Release Date: February 19, 2008
Rating: 3 ½  ½
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, John Hawkes and RZA
Written by: Steven Zaillian
Directed by: Ridley Scott
American Gangster is a new crime drama from Ridley Scott, focusing on the heroin empire of Frank Lucas in 1970’s New York and New Jersey, and the efforts of detective Richie Roberts to bring him down. The film is loaded with Scott’s customary eye for detail, and filled with solid performances, especially Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in the dual lead roles. A certain amount of liberty has been taken with the facts of the case, but this is for a more dramatic effect. The film contrasts the rigid family ethic of Washington’s crime organization with Crowe’s honest cop, whose home life is a disaster. The film is actually quite restrained in terms of flashiness, keeping a more muted tone throughout, as is consistent with Lucas’ real-life emphasis on maintaining a low profile. The occasional times that the costumes or the art direction really pop are quite memorable, whether they be at the local clubs or at the infamous Ali/Frazier fight where Lucas broke with his usual practices and sported a memorably over-the-top Chinchilla coat and hat. That kind of event aside, Scott keeps the film focused on the characters and their inevitable momentum toward each other. For the DVD release, Scott has prepared a special longer cut of the film, running an additional 18 minutes and containing several additional scenes and scene extensions. While some are interesting shadings, most are simply unnecessary material that might have been better featured in a deleted scene archive. An extended ending is particularly unnecessary, as it really doesn’t say anything more than the theatrical release did, and if anything, steps on the simplicity and effectiveness of the established conclusion.
As is typical for Ridley Scott films on DVD, this one comes loaded with special features, from a scene-specific commentary led by Scott and Steven Zaillian to the usual Charles de Lauzirika documentary on the making of the film to various featurettes that delve a little deeper to a pair of additional deleted scenes. No trailers are included here for the film, or for any other Universal titles, but that may simply be due to the film and the included features filling up the discs pretty well as it is.
 VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5
American Gangster is presented in a solid 1.85:1 transfer that is far less flashy than one might expect from Ridley Scott. While there are a few action sequences here and there, and a few bigger vista shots, the emphasis here is on the smaller scenes between a smaller number of people. Flesh tones are accurate, particularly given the multiple ethnicities on screen here, ranging from the primarily white policemen to Lucas’ Harlem empire to the multiple visits to Thailand. Scott mentions on his commentary that he and cameraman Harris Savides used a process intended to actually pull some of the color saturation from the picture, as part of the 70’s look they were creating. So the transfer is intentionally muted, save for a few scenes where Scott and Savides deliberately go for a louder and flashier look, such as the Ali/Frazier fight as referenced above. Either way, this is a solid, sharp standard definition transfer, and a pleasure to watch.
AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5
American Gangster is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English and French that fills the home theatre with music and atmospheric sound. As is usual for a Ridley Scott film, the sound presentation gets as detailed a level of attention as the visual presentation. There is some directional sound here and there, and the sound effects crunch through both the front and the rear channels. The French 5.1 track is only available on the Theatrical version. The Extended Unrated Edition can be only be heard in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 3 ½/5 ½
American Gangster comes loaded with multiple features, enough to make the viewer actually wish there was a little more material included, as there was clearly plenty more from which to choose.
- Feature Commentary with Ridley Scott and Steven Zaillian – This scene-specific commentary runs the entire length of the film, with Ridley Scott and Steven Zaillian each offering their insights as to the film and everything about it. Both men were recorded separately, so their comments are edited to trade off as we move through the various scenes, but they are almost always speaking about either what is directly on the screen at the time, or what was going on behind the camera when that scene was created. Each brings a lot to the table. Zaillian notes that Scott is probably most comfortable when actually working on set, rather than either prepping the film or posting it. Scott himself acknowledges that he has gotten into a rhythm of working faster than in his storied past, preferring to work with at least 3 cameras and get his shots within 2 or 3 takes. (And by doing just over 15 to 18 shots per day, he can actually come out with around 50 setups on film per day.) Scott talks about the alternate opening seen in the deleted scenes section and why he chose the one that actually got used in the film. He also discusses why he ended the film as he did, even though the longer ending was restored for the DVD extended cut. This commentary is not available on the Unrated Extended Edition – it can only be heard over the Theatrical Release.
- Deleted Scenes (3:44, Anamorphic) – Two brief deleted scenes are included here in anamorphic format. The first is the original opening to the film, which is interesting but not as compelling as the one finally chosen by Scott. The second scene is a longer look at Frank Lucas’ wedding. It’s full of interesting period detail, but is ultimately unnecessary to the film.
- Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster (1:18:15, Anamorphic) – WATCH OUT FOR SPOILERS HERE; IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW THE STORY, WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST - This is a five-part documentary produced by Charles de Lauzirika, covering most aspects of making the film – from the true story on which it is based through the production and through the editing and scoring sessions. Interviews with the real Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas start the whole thing off, along with a discussion about how the film originally began as a Steven Zaillian script and then a potential Antoine Fuqua film with Denzel Washington. The documentary examines how Ridley Scott and then Russell Crowe were brought on board by producer Brian Grazer after the film initially collapsed, and how Scott was able to connect with Washington and bring him back to the project. Some footage is included of Scott at work in preproduction and on the set. Grazer in particular is clearly a big fan of Scott’s work, especially after watching how quickly the film gets shot. There are some tantalizing references to other areas that don’t get addressed – the film’s schedule had to be accommodated for Washington (likely due to his work on The Great Debaters, thus necessitating the filming of all of Russell Crowe’s scenes first, since the characters don’t interact much until the final parts of the film.) The challenges and difficulties of doing this (and of obtaining all the photos that Crowe posts on the bulletin board as they build their case) isn’t really discussed, but would have made for an interesting discussion. One area that does get some attention is the fact that both Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas make appearances on the set, with Lucas apparently becoming more and more interested the longer the shoot goes on. Brian Grazer notes how Scott has been able to diplomatically deal with Lucas during the occasions when the real person’s instructions might be counterproductive to Scott actually making the movie. The production’s concluding days on location in Thailand with Denzel Washington are handled mostly in terms of the production design, although Washington does chime in with the realization of how big of an undertaking this must have been for Lucas back in the day. Costume designer Janty Yates discusses her work with the cast, including the infamous Chinchilla outfit, but her discussion actually contradicts Ridley Scott’s commentary if you pay attention. It’s not a major thing, but it’s interesting to see how their individual perceptions differ here. Finally, the editing and scoring is discussed, with longtime Scott collaborator Pietro Scalia noting that his job was actually made a little easier due to the separate filming of the arcs of each character. To round things out, the scoring work of Marc Streitenfeld is contrasted with the song recordings done by Hank Shocklee.
Three brief featurettes are also included here, under the heading of Case Files:
- Script Meeting (8:10, Anamorphic) WATCH OUT FOR SPOILERS ON THIS FEATURETTE – This featurette is the tape of most of a teleconference meeting held at the production office on July 26, 2006, with Ridley Scott and Richie Roberts at the table with some production people, and Steven Zaillian appearing via speakerphone from his home. The meeting consists of Scott and Roberts giving a series of notes and corrections to Zallian, which will then be incorporated in the next draft of the script, which Zaillian promises will come by the end of the day. This is an interesting “fly on the wall” kind of featurette which shows a good part of the discussion of how the ending narration on the film evolves. For example, Zaillian grills Roberts about how many cops they can say were arrested or convicted as a result of the investigation. This is really fascinating material, and it would be interesting if there are more such meetings on tape.
- Heroin Test Show and Tell (8:56, Anamorphic) – This featurette is the tape of a prop demonstration conducted on July 25, 2006 by Peter Gelfman (the film’s prop master) for Ridley Scott, with NYPD Tech Advisor Scott Dillin in attendance. The idea here is that Scott is trying to find a way to show the heroin in the film being tested and shown to be the purest possible stuff. Gelfman and Dillin discuss the unreality of film tests a la The French Connection but allow that a test could be done to rule out the impurities rather than to show the purities themselves. Scott effectively talks himself into how he will need to stage both the initial test and a second test by the cops, just to hammer home the point of how pure Lucas’ stuff is. This is another “fly on the wall” kind of tape, and it again points up how interesting this kind of material can be.
- Setting Up the Takedown (7:44, Anamorphic) – ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING HERE – WATCH THE FILM FIRST! – This featurette primarily covers the filming of the police raid on the heroin lab in the projects, as filmed at Governor’s Island in New York between August 28 and August 31, 2006. Since this was in the earlier part of the shoot and Washington was unavailable, this was in the Russell Crowe section of the schedule. Some of this material is duplicative of things we can also see in the longer documentary, but it’s still great stuff, including Crowe making jokes on set regarding Gladiator. A little footage is appended at the end, showing the church bust of Lucas, mostly just showing a few moments on the set of Russell Crowe getting to meet and interact with some cast members he otherwise had clearly not met during the shoot.
Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish for the film itself, as well as for the special features. A standard chapter menu is included on the first disc for quick reference, with the viewer initially being given an option to choose either the Theatrical film or the Unrated Extended Edition. No trailers are included on either disc.
IN THE END...
American Gangster is a solid addition to the ever-growing collection of Ridley Scott films that many DVD enthusiasts have been building over the years. The film is a good piece of work with good performances by an interesting cast, and the special features once again show Scott’s enthusiasm both for the form and for his audience. My only wish here would be to see more of the material that Scott and de Lauzirika collected, but this is a solid package as-is, and I would definitely recommend it for a purchase, even if you have not seen the film yet.
Kevin Koster
February 18, 2007.
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VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5 
