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Get On The Bus (1996)
Released By: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment   Rating: R   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Spike Lee
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Andre Braugher, Charles S. Dutton, Ossie Davis, Richard Belzer
Published ID: 6758
UPC: 043396058330,
Plot: Released one year to the day after the 1995 Million Man March, in which a million African-American men marched peacefully in Washington, D.C. in a bid for greater unity and understanding, Spike Lee's Get On the Bus follows a group of black men who take a charter bus from Los Angeles to the rally in the nation's capital and watches as they interact and air their personal issues and concerns. George (Charles S. Dutton) is the organizer of the trip and de facto leader of the group. Evan Thomas (Thomas Jefferson Byrd) is a truck driver who travels to the march with his son (De'Aundre Bonds) chained to his belt by court order after the boy was arrested for petty theft. Kyle (Isaiah Washington) and Randall (Harry Lennix) are gay lovers who take no small amount of abuse from their fellow passengers. Gary (Roger Guenveur Smith) is the product of a mixed-race marriage who could pass for white but sees himself as black; he's also a cop, which does little to endear him to his peers. Flip (Andre Braugher) is an actor who seems more concerned with getting his next film role than the larger issues of the march. Jamal (Gabriel Casseus) is a good-natured young Muslim trying to lead a righteous life to make up for his violent past as a gang member. A film student (Hill Harper) is capturing the trip on videotape, and Jeremiah (Ossie Davis) sits in the back, reflecting on the struggles of African-Americans in the past and present. Financed by a private group of 15 black American men (among them Will Smith and Wesley Snipes), Get On the Bus speaks less of a single political goal than of the need for black men to set aside their differences to work for their common good. While the film falls short of openly criticizing Million Man March organizer Louis Farrakhan, it does present debate about Farrakhan's ideals and statements, ultimately coming to the conclusion that whoever brought this group together is less important than the fact that they came together in peace and brotherhood. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Better the second time around
Added 4/8/2008

The first time I saw this movie , I wasn't impressed with it. It seemed boring and pointless. Then I watched again with friends and got the message behind it. Spike Lee has made a great male bonding film that everyone should see no matter what color you are.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
A GREAT BUS ADVENTURE!!!!
Added 1/16/2006


THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD MOVIE. I THINK THAT THIS MOVIE IS WAS PRETTY GOOD. I ENJOYED IT. CHARLES S. DUTTON AND AN ALL- STAR CAST GET ON THE BUS TO GO ON TO THE MILLION MAN MARCH IT IS A GREAT ADVENTURE AND A THRILLNG BUS RIDE. THIS IS A BUS RIDE WHERE PEOPLE DISPLAY THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AND LET EVERYTHING AMD EVERYONE HAS TRIBLUATIONS ALONG THE WAY BUT IN THE END ARE VERY HAPPY TO MAKE IT TO THE MARCH!!!!

6 out of 10 people found this helpful.
Spike Lee at his best and worst...
Added 4/27/2004

His best: social journalism. Nobody brings perennially pressing issues to the screen as consistently and vitally as Spike Lee---love or hate his films as you may, there's no argument that he does a superb job of provoking debate and reflection. Here it's Lee's two favorite topics, racial history/injustice/relations and (less prominently but still significant) gender/sexual issues...treated with a vast amount of humor and often insight.

His worst: at times some of his films implode when Lee gets on his soapbox and goes too heavy-handed---the Message blots out the Movie. This happens towards the last one-third, with the last 10 minutes especially preachy and contrived. The film craft breaks down, characters and dialogue that before had been pretty much spot-on suddenly verge into labored allegory and caricature.

It's like Lee drew up a laundry list of Pressing Societal Problems (brings to mind Larwence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon") and tried to allot 5-10 minutes for each one. Sometimes he does so with grace and wit, but sometimes he stumbles into glibness and stereotyping.

I was a little disappointed that Lee didn't show more of the actual Million Man march, maybe explore the controversial Louis Farrakhan a little bit more deeply. I was however pleasantly surprisd that Lee does take a fairly mature, gutsy stand on homosexuality and homophobia absent in some of his earlier films.

Had Lee made this film more as a straight (or pointed) documentary rather than trying to turn it into a heavy-handed inspirational treatise, I'd gladly give it 5 plus stars. Even in its current form it's well worth watching.


10 out of 11 people found this helpful.
One of my favz - Great actors makes it a wonderful film
Added 3/30/2004

This is according to me a very good film, it's actually one of my fav's.
What makes it so good is the feeling u get from watching the movie, U feel that u are a passenger on the bus observing the others.
There are some great performances in this movie unlike Spike Lee's HE GOT GAME that had a player in the NBA in the lead and pretty much everybody except for DENZEL & Hill Harper didn't know how to act.

Great performances from GABRIEL CASSEUS, HILL HARPER, OSSIE DAVIS and the rest of the cast.


3 out of 5 people found this helpful.
A thoughtful film
Added 3/9/2004

Get on the Bus is one of Lee's best works. Poignant, funny and introspective, it tells the tale of various black men from various walks of life; a father and his estranged, angst-ridden son, a gay couple, an arrogant actor, an ex-Crip turned Muslim, a half white cop and Ossie Davis as the "spiritual grandfather/moderator" type. They travel from California to DC for the Million Man March, and along the way come to terms with prejudice and hatred they have felt without as well as within.

Some may criticize the "stereotypical" treatment of the white characters, but this may be a bit much. The Jewish Bus driver is an honorable character, and in a scene with him and Charles Dutton, director Lee let's him speak his side of the story "OK, I may have some problems with blacks....but no more worse than the problems you have with whites. I don't have anything to prove to these guys". Randy Quade's redneck cop may have been over the top, but suffice to say, there are people in parts of America who still treat people that way.

Overall, I think this film is definitely Lee's most underrated work.


6 out of 6 people found this helpful.
Better the second time around
Added 4/8/2008

The first time I saw this movie , I wasn't impressed with it. It seemed boring and pointless. Then I watched again with friends and got the message behind it. Spike Lee has made a great male bonding film that everyone should see no matter what color you are.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
A GREAT BUS ADVENTURE!!!!
Added 1/16/2006


THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD MOVIE. I THINK THAT THIS MOVIE IS WAS PRETTY GOOD. I ENJOYED IT. CHARLES S. DUTTON AND AN ALL- STAR CAST GET ON THE BUS TO GO ON TO THE MILLION MAN MARCH IT IS A GREAT ADVENTURE AND A THRILLNG BUS RIDE. THIS IS A BUS RIDE WHERE PEOPLE DISPLAY THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AND LET EVERYTHING AMD EVERYONE HAS TRIBLUATIONS ALONG THE WAY BUT IN THE END ARE VERY HAPPY TO MAKE IT TO THE MARCH!!!!

6 out of 10 people found this helpful.
Spike Lee at his best and worst...
Added 4/27/2004

His best: social journalism. Nobody brings perennially pressing issues to the screen as consistently and vitally as Spike Lee---love or hate his films as you may, there's no argument that he does a superb job of provoking debate and reflection. Here it's Lee's two favorite topics, racial history/injustice/relations and (less prominently but still significant) gender/sexual issues...treated with a vast amount of humor and often insight.

His worst: at times some of his films implode when Lee gets on his soapbox and goes too heavy-handed---the Message blots out the Movie. This happens towards the last one-third, with the last 10 minutes especially preachy and contrived. The film craft breaks down, characters and dialogue that before had been pretty much spot-on suddenly verge into labored allegory and caricature.

It's like Lee drew up a laundry list of Pressing Societal Problems (brings to mind Larwence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon") and tried to allot 5-10 minutes for each one. Sometimes he does so with grace and wit, but sometimes he stumbles into glibness and stereotyping.

I was a little disappointed that Lee didn't show more of the actual Million Man march, maybe explore the controversial Louis Farrakhan a little bit more deeply. I was however pleasantly surprisd that Lee does take a fairly mature, gutsy stand on homosexuality and homophobia absent in some of his earlier films.

Had Lee made this film more as a straight (or pointed) documentary rather than trying to turn it into a heavy-handed inspirational treatise, I'd gladly give it 5 plus stars. Even in its current form it's well worth watching.


10 out of 11 people found this helpful.
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