Laikals
The greatest movie ever made..!
ClassyWas
Excellent, smart action film.
Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Ortiz
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
simacuz-642-311742
I'm speechless. I never heard anything about this Spike Lee joint until I accidentally came across it on Amazon. Sadly, the reviews on there were so-so and made me believe I wouldn't enjoy the film. This is now my favorite Spike Lee joint. I'm sorry to have waited so long. All of the performances were outstanding and the actors worked well together and with the themes discussed. I was glad that nothing was predictable.This movie is as fleshed out as they come, very multi-layered. The resolution was very satisfying. I will be buying this film for others as well. A++++++++++ 10 stars, Spike did it again.
tieman64
Spike Lee's "Get On the Bus" sees a group of African-American men boarding a bus to Washington, DC. Once there they hope to attend the Million Man March. The brainchild of Louis Farrakhan, the event was staged in an attempt to draw attention to the various social and economic ills plaguing the African-American community.Much "African American art" between the period of 1985-1995 took aim at what was perceived to have been a failure in black manhood (the March itself excluded women). Black problems were seen to be exclusively a "black problem", and one which could be fixed if only black males "became better role models", "stopped blaming whites", "stopped engaging in crime" and "picked themselves up by their bootstraps". Blacks, in other words, should improve their conditions, a stance which radical African American activist Carl Dix would mock: "Black youth pulling up their pants doesn't stop factories moving half way around the world. Don't treat results as if they're causes!" Lee's "Get On The Bus" is another tract which ignores systems and mistakes results and causes. His film's bus is filled with various characters, all of whom are stereotypes. And so we meet the wise black man, the religious black man, the gay black man, the hard working black man, the young artist, the middle-aged actor, the Jewish bus driver, the homophobe, the civil worker, the mixed race black man, the tough guy, the bad father, the petty criminal, the sensitive guy etc. After he sets up various preconceptions and clichés, Lee then reverses them by employing various countercliches. By its end, "Bus" posits black progress as being dependent upon the negotiation of conflicting attitudes, and the weathering of both generational shifts and divisions within black communities. The film's opening sequence, which conveys all the film's themes in a concise manner, exemplifies this. Here we see shots of an African in chains, whilst the lyrics to Michael Jackson's "On The Line" unfold: "No sense pretending it's over, hard times just don't go away, you must take that chip off your shoulder, open up and have some faith. Nothing good ever comes easy, all good things come in due time, have something to believe in, open your mind." "Get On The Bus" sports fine performances by Charles S. Dutton and Wendell Pierce, the latter playing a Republican businessman who is comically thrown off Lee's bus (another Republican stays on). The rest of Lee's cast are unconvincing, largely due to a heavy handed, overly didactic screenplay. The film was shot on a tiny budget over the course of 18 days.6/10 – Worth one viewing.
bryanac625
I always intended to watch this movie for a long time but I kept putting it off. I was really surprised at how excellent and well-written this movie actually was. If you enjoy films where a group of diverse people are put into a situation and then left to deal with each other (eg "Twelve Angry Men"), then you must see this movie. This film was also very intelligent. I think too many people believe that if you get a group of black men together for anything, they'll soon be calling each other "nigga" and violence will erupt, not necessarily in that order. About halfway through the movie, I told my wife that the n-word had not been used at all, and no punches had been thrown.But I was wrong.What made it even more interesting was the way the men responded to the person who called everyone "nigga," and there was a fight, which occurred between a homosexual and an arrogant, big-mouthed guy who kept calling him "faggot." I don't condone violence, but the gay guy knocked him down a peg or two, and he certainly had it coming. This film also solidifies Andre Braugher as an incredible actor. He has taken on such diverse roles and here, he was outstanding. So many of these actors were. Almost every scenario and discussion is covered in two hours well spent.
wellesly01
This movie is a modest effort by Spike Lee. He is capable of much more than this movie.Get on the Bus while apparenly anti racist, does nothing but berate whites and degrade the black status quo. The plot of this movie is about a group of black men who travel on a bus to Louis Farrakhan's million man march. The bus has every type of person you could imagine:gay, Muslim, gangbanger and the Uncle Tom(He is thrown off the bus though). There was one only white person on the bus. He was accused of being a racist the minute he got on the bus to drive. Despite him being a jew and the fact that he explained is situation he ended up being a racist and leaving the bus.I hate to say it but films like this need to realize their own hipocracy and rienforcation of steryotypes. This should not be seen as a triumph but a sad disappointment. You may think I am a racist for writing this but I mean well. Better luck next time Spike.