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(About Our Ads) DVD REVIEW FOR "AMERICAN HISTORY X" (1998) (Edward Norton, Edward Furlong) (R) Length Screen Format(s) Languages Subtitles Sound Sides 119 minutes Letterbox (1.85:1) 16x9 - Widescreen English English Dolby Digital 5.1 1 PLOT & PARENTAL REVIEW VIDEO: (A-) Successfully mixing black and white and color footage, the film constantly has an arresting look, particularly the slow-motion B&W shots that are visually stunning. While some pixelation is present in the grey sky shots of some of those scenes, they otherwise display good contrast. The color scenes vary in their degree of sharpness with most of the outdoor shots being incredibly sharp and detailed (as compared to the indoor ones that look a bit flatter). AUDIO: (A) Featuring a haunting and moving score courtesy of composer Anne Dudley, some decent sound effects and crisp dialogue, the disc's audio quality is excellent. EXTRAS: Scene selection/Jump to any scene. 3 deleted scenes (2 less than 1 minute in length, the other running more than 5 minutes). Theatrical trailer. Cast & Crew filmographies and biographies (on screen text). COMMENTS: Undeniably one of the more powerful films you'll see this year, "American History X" is a thought-provoking, moving, and visually stunning first effort from former TV commercial director, Tony Kaye. Despite a quite vehement disagreement over the final cut on this film (that had Kaye wanting his name removed from the finished product and replaced with, of all things, "Humpty Dumpty"), this is an impressive feature that will not only stick with you long after you've seen it, but should also whet one's appetite for what Kaye might deliver in the future. Strutting his technical visual prowess -- he also served as the film's cinematographer -- Kaye may occasionally go a bit too far with the slow motion effects. After all, how often have you seen water slowly cascading onto a person in the shower? For the most part, however, his overall visual style is impressive and often viscerally stunning. Effectively and efficiently mixing present day color footage with the film's many (and often prolonged) flashbacks shot in black and white, Kaye delivers some of the more chilling and taut sequences that I've seen in a film in a long time. While some may make a big fuss about some believability problems and perhaps Kaye's vivid shooting style, such problems aren't horrible and certainly not bad enough to do much harm in distracting the viewer from the proceedings. For the most part, the gripping story and first-time screenwriter David McKenna's often brilliant and rapid fire dialogue easily allow the audience to overlook any minor deficiencies. What you won't be able to overlook, however, is the amazing performance from Edward Norton ("Primary Fear," "Rounders"). Furthering the belief that he's simply one of the best and most gifted actors working today, Norton brilliantly plays his character on so many levels -- not to mention physical appearances -- that his performance is as equally mesmerizing as it is disturbing. It certainly wasn't surprising that he received an Oscar nomination for it. As far as supplemental materials, an audio commentary by Kaye was out of the question (since he wasn't happy with the studio's final version of the film) and beyond one key deleted scene, they're rather void of anything substantial or worth noting.