Malcolm X (1992)

"A...measured and intelligent portrait...  Leonard Maltin
"Smashing. An event movie that lives up to the event.  Mike Clark, USA Today
"A spiritually enriching testament to the human capacity for change -- and surely Spike Lee's most universally appealing film.  Rita Kempley, Washington Post

Editor's Note Spike Lee brings the life of African-American leader Malcolm X (an intense Denzel Washington in an Oscar-nominated performance) to the big screen in this sprawling, epic biographical drama. Born Malcolm Little, son of a Nebraska preacher, on May 19, 1925, he became one of the most militant leaders and charismatic spokesmen of the black liberation movement before his assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965. The film sweeps through his early life as a small-time hustler and thief with his friend Shorty (Lee), his conversion to Islam in jail, and his subsequent life as a controversial spiritual leader and husband of Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett). Malcolm's tragic assassination is presented as a conspiracy of Nation of Islam leaders; the film shows how his philosophy has been realized in the lives of others who have been moved by his words. Filmed with great visual flair by Lee, the film is a work of entertainment as much as it is a historical artifact. Washington captures the spiritual conversion of the hero with a sincerity that is entirely as believable and ultimately moving as it was in the book that inspired the film, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X.

	Al Freeman, Jr.
	Albert Hall
	Angela Bassett
	Denzel Washington
	Alex Haley - Based on Novel By
	Barry Alexander Brown - Editor
	Ernest R. Dickerson - Cinematographer
	Malcolm X - Based on Novel By
	Ruth E. Carter - Costume Designer
	Spike Lee - Director
	Spike Lee, et al. - Screenplay
	Spike Lee, et al. - Producer
	Terence Blanchard - Musical Score
	Wynn Thomas - Production Designer

The controversial chronicle of the life of spiritual and political leader, Malcolm X, assassinated at age 39 by black extremists, this well-made, epic film is directed by African-American auteur Spike Lee, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Denzel Washington as the charismatic leader.

"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us."---- Malcolm X (Denzel Washington)

Rolling Stone
"...Triumphant....Denzel Washington gives the performance of the year..." 12/10/1992 p.192

USA Today
"...Washington's great performance dominates....MALCOLM X conveys its subject's magnetism and lifelong evolution, while forever synergizing its lead performer and his role..." -- 4 out of 4 stars 11/18/1992 p.1D

Entertainment Weekly
"...A triumph, an intimate and engrossing biographical saga....With MALCOLM X, Lee has created a galvanizing political tragedy..." 11/20/1993 p.68-70

Chicago Sun-Times
"...In a time when political currents are moving quickly, Lee is one of the few American filmmakers with the clout and the will to make a controversial film like this..." 12/27/1992 p.3

Total Film
"...It quivers with righteous rage. Washington is remarkable throughout..." 05/01/2000 p.122

Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 9 of 10
Sweeping biography of the black leader, tracing his transformation from street hustler to prison inm - Leonard Maltin

Washington Post 8 of 10
The much-hyped Malcolm X happens to be a spiritually enriching testament to the human capacit - Rita Kempley