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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

American History X
New Line Cinema


8.9

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 100 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Lake of Fire

MPAA RATING: R for graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity

Starring Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach, and Elliott Gould

A groundbreaking controversial drama about the tragic consequences of racism in a family. (New Line Cinema)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	David McKenna
DIRECTED BY:	Tony Kaye
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 16, 1999 Video: April 16, 1999 Theatrical: October 30, 1998
RUNNING TIME:	117 minutes, BW / Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel

A shockingly powerful screed against racism that also manages to be so well performed and directed that it is entertaining as well. [30 October 1998, Friday, p.A]

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Feels as true as a documentary, as painful as a blow to the heart.

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

What makes this film so powerful is that its unanswered questions force the audience to examine hate and its consequences making American History X one lesson you can't miss.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

This is the sort of incendiary role a lot of actors would kill for, yet the shock of Norton's performance isn't its showboat flamboyance. It's that he makes this sadistic junior sociopath rueful and intelligent.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

An inflated yet gut-slugging film.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

American History X is a crash course on how to make a message movie that resonates with crackling power.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Jolting, superbly acted film.

Film.com Gemma Files

A true achievement -- no matter who eventually wants to take, or deny, credit for its creation.

Film.com Norman Green

Despite a cheap, Hollywood ending and despite Kaye's kooky campaign, X is a killer.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A series of well-drawn sketches and powerful scenes, in search of an organizing principle.

San Francisco Examiner Craig Marine

Such an ambitious, well-acted film that it's easy to overlook its flaws as relatively minor.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Unflinching in its depiction of racism, anti-Semitism, violence and jailhouse politics.

USA Today Mike Clark

While this movie is sometimes overbaked, it is the first major studio release in a while to engross wall-to-wall.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

May be flawed, but it's not easily forgotten.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Trenchant and visceral, American History X may not be perfect, but it's a darn sight better than good.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The movie can't explain as much as it wants to about what makes (and unmakes) a skinhead, but it carries us a fair distance.

TV Guide Ken Fox

It's Norton who makes the film such an enlightening experience, and he's mesmerizing.

Slate David Edelstein

It's a testament to Norton's utter immersion in the role that he can even halfway connect the dots between this fundamentally sweet, brainy kid and the magnetic, white trash monster who'll haunt our minds long after the movie's liberal pieties fade into static.

Film.com John Hartl

Norton's performance, which is every bit as varied as his Oscar-nominated work in Primal Fear, once more demonstrates that he's one of the most remarkable chameleons working in film.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A violent, sober cautionary tale, strictly middle-of-the-road when it comes to its much-ballyhooed politics and grimly obvious in its telling.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Excellent in flashes, unintentionally absurd and lead-footed at other moments, the movie stumbles under the weight of its own grandiose intentions.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Joshua Klein

There may be much to like about his movie, but it's all been done before to more challenging degrees of moral ambiguity. That's a pretty fatal flaw.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

Director Tony Kaye may be reaching for opera, but screenwriter David McKenna has set his sights distinctly lower.

Newsweek David Ansen

This material is charged enough without piling on the melodrama and the lip-smacking violence. The movie too often sacrifices reportage for razzle-dazzle.

Time Richard Corliss

It's hard to know whom to blame for the film's choppiness, its mixture of rage and sentimentality, the stridency of some of the acting.

New York Post Rod Dreher

The picture is smothered by solemn right-mindedness, and hobbled by scripter David McKenna's simplistic, knee-jerk liberal take on suburban white racism.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

For all its surface verisimilitude and for all its focus on a problem that couldn't be more current, this film can't manage to feel more than sporadically real.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

As a visit to a world and a way of life most of us will never experience, American History X is vivid, and it feels honest. At the very least, it's not typical.

Dallas Observer Andy Klein

Fails dramatically as well as ideologically.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Norton's high-energy acting is the only element that saves the picture from being a total loss.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

A mousy little nothing of a picture.

Village Voice Gary Dauphin

A mess of a film.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 100 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

T J gave it a10:
One of the most brilliant films of a generation.

Mike C. gave it a10:
Stunningly moving flim with an immense performance from edward norton, a crushing, moving ending after a movie ridden with thought provoking and captivating story lines and scenes.

Josh M. gave it a10:
Powerful stuff.....great performance by the lead character. Should have won Oscar.

Tyler G. gave it a10:
I came in not knowing what to expect, but I left knowing that I just watched one of the best movies ever, bound to be a classic this movie is a MUST SEE, Edward Norton's performance is so strong and believable it's hard to not call him one of todays best actors, bottom line, easy 10.

Matt C. gave it a6:
The basketball scene was horrible. Were we expected to stand up and cheer "Go white racists, go!"? I think this movie really failed to address what lies beneath these subgroups. Not every one of those hundreds of kids had a fireman-dad-get-shot-by-crackguy story - how did they get caught up in this B.S.? The movie doesn't say. There are a lot of strong performances but a lot of stuff that just doesn't add up.

Blake J. gave it a9:
The most powerful movie I have ever seen. Bar none. Norton solidifies himself as a movie god.

Rod G. gave it a9:
Way too good of a movie for the critics to come up with a 62 rating. Well acted. I think it gave a realistic insight to why some people believe what they believe. I don't think anybody would argue that racism is ugly and terrible. I compare this movie to "Crash" as far as attempting to show small unseen factors that effect people.

American History X New Line Cinema

American History X
New Line Cinema