Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing • 2h 0m
Directed by Spike Lee • 1989 • United States
Starring Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Rosie Perez
Set on one block of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy Do or Die neighborhood, at the height of summer, this 1989 masterpiece by Spike Lee confirmed him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement. Over the course of a single day, the easygoing interactions of a cast of unforgettable characters—Da Mayor, Mother Sister, Mister Señor Love Daddy, Tina, Sweet Dick Willie, Buggin Out, Radio Raheem, Sal, Pino, Vito, and Lee’s Mookie among them—give way to heated confrontations as tensions rise along racial fault lines, ultimately exploding into violence. Punctuated by the anthemic refrain of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” DO THE RIGHT THING is a landmark in American cinema, as politically and emotionally charged and as relevant now as when it first hit the big screen.
Up Next in Do the Right Thing
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DO THE RIGHT THING Commentary
Recorded in 1995 for the Criterion Collection’s laserdisc edition of DO THE RIGHT THING, this commentary features director Spike Lee, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee.
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DO THE RIGHT THING Behind the Scenes
Director Spike Lee and his brother Cinqué Lee shot the following footage during preproduction on DO THE RIGHT THING and at the block party celebrating the film’s wrap in the summer of 1988. It is preceded by a brief introduction by Spike, recorded in 2000.
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DO THE RIGHT THING Deleted and Extend...
