Get on the Bus (1996)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer (WGA):

Reggie Rock Bythewood (written by)

Release Date:

16 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

On October 16, 1996, the one year anniversary of the Million Man March, Spike Lee invites you to lift your head, raise your voice, and...get on the bus.

Plot:

Get on the Bus follows several Black men on a cross country bus trip to the Million Man March. On the...

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Million Man March | Political | Father Son Relationship | Racial Slur

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Richard Belzer	...	Rick
De'aundre Bonds	...	Junior, aka 'Smooth'
Andre Braugher	...	Flip
Thomas Jefferson Byrd	...	Evan Thomas Sr.
Gabriel Casseus	...	Jamal
Albert Hall	...	Craig
Hill Harper	...	Xavier
Harry Lennix	...	Randall
Bernie Mac	...	Jay
Wendell Pierce	...	Wendell
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Gary
Isaiah Washington	...	Kyle
Steve White	...	Mike
Ossie Davis	...	Jeremiah
Charles S. Dutton	...	George

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34796) | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | UK:15

Company:

15 Black Men

Trivia:

Released on 16 October 1996; approximately one year after the March itself.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: By evening on the second day of driving, the bus had gone from Los Angeles, CA to Memphis, TN (almost 1,800 miles). Despite driving through the night, by evening on the third day they had only traveled as far as Knoxville, TN (almost 400 miles).

Quotes:

Jeremiah: I think as we prepare to go on this journey; it might be appropriate to have a prayer.
[praying]
Jeremiah: Dear Lord, we ask you to...
Flip: [running onto the bus] Damn, I'm glad ya'll ain't left. I didn't think I was ever goin' to...
George: [angrily] Hey; CP Time, we tryin' to have a prayer here!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Spin City: Don't Get on the Bus (#4.21)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Destitripology

Powerfully good

I just got done watching Spike Lee's "Get on the Bus" for the first time in about a year. The movie is done in a manner, I can't really describe it, that is very different from previous efforts by Spike Lee. The film follows a bus of about twenty men, all African-American, on a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the Million March that was held there in 1995, about a year before this movie was made. We follow each of the men, including a father and son who have tethered together on a court order; a homophobic actor, who takes an immediate disliking to two homosexual men; a cop whose father was killed in the line of duty; a former gang member who is now a social services worker for troubled kids who he's trying to keep from living a life in gangs; an up and coming film student, who is video taping the event so he can show it to his future children; and an open-hearted elderly man who is going to the Million Man March simply because he wants to.

"Get on the Bus" is in my opinion, one of Spike Lee's best films. Each of the characters are unique in one a way or another.

A film that is not to be missed.