American History X [Blu-ray]

Director: Tony Kaye Tony Kaye

Overview

Tony Kaye made his feature directorial debut with this dramatic exploration into the roots of race hatred in America. In a shocking opening scene, teen Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong) races to tell his older brother, neo-Nazi Derek (Edward Norton), about the young blacks breaking into his car in front of the house, whereupon Derek gets his gun and with no forethought shoots the youths in their tracks. Tried and convicted, Derek is sent away for three years in prison, where he acquires a different outlook as he contrasts white-power prisoners with black Lamont (Guy Torry), his prison laundry co-worker and eventual pal. Meanwhile, Danny, with a shaved head and a rebellious attitude, seems destined to follow in his big brother's footsteps. After Danny writes a favorable review of Hitler's Mein Kampf, black high-school principal Sweeney (Avery Brooks) puts Danny in his private "American History X" course and assigns him to do a paper about his older brother, who was a former student of Sweeney's. This serves to introduce flashbacks, with the film backtracking to illustrate Danny's account of Derek's life prior to the night of the shooting. Monochrome sequences of Derek leading a Venice, California gang are intercut with color footage of the mature Derek ending his past neo-Nazi associations and attempting to detour Danny away from the group led by white supremacist, Cameron (Stacy Keach), who once influenced Derek. Director Tony Kaye, with a background in TV commercials and music videos, filmed in L.A. beach communities. Rated R "for graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/07/2009
UPC:	0794043128172
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	R
Source:	New Line Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	16,628

Special Features

Additional scenes; Theatrical trailer (in High Definition)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Edward Norton	Derek Vinyard,Randy
Avery Brooks	Sweeney
Edward Furlong	Danny Vinyard
Fairuza Balk	Stacey
Stacy Keach	Cameron
Beverly D'Angelo	Doris Vinyard
Jennifer Lien	Davina
Ethan Suplee	Seth
Elliott Gould	Murray
Joe Cortese	Rasmussen
William Russ	Dennis,Dennis Vinyard
Guy Torry	Lamont
Antonio David Lyons	Lawrence
Alex Sol	Mitch McCormick
Paul Le Mat	McMahon
Giuseppe Andrews	Jason
Michelle Christine White	Lizzy
Jonathan Fowler Jr.	Jerome
Nicholas Oleson	Huge Aryan
Jordan Marder	Curtis
Tommy L. Bellissimo	Cop No. 2,Cop #2
Cherish Lee	Kammi
Sam Vlahos	Dr. Aguilar
Tara Blanchard	Ally
Anne Lambton	Cassandra
Steve Wolford	Reporter
Richard Noyce	Desk Sergeant
Danso Gordon	Buddy No. 1
David Basulto	Guard
Alexis Rose Coen	Young Ally
Kiant Elam	Lawrence's Partner,Lawrence's Partner
Paul Hopkins	Student
Keith Odett	Random Skinhead
Paul Short	Stocky Buddy,Stocky Buddy
Nigel Miguel	Basketball Player
Jason Bose Smith	Little Henry
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	Chris
Cleo Adell	Lizzy
Christopher Masterson	Daryl Dawson
Darrell Britt	White Supremicist
Anne Dudley	Composer

Technical Credits

David McKenna

Tony Kaye	Director
David McKenna	Screenwriter
Thomas Bellissimo	Special Effects
Bill Carraro	Executive Producer,Producer
Valerie McCaffrey	Casting
John Morrissey	Producer
Noon Orsatti	Stunts,Stunts
Kearie Peak	Executive Producer,Producer
Denney Pierce	Stunts
Paul Short	Stunts
Steve Tisch	Executive Producer,Producer
Lawrence Turman	Executive Producer,Producer
Michael De Luca	Producer
Jon Hess	Producer
Brian Witten	Producer,Executive Producer
Charles Belardinelli	Stunts
Joe Barnett	Sound Effects
Javier Bennassar	Sound Effects
Dorian Cheah	Sound Effects
Benjamin Cook	Sound Effects
Suzanne Davis	Sound Effects
Michael DeLuca	Executive Producer
Steve Nelson	Sound/Sound Designer