Set on one block of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy Do or Die neighbourhood, at the height of summer, this 1989 masterpiece by Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) confirmed him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement.
Over the course of a single day, the easy-going 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.
Extras
New 4K digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Audio commentary from 1995 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee
Introductions by Lee
Making Do the Right Thing, a documentary from 1988 by St. Clair Bourne
New interviews with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, camera assistant Darnell Martin, New York City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., and writer Nelson George
Interview with editor Barry Alexander Brown from 2000
Programmes from 2000 and 2009 featuring Lee and members of the cast and crew
Twenty Years Later, an interview programme from 2009 featuring Lee and members of the cast and crew
Music video for Public Enemy’s Fight the Power, directed by Lee, with remarks from rapper Chuck D
Behind-the-scenes footage
Cannes Film Festival press conference from 1989
Deleted and extended scenes
Original storyboards, trailer, and TV spots
PLUS: An essay by critic Vinson Cunningham, and extensive excerpts from the journal Lee kept during the preparation for and production of the film
