WSR Detailed LaserDisc Review

Do The Right Thing
Genre:Drama

Reviewed In Issue 17 Of Widescreen Review® Stars:
Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro

WSR Review Scores
Picture Rating: 5
Sound Rating: 3.5
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score:
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Supplementals
The Voyager Company has done a great job on packaging and supplemental material included with the feature. The hour plus-long Making Of Do The Right Thing is a socially conscious documentary on the history of the production and how the film was made, followed by additional “making of” camcorder footage during production. Lee and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson and others discuss their film on the running commentary track. The single CAV Side 4 lists Lee’s film credits aided with clips and stills from each one, plus a montage of the racial incidents in New York City that inspired the film, narrated by Lee on the analog track (not identified on the jacket contents listing). Pieces of the script as well as pre-production conceptual drawings are shown in this section accompanied with analog track commentary (again not identified). Two commentary analog tracks support the CAV section on the making of the music video “Fight The Power,” the film’s opening theme sequence. A lot of material is presented in the CAV format which I found generally to be a challenge to sort through, but worth the effort.

DVD General Information
(Studio/Distributor): Criterion Collection
(Catalog Number): CC1418L-266
(MPAA Rating): R
(Retail Price): $$99.95
(Running Time In Minutes): 120
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): No
(Theatrical Release): 1989
(LD Release Date): 10/1/95
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

Credits Information
(Director): Spike Lee
(Screenplay/Written By): Spike Lee
(Story): NA
(Music): Bill Lee
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer): Wynn Thomas
(Visual Effects): NA
(Costume Designer): Ruth E. Carter
(Editor): Barry Alexander Brown
(Supervising Sound Editors): NA
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers): NA
(Co-Producers): Monty Ross
(Producers): Spike Lee

DVD Picture Information
(Principal Photography): Academy Standard Flat
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio): 1.85:1
(Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): 1.68:1

DVD Sound Information
(DVD Soundtrack): Dolby Surround
(Theatrical Sound): Dolby Stereo SR
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(Remastered Dolby Digital):
(Remastered DTS Digital Surround):
(Additional Languages):

WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
Written, produced and directed by Spike Lee, this a controversial, yet highly regarded “black experience” film offers a look at the life in the racially mixed urban neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where there is tension among the African Americans, Italians and Koreans who live and work there. The story takes place on one very hot day in the neighborhood, where tensions eventually lead to the destruction of a pizzeria run by whites.

LaserDisc Picture:
The matted 1.68:1 picture is gorgeous, solid, and vibrantly colorful with no artifacts.

LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The sound is well recorded but mediocre.
(Surround Bass Below 50Hz):
(Aggressive System Surround):
(Intense 25Hz Bass):
(Deep Bass Challenging):
(Aggressive 0.1 LFE):
(Holosonic Soundfield):
(Aggressive Split Surround):
(Center Back Surround Imaging):
(Directionalized Dialogue):
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality:
Superb Music Score Recording Quality:
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality:
Superb Color Fidelity:
Superb Cinematography:
Reference LaserDisc:
Collector Edition: