The Glass Shield [HD]

A deserving special edition for this movie
Charles Burnett is one of America's most underrated filmmakers working today. Unlike his African-American contemporary, Spike Lee, he is not an outspoken personality in his own right, preferring to let the work speak for itself. In many respects, his films are self-aware in terms of social conscience as John Sayles' own work. As a result, Burnett also finds it hard to get his movies widely distributed. The Glass Shield was his attempt to reach a wider audience by having Miramax distribute it. Sadly, like Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, it was subjected to the same lackluster release by Miramax head honcho, Harvey Weinstein and promptly disappeared.

Stylistically, Burnett is not as in-your-face as Spike Lee, preferring to let the content and the characters deliver his message. That's not to say his films don't have their own style-The Glass Shield is a well-shot movie (adopting a colour scheme that reflects Johnson's comic book fantasies)-it just doesn't cause unnecessary attention...

Great Little Gem
I liked this modest budget cop thriller movie very much. A great ensemble cast was assembled with well known and recognizable actors (including Ice Cube, Lori Petty, Michael Boatman, Michael Ironside, M. Emmett Walsh, Elliot Gould) for reportedly very little money. The production values are also top notch for a low budget film. The Director, Charles Burnett, a MacArthur "Genius" Grant award winner and the writer-director of the acclaimed "To Sleep With Anger", apparently attracted top talent and key crew people for this film.

Although there are no big, expensive stunts, there is plenty of suspense and drama. The film is supposed to be based upon true events and stories, making it more realistic and compelling.

I highly recommend this film.

Highly Recommended.
This movie was pretty good. I started watchin this movie with my friends and they said it was a LA CONFIDENTIAL ripoff. I think that it wasn't and i think it was awesome.

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