American History X
Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) is a skinhead who is a prominent leader of an American neo-nazi organisation. When a couple of Afro-American men try to break into his car, he takes justice into his own hands and kills both of them. He gets convicted and sent of to a racially mixed jail. There he sees that all isn’t as he thought it would be. Black people aren’t bad by definition and white people aren’t always ‘good’. Slowly but steadily, Derek realises that he has lied to himself during most part of his life and by the time he’s released, his racial perceptions have changed and he has transformed into another man. During his incarceration, his little brother (Edward Furlong) however, has become part of that same neo-nazist gang. Upon his release, Derek realises that he has to save both himself and his kid-brother before it’s too late.
Sound and Vision:
We get varying images depending on the scenes. There’s plenty of flashbacks that have a raw and grainy image while the “current day” scenes look quite normal. All in all we get a transfer that’s pretty decent for a movie of over ten years old and there’s nothing to really complain about.
We get a solid soundtrack that gives plenty of detail but hardly ever uses the surround channels or subwoofer. Surprising seeing that it’s a DTS-HD track.
Extras:
None except some trailers
Conclusion:
American History X is a touching movie that gives a good view on how some Americans get mislead into blaming minority groups for their own failure. Just like the original DVD there are no extras present but we do get pretty good image and sound quality. As a budget Blu-ray this is a decent release but one can wonder about the added value compared to the DVD.
7.0