master sensibility controlling the flow of it all. The film is more wearying than anything, although bright spots include Lindo's fine performance as a talented man suffering from irrelevance. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Well worth it........2007-07-18

Overall I was very pleased. I didn't give it 5 stars because its missing "He Got Game", but all the rest are acounted for. Great for Spike Lee's fans.

Excellent collection of Spike's joints.......2007-07-17

Do you like Spike Lee? Enjoy his movies?

Then buy this collection, a package of his most commercial films and acting ensembles. Clockers is a riveting powerhouse; Mo Better Blues is Denzel. Need I say more?

If you don't care for Spike, this won't move you.

Great Collection.......2007-07-12

I'm on a mission to have all or as many of Spike Lee's movies on DVD and this is a great set to have in my collecton.

Spike Lee - The Man.......2007-06-20

They could have put a movie on the other side of Crooklyn :(, Im still extremely satisfied. This is a piff collection. Spike did a great job capturing the essence (the lighter side) of emotion of every day life living in relative poverty like he did in Crooklyn. Watching these movies made me feel as if I were an invisible character.

You really get ur money's worth.......2007-05-14

I really like this collection, even though I thought it should have included his first work, school daze, instead of Clockers, u get five dvd's for the price of 1.

Average customer rating:

SPIKE LEE'S CROOKLYN
*Re-living Back In The Days*
Another great film by Spike Lee
[3.5]--Warm and bittersweet film
in my opinion a classic movie by da underrated delroy lindo and alfrie woodard

Crooklyn
Starring: Vondie Curtis-Hall , N. Jeremi Duru , Frances Foster , Zelda Harris , and David Patrick Kelly
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0783230524
Release Date: 1999-02-23

Amazon.com essential video

Spike Lee's semiautobiographical, 1994 film about the good and bad times for a Brooklyn family in the '70s has passion and nostalgic good feeling, but it is also a mess of random reflections and arbitrary storytelling. The centerpiece of the movie is a little girl (Zelda Harris) who views the ups and downs of her parents' experiences (mom and dad are played by Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard), and who navigates the life of her neighborhood. Lee tosses in a lot of '70s detail (watching The Partridge Family) and other diversions (Harris's journey through suburbia), but he has no master sensibility controlling the flow of it all. The film is more wearying than anything, although bright spots include Lindo's fine performance as a talented man suffering from irrelevance. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

SPIKE LEE'S CROOKLYN.......2007-04-14

This Spike Lee joint tells the funny, but also sad story about life growing up in Brooklyn in th Early '70's through the eyes of a no-nonsense mother, a struggling-musician father and their 5 children. The music of that time was great and you get to hear some of it throughout the movie like The Stylistics, The Staple Singers & Aretha Franklin just to name a few. Also, clips from nostaglic commercials and TV shows like The Partridge Family and Soul Train (the first season) are also featured in this story that makes this movies worth watching.

And I think the formula used for CROOKLYN may have been some sort of inspiration for the 2002-2005 NBC show AMERICAN DREAMS since they were both produced by Universal Pictures.

*Re-living Back In The Days*.......2007-04-12

The movie was awesome. It had a great story line. Also it takes you back to the late 70's and the early 80's. Spike Lee definitly did a good job with the clothing, the scenary, and the music. It is a great family movie.

Another great film by Spike Lee.......2007-02-27

The first time I saw this film, I was at my aunt's house. Each character had their own uniqueness, especially Troy. I loved her. The film is one of those timeless classics. Growing up in Brooklyn, this has to be one of my favorite films. I was born in 1982, but the film still resonates with me, because it shows me how life was back in the 1970s. Spike Lee, when is Hollywood going to give you an Oscar?

[3.5]--Warm and bittersweet film.......2007-02-16

Crooklyn, which Lee co-wrote with his siblings Joie Lee and Cinque Lee, marks a departure for Spike in its subject matter, offering a warm, tragicomic look at growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1970s, when the main drugs parents had to worry about their kids falling prey to wasn't crack or heroin but television and sugar. Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo head the Carmichael clan, a family of seven loosely based on the real-life Lees.

Woodard plays Carolyn, who teaches school and tries to keep the house in order, including her husband Woody (Lindo), a musician trying to stay true to his art even if that means placing his family in a financial strait-jacket. Crooklyn takes the point of view of the family's only daughter, 9-year-old Troy (Zelda Harris). While the film certainly looks through her eyes, it doesn't seem to be a strong enough viewpoint to carry the film's whimsical meandering. While Woodard, Lindo and Harris all give solid performances, the four brothers tend to disappear into the woodwork, never really developing into characters in their own rights. Subplots about a neighbor (David Patrick Kelly) and two glue-sniffing street kids (one played by Spike Lee) appear but never really go anywhere, though the glue sniffers do provide some funny camera angles. There aren't many overt flaws in Crooklyn. All but the most comic of urban violence has been removed, and we're left with a somewhat-idealized view of an early-70s Brooklyn.

Lee is as talented as any director is capturing an era, and some of the early scenes perfectly recall the mood of the time. The pop soundtrack may be a little too obvious, but it gets the job done. As usual, Lee has assembled an excellent cast. Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo do tremendous jobs. David Patrick Kelly provides a little comic relief as the white next-door neighbor who annoys just about everyone. Then there's Zelda Harris, whose unaffected performance is the glue that holds the picture together.

Crooklyn turns out pleasant enough, but by the end, it feels as if something has been left out and it just stops. The world of a child -- especially one pushed all-too-soon into adulthood -- is never easy, and this film captures the facets of Troy's odyssey. Beneath the surface of this deceptively simple motion picture lurks a keen insight.

in my opinion a classic movie by da underrated delroy lindo and alfrie woodard.......2006-06-28

this is one of my all time favorite movies produced by spike lee i would watch this film when i was about to go to harlem, new york to visit my family since crooklyn was a new york joint the movie starts off very funny when delroy blew his horn to call his children in for dinner however the ending is one of the most depressing finishes in film history when alfrie passed on i craved to witness crooklyn 2 to see how was the family doing a couple of years later that would have been nice to watch it could have starred almost the same cast but also included a few new faces eddie murphy as the next door neighbor since he is from brooklyn richard pryer or bill cobsy as the children's grandfather and rube d as the grandmother crooklyn was a black version of the brandy bunch from the ghetto because delroy and alfrie had a lot of children their daughter troy was the only girl in the house therefore alfrie decided it would be best that troy went to virgina to spend half the summer with her aunt, uncle, and girl cousin so would have someone the same sex as her she can relate with so as u can probably tell troy was the third person to still in this movie after delroy and alfrie

The Spike Lee Collection (Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, and Crooklyn)

Average customer rating:

spikes best
All great films

The Spike Lee Collection (Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, and Crooklyn)
Starring: Spike Lee
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0000549B3
Release Date: 2001-01-30

Customer Reviews:

spikes best.......2006-03-17

I'm a big fan and if you are you will enjoy this all in one package its all about relationships!

All great films.......2001-05-16

These are Spike Lee's best work, with great plots and interesting characters, Spike Lee is able to make every race, color, and creed relate to these great movies. My personal favorite of the three was "Crooklyn" which is a film the whole family will enjoy.

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