Product Details

• Actors: Mos Def, Russell Simmons, Tommy Bottoms, Staceyann Chin, Suheir Hammad
• Producers: Mos Def, Russell Simmons, A. Ty Risby, Allen Kelman, Danny Simmons
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 27, 2007
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000EULSS4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,838 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry: Season 4" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

RUSSELL SIMMONS DEF POETRY SEASON 4 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This IS poetry today, March 6, 2007

By 

Seano (Norristown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry: Season 4 (DVD)

As a spoken word poet and literature professor, I love Def Poetry Jam as a source of inspiration and a touchstone for the state of spoken word poetry. An ecclectic mix of different styles, season 4 is another great collection of incredible poets and poems. These are taped live in a Broadway theatre with a live audience, so it's as close to the real thing as you can get on dvd. These episodes do well to balance male and female voices as well as representatives from many different races, ethnicities and points of view. Forget about the celebrity appearances- it's the poets youmay never have heard of that will blow your mind. My personal favorites appear early, including Black Ice and a husband/wife duo telling the raw truth about raising kids on low incomes. My community college students, whom I cannot wake up to discuss Dickinson or even Hughes, were wide-eyed and all ears while I showed selections from these discs. This season includes more episodes than any of the previous three as well.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair poetry, weak packaging, May 15, 2007

By 

T. D. "A teacher and reader." (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry: Season 4 (DVD)

As I watch the episodes back-to-back, I notice my reaction to Def Poetry shifting. A given poem can be thrilling and surprising and shocking and funny and wonderful (the opener of this season, "Knock Knock" is a good example), but the shine quickly fades as I log my second and third hour. Does a certain sameness creep in? Are there obvious rules by which the poets ALL play? Can I predict the likely ebb and flow of each poem, whatever its subject? By the last episode, the poetry no longer seems original; it seems formulaic. Perhaps this just means that I should resist the temptation to take long gulps of this; perhaps half-hour sips, separated by days or weeks, is the right way to digest these performances. I ding it a star for being good, but not great.

I ding the series another star for cheap packaging. Is it too much to ask for an episode by episode set list of who performs what, either printed in the case or as a menu option on the disc? How about some sort of extras? I'd like to give credit to the poet I cited above, but I'd have to re-watch the show to catch his name.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Must buy, find right price, February 14, 2011

By 

Larry D. Thomas Jr. "puchie23" (bluffton, sc) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry: Season 4 (DVD)

I have bought 6 seasons of this show and they are all great, just find the right price i have paid from $6 to 15 dollars all were worth 15.