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Miracle at St Anna [Blu-ray] | ![Miracle at St Anna [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JnXhfFGXL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Spike Lee
Actors: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfrancesco Favino
Studio: TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
List Price: $34.99
Buy Used: $7.00
You Save: $27.99 (80%)
New (35) Used (30) from $7.00
Rating:  122 reviews
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 160 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 10043000
UPC: 786936786729
EAN: 0786936786729
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: February 10, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA BLU-RAY
Amazon.com
Every major American filmmaker has a war movie inside them. After the twin triumphs of When the Levees Broke and Inside Man, his biggest box office hit, Spike Lee puts his distinctive stamp on World War II. Though Miracle at St. Anna begins and ends in 1983, most of the action takes place in 1944. The segregation of the time leads to the Army's African-American 92nd Infantry Division. In Italy, four of these Buffalo Soldiers, Sergeants Stamps (Antwone Fisher's Derek Luke) and Bishop (Barbershop's Michael Ealy), Corporal Hector (Jarhead's Laz Alonso), and sweet, superstitious Private Train (The Express's Omar Benson Miller), get separated from their unit while fighting the Germans. On the way to higher ground, Train rescues a boy from the rubble. With nine-year-old Angelo (newcomer Matteo Sciabordi) in tow, the soldiers secure shelter in a Tuscan town, where they band together with the villagers, including lovely English speaker Renata (Artemisia's Valentina Cervi), nurse the delusional boy back to health (he has an imaginary playmate named Arturo), and prepare for the next attack. Like Inside Man, Miracle marks one of the few times Lee has drafted an outsider to write the script, in this case bestselling author James McBride, who adapts from his novel. The combination of sensibilities results in a film that alternates, sometimes awkwardly, between cynicism and sentimentality. Tonal irregularities aside, Miracle at St. Anna pays overdue tribute to the 15,000 men who fought for freedom in a country that showed them greater respect than their nation of origin. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews: Read 117 more reviews...
 Painstakingly accurate, actually. August 2, 2010
Stacy K. (Omaha, NE USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
As it happens, the US 92nd Infantry Division was a dumping ground for incompetent white officers. The general staff operated on the assumption that these imcompetents would do the least damage, overall, commanding Negro soldiers, who were generally tolerated by the white man's army only at the insistence of the Roosevelt Administration. The high percentage of bad reviews this excellent and historically accurate movie has received has little to do with the movie itself, and everything to do with the persistence of institutional and structural racism in the US, because this movie is, as I say, painstakingly accurate. It is worth noting that the full range of racial attitudes are depicted here among every group. For instance, a second white company commander informs the divisional commander of why these men were isolated on the far side of a river their own company commander insists they didn't cross. White MPs intervene on behalf of the black soldiers who were denied service at a cafe in Mississippi, to no avail. A German officer stops a man under his command from shooting a wounded and unarmed black American. The black soldiers in this movie also represent the full range of men serving in the 92nd; just as white soldiers were not all exemplary, neither was every black man heroic simply because he was black. But this isn't just a war movie, it is also a complex mystery, which also makes it enigmatic to the typical Clint Eastwood/John Wayne fan. If you are a white person considering this movie, you must suspend most of your assumptions first, and accept the accuracy of this movie, even though you do not wish to believe that it is accurate. If you can't do that, you will dismiss it as nonsense.
Great movie it can get no better! July 27, 2010
JD
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Spike Lee is not capabe of making a bad movie. His movies require you to think about it think back and look beyond the picture.I am a world war 2 movie person so this movie was nothing but stellar for me but you may have a different perspective.
Action June 7, 2010
Daniel Cicconi (FRAMINGHAM, MA USA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Had never heard of this movie. I first saw it on Encore and thought I must have this movie. I am very happy with it
DISAPPOINTING May 4, 2010
Bambi Shangri-La (Phoenix, AZ USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Spike Lee is one of our generation's best filmmakers. However, whenever he attacks an ambitious theme, he seems to "over produce". Here, he directs James McBride's screenplay about the courageous contribution of African-American soldiers in WWII, something which has been overlooked by every contemporary filmmaker from John Ford to Clint Eastwood. Lee's foray into epic war movies sadly backfires. The opening scene was unexpected and powerful, leaving you to believe that something really exciting would follow. NOT! The lack of character development and muddled plot lines result in us not getting a sense for these 4 soldiers from the all-black 92nd Infantry Division trapped in a village in Tuscany with Germans closing in. The location shots are lush and the soundtrack provides the suspense and pathos lacking in the dialogue and acting. The actors' efforts are lost in a film almost entirely in Italian or German WITH SUBTITLES! It's hard enough to follow along without having to read dialogue. Derek Luke, Michael Ealy and Laz Alonso are excellent in their thin feature parts. However, Omar Benson Miller is miscast in a pivotal role as a Forrest Whitaker wannabee who talks like minstrel player. His bumbling teddy bear shuffle-along act quickly got on my nerves. Also, I blinked and completely missed Kerry Washington! While I appreciate and respect what Lee tried to do here, as an African-American, I'm deeply offended by the shallow stereotypes depicted - one soldier teaching a young Italian boy to "high five" while another lusts after "forbidden fruit" (white women), combined with Miller's "shuck'n & jive'n holy ghost" act. The 166-minute mess is an hour too long. With some deft editing and better character development, "Miracle At St. Anna" could be a historically significant work, both entertaining and educational. As it stands now, it's a great cure for insomnia.
 Black History In Fiction May 4, 2010
Deborah P (San Pedro, CA)
I wasn't sure I liked this movie the first time I saw it. I think that's my first response to a lot of Spike Lee's movies. The first time I watched this one, I was looking for the over-all story. It would give that part alone about 3 out of 5 stars. But as a snap shot of black history, I thought this movie was well done. When I watched it (on video) the second time, I was more into watching how the very individualized black characters react to racism in the 1940s. When that was more central to my focus the movie meant more to me. (Also interesting: How different groups with totally different agendas appeal to God to be on their side)
When the story was about racism and when it wasn't, the story was more about individual people in a certain situation than it was about the situation (WWII) itself. Spike showed the Germans as good and bad, as strong and weak, some only really interested in getting back to their daily lives with wives and children--and some of them only interested in honor and glory and advancing their own rank in the military. (I never understood the comparison to Clint Eastwood's WWII movies: Clint used individual people to give a big but intimate picture of the whole war.)
It took some getting used to the big, simple guy who adopts the little boy--but I did second time I saw it. The little boy, I never got used to. Seems like a casting error to me most of the time, but he did a good job just looking tiny and vulnerable sometimes. Still, something about him was too clumsy at times--but I got over it.
In the end, I would say I liked the characters and how they showed up in the story. And that's what Spike Lee movies are all about. It's usually not about how you move from A to B to C to the end with his movies. It's always about the characters. And I liked them and I liked the bit of black history the movie revealed. So mission accomplished.
I bet the book this story is based on is awesome.
Give a shot--more than one.
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