American Gangster

Theatrical Release Date: 2007 11 02 (USA)

UPC: 025193228024

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Nudity, Not For Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content]

Summary: Director Ridley Scott spins this yarn concerning a Harlem drug kingpin (Denzel Washington) who smuggles heroin into the country by hiding it in the bodies of U.S. soldiers killed during battle in Vietnam. There was a time when no one noticed reserved driver Frank Lucas (Washington), but when the criminal kingpin he was charged with transporting through the city streets suddenly dies, Lucas seizes the opportunity to build his own criminal empire. In the following months, Lucas solidifies his status as Harlem's most innovative drug dealer by delivering a product that is purer than the competitors' and cheaper, as well. When innovative businessman Lukas attempts to go semi-legit by becoming one of the Manhattan borough's biggest civil supporters, however, street-savvy outcast cop Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) begins to sense a sizable shift in the hierarchy of the drug underworld. But Roberts is one of the few honest detectives operating within a corrupt system, and as he sets out to investigate the case, crooked detective Trupo (Josh Brolin) does everything in his power to compromise the integrity of his idealistic counterpart. Upon clearing all of the usual Mafia-connected suspects, Roberts begins to believe that a previously unknown black power player has come out of the woodwork to dominate the local drug trade. While Roberts and Lucas may be operating on opposite sides of the law, the one thing that both men have in common is a strict code of ethics that separates them from their opportunistic colleagues. Now, as a confrontation between the two men becomes inevitable and the fate of each becomes inexorably tied to the other, it gradually becomes apparent that only one of them will emerge from the conflict victorious. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Crime

Awards: Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Director – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Golden Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress – Golden Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Cast – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actress – African American Film Critics Best Picture – African American Film Critics Best Picture – Austin Film Critics Best Art Direction in a Period Film – Art Directors Guild Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Original Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Music – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Cinematography – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Editing – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Disc One:
Unrated extended version
Original theatrical version
Disc 2:
Deleted scenes including an alternate opening
Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster - a feature-length documentary that provides an in-depth look at the film's production, from the real-life characters behind the story to exotic location shoots, costumes, setting up the famous Ali Vs. Frazier fight and more!
Case files - three in-depth behind-the-scenes segments reveal how the art of collaboration brings the film's script to life, how actual police drug testing techniques add "streetwise" on-screen realism and what it takes to stage the film's explosive climax

American Gangster

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/19/2008

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 335 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- American Gangster
1. What's Wrong With America
2. You've Been Served
3. Tampering With Evidence
4. Into the Jungle
5. Kill or Be Killed
6. Blue Magic
7. New Offensive
8. Big Money
9. Frank's Place
10. Old Friends
11. Business Is Booming
12. Special Investigations
13. Family Operated
14. On the Take
15. Ain't Gonna Run
16. Success Has Enemies
17. Search and Seizure
18. Out at Home
19. Turning Evidence
20. End Titles
1. What's Wrong With America
2. You've Been Served
3. Tampering With Evidence
4. Into the Jungle
5. Kill or Be Killed
6. Blue Magic
7. New Offensive
8. Big Money
9. Frank's Place
10. Old Friends
11. Business Is Booming
12. Special Investigations
13. Family Operated
14. On the Take
15. Ain't Gonna Run
16. Success Has Enemies
17. Search and Seizure
18. Out at Home
19. Turning Evidence
20. End Titles

Perry Seibert

The difference between early Ridley Scott, like The Duellists and Alien and late-period Ridley Scott, like Black Rain and Hannibal, is the difference between "stylish" and "slick." In the former, the look of a film -- the photography, the art direction, the costuming -- is as much the subject of the film as whatever the story happens to be. In the latter, all the emphasis on surface things only underscores the fact that there is nothing going on at the heart of the films. American Gangster is a welcome return to the "stylish" Ridley Scott. Unlike Matchstick Men or Black Hawk Down, American Gangster feels like an impersonal work for the director, and in this case that is a very good thing. Scott allows his remarkably gifted collaborators -- cinematographer Harris Savides, editor Pietro Scalia, and screenwriter Steven Zaillian -- to do what they do best and simply uses his own skills to keep everything moving along in a solid, professional way. Though they are kept apart for the vast majority of the film's 160-minute running time, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe carry their respective sections of the flick with movie-star ease. As larger-than-life criminal mastermind Frank Lucas, Washington gets to utilize his formidable charm while only once falling into the overacting that afflicts him on occasion when playing outright bad guys. As the ethically pure cop out to bring Frank down, Crowe offers his nearly patented brand of brooding physicality. There is nothing new about these characters, or in the film as a whole, but the solidly structured story draws parallels between the two men -- playing up the old "bad guy isn't so bad" and the "good guy isn't so good" themes that might seem incredibly tired in the hands of lesser actors and filmmakers. An end-of-film decision by Frank softens the film a great deal; this is, after all, Hollywood product, and it would be unacceptable to not like both the leads, but seeing as nothing that has come before indicates anyone was aiming for art, this twist can be forgiven. American Gangster is nothing more or less than product, sure to satisfy those who need a genre fix. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Albert Jones  Actor 
J. Kyle Manzay  Actor 
Warner Miller  Actor 
Hamilton Clancy  Actor 
Brian Grazer  Producer 
Nicholas Pileggi  Executive Producer 
Ridley Scott  Director 
Ridley Scott  Producer 
Steven Zaillian  Executive Producer 
Steven Zaillian  Screenwriter 
Branko Lustig  Executive Producer 
Marc Streitenfeld  Composer (Music Score) 
Karen Kehela Sherwood  Executive Producer 
Michael Costigan  Executive Producer 
Jim Whitaker  Executive Producer 
Denzel Washington  Actor 
Russell Crowe  Actor 
Chiwetel Ejiofor  Actor 
Cuba Gooding, Jr.  Actor 
Josh Brolin  Actor 
Ted Levine  Actor 
Armand Assante  Actor 
Clarence Williams III  Actor 
John Ortiz  Actor 
John Hawkes  Actor 
RZA  Actor 
Lymari Nadal  Actor 
Yul Vázquez  Actor 
Ruby Dee  Actor 
Idris Elba  Actor 
Carla Gugino  Actor 
Joe Morton  Actor 
Common  Actor 
Jon Polito  Actor 
Kevin Corrigan  Actor 
Roger Guenveur Smith  Actor 
Malcolm Goodwin  Actor 
Ric Young  Actor 
Roger Bart  Actor 
Tip "T.I." Harris  Actor 
KaDee Strickland  Actor 
Ruben Santiago-Hudson  Actor 
Norman Reedus  Actor 

Country: USA