MovieChat Forums > Malcolm X (1992) Discussion > How Well This Movie Sticks to the Book

How Well This Movie Sticks to the Book

posted 9 years ago by aag12345-1
5 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie when it appeared in the theaters in the 90s. When I heard Spike was making the movie, I read Alex Haley's Autobiography of Malcolm X because I knew that's what the film would be based on (have done that a few times over the years with topics/filmmakers that I like).

One thing that I liked is how faithful Spike was to Alex Haley's book. Nearly always, Hollywood takes shortcuts on films based on books and cuts parts out, changes some things for suspense/drama/romance, etc.

I think this maybe the most faithful adaptation of a book that's ever been made into a major movie. That's got to be because of the reverance that Spike had for the material, but it's still nice to see. I wish it would happen more.

"Boy that was really exciting. I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan aren't ya."

[–] HowYaLikeDemApplesWill 9 years ago

Yes, it was faithful to the book...which ironically was a work of fiction itself, the 'autobiographical' title notwithstanding.

Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

[–] jcmiddel 8 years ago

That's the reason hollywood doesn't like it, the movie has a rating of a 7.7 but should be atleast a 8.0

[–] TrangPak2 8 years ago

I would t blame that on Hollywood per se. Racist are notorious for giving black films low ratings on this site.

[–] Satan2016 (25577) 4 years ago

Ridiculous criticism! Malcolm X was racist and delusional.

[–] Techto (1316) 4 years ago

Personally I thought Spike’s prologue and parts of the epilogue detracted from the film. Denzel’s performance and the source material were strong points.