Written by: Kassidy at 12:58 am
Filed under: DVD Box Sets,Movies,Television
Paramount and BET have teamed up for the release of American Gangster: The Complete First Season on DVD. Released on October 23, American Gangster offers a documentary style look at six of the most notorious African American criminals in the most recent of decades. Each episode features a different criminal. This season includes such names as death row victim, Stanley “Tookie” Williams, Ricky Ross (Freeway), Troy and Dino Smith, Leroy Barnes (Nicky), Lorenzo Nichols (Fat Cat), and The Chambers Brothers.
American Gangster floats between two streams of consciousness. In one stream, you will see a documentary about the questionable and illegal things that these various men have done. No excuses are made and the facts are raw, providing an interesting look at the harsh realities of life for a gangster. This part of the show is important since gang life is so highly sought after by so many of today’s younger members of inner city youth.
However, there is another side of American Gangster that exists in most of the episodes, as well. This other side of the show tends to try and make a few more excuses than they really need to try and make. In this case, they will work to paint a portrait of a criminal who may have been bad or evil at one time, but this rested largely on circumstance and bad choices.
These men may have been gang leaders, drug dealers, and/or murderers, but they also became notorious for trying to do well behind bars. If you feel that murderers are always murderers and nothing more, you will not like this portion of the show, when it occurs. However, if you believe that all people are inherently good at heart and can change, this portion will be right up your alley.
Prior to watching American Gangster, I was slightly confused by the appearance of the box. It’s a standard box, but on the cover it shows Ving Rhames, the narrator, in gangster attire. When I say it is misleading it is because I naturally assumed with the way he was dressed and an integral part of the box that he would be seen on screen. However, Rhames never truly appears except in voice. Additionally, I believe the cover states the show is a docudrama, but the show reads and views more like a documentary without any of the fictionalized moments that often occur in your standard docudrama.
American Gangster Plot:
The goal of the show is crystal clear to anyone watching. Criminals end up paying for their actions. Additionally, people should learn that no reason is good enough for crime because in the end the results are not proportionate to the action. However, in some cases the show tries to show that the crime is not the individual, but rather something bad that they have done. In this case, it is shown that you can do wrong, learn your lesson, and become a better person in the long run.
I appreciated the fact that police, FBI, and sometimes journalists were available to add their input. I would have liked to hear more from the community and the victims, but perhaps in a second season this could be broached.
Tookie Williams is one of the most notable figures that is profiled in this first set of six episodes of American Gangster. Some generalizations are made about Tookie and later about Freeway that imply that these men were victims of the system rather than cold blooded criminals. Some of the things that are said are hard to swallow and will not be believed by all people that watch those episodes. However, those who wish to believe the presented material will find the option that there was another reason beyond the cold blooded, always evil option that was available in this case.
I don’t know that I believe that the system was 100% to blame for Tookie’s actions when he admitted that he often made life a living hell for people. Likewise, I found the idea that the CIA brought crack into L.A. (creating a slew of crackheads in its wake) a hard pill to swallow effectively, as well.
On the first disc you can watch the documentaries for Tookie Williams, Freeway, and Leroy Barnes. Meanwhile, the second disc offers Dino and Troy Smith, The Chambers Brothers, and Lorenzo Nichols (Fat Cat).
Audio/Video
When it comes to audio, the sound is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. This provides an even sound that shouldn’t cause you any problems. The video comes through clean and clear. American Gangster is offered in full screen format with a compression ratio of 1.33:1.
Special Features
Special features for the first season of American Gangster include extended interviews, a one hour interview with Travon Williams (the son of Tookie), and a ten minute sneak peek at season two of American Gangster.
Bottom Line
American Gangster The Complete First Season offers a first hard look at some of the most notorious African American urban criminals in recent history. While occasionally excuses are made for their behavior, most of the series takes a hard look at each individual with the goal of showing that people always pay for wrong doings. This series is a pleasure to watch because it offers a lesson along with the interesting nature of the program. I recommend that you consider checking this one out.
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Technorati Tags: American Gangster, Complete First Season, Tookie, Freeway, Fat Cat, African American Gangsters, Crime, TV Show, DVD Box Set, Review
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Written by Kassidy - Visit Website
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Kassidy received her degree in Journalism in 2002. She lives in the Midwest with her husband of six years, Jason, and their two little girls, Madison (5) and Emma (2.5), with one (a boy) on the way. The couple is very excited to welcome their first son next January. Passions in life for Kassidy include painting, scrapbooking, writing, being a Mommy, watching romantic comedies, and dancing.
