Product Details

• Actors: Usher Raymond, Forest Whitaker, Rosario Dawson, Robert Ri'chard, Judd Nelson
• Directors: Craig Bolotin
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 6, 2001
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00066FAEE
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,247 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Light It Up" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It makes sorrowful sense that a 1999 revision (albeit unofficial) of John Hughes's The Breakfast Club would involve guns on a high school campus, a children's crusade fought on the Internet, a handful of adolescents imprisoned by their fight-or-flight reputations in the inner city, and... oh yes, Judd Nelson. Nelson, who played the heavy-metal lout from a violent home in The Breakfast Club, shows up here as a hip history instructor named Knowles, so committed to his students in deplorable classroom circumstances that he leads them to friendlier digs off-campus and is suspended for his efforts.

Already outraged about an earlier run-in with a high-strung security guard (Forest Whitaker)--who later pulls a gun on the most harmless kid at school--young Lester (Usher Raymond) wounds the guard, leads a takeover of the building, and oversees authorship of an online manifesto explaining his actions. While supporters, detractors, and cops jockey for position outside, Lester and his fellow rebels, a perfect mix of teenage archetypes who normally would have little to do with one another, unburden their souls. The Hughes Effect kicks in as Lester reveals that his decent father was killed by racist cops, that a Sal Mineo-type (Robert Richards) is beaten at home, that a pregnant girl (Sara Gilbert) wasn't even kissed by the creep she slept with, etc. Writer-director Craig Bolotin, unlike Hughes, can't persuade us to overlook the convenient symmetries and complementary struggles among his outcasts. Everything begins to feel forced after awhile, heading toward a prefabricated finish, though Bolotin's good intentions are not without some emotional impact. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

In his dazzling leading-role debut, Usher Raymond (Billboard's "Star Of The Year") plays Lester, the troubled teen who has finally been pushed to his limit. Taking matters into their own hands, Lester and his friends hold a police officer (Forest Whitaker) hostage and barricade themselves inside the school. Negotiator Audrey McDonald (Vanessa L. Williams) struggles to maintain peace while tensions simmer inside. As the crisis builds, "The Lincoln Six" discover talents they didn't know they had as their fight to expose dismal classroom conditions gains national attention. Starring "a cast of gifted newcomers" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times), this powerful and uplifting film lit up audiences around the nation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best movies ever!, June 14, 2000

By	Steven White (nowheresville TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Light It Up [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Wow,I am in awe of this genious movie.I guess it's kinda controversial(they take a cop hostage and lock themselves in the school to prove their points) but that only adds to the brilliance of it.I thought Usher was just a talentless teen idol but this movie changed my mind about him.He really is amazing as an actor.It was also a nice suprise to see my favorite actress Sara Gilbert appear in it.As always,she is superb.This movie speaks a lot of truth.Its also full of hope.Hope that maybe someday people will understand that age is just a number.Maybe they'll realize that racism gets us nowhere.THAT'S what this movie is all about.As one of the characters said,"All we want is respect!".Thats what its all about.Standing up for your beliefs.I highly reccomend this fabulous movie to anyone.It changed my life.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A view from the other side, September 18, 2000

By	Billy Halsey "photographer" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Light it Up (DVD)

Too many times in recent years we have tuned into the news only to hear of another school shooting. In this movie, we see it from the point of view of the students involved. This brilliant film from Craig Bolotin, the director of Miami Vice, shows us how good people can suddenly find themselves involved in bad situations. Because of a self-serving principal and a cop with too much attitude, six high school students take the cop hostage and ask for better school furniture, textbooks, etc., as their demands. As the movie plays on, we see that each character is very deep and complex -- each with her or his demons, each with redeeming qualities. The beginning of the film, until the time that the cop is taken hostage, seems contrived and there are several inconsistencies with the film, but overall, it is definitely worth watching.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Light" makes you think!, January 23, 2000

By	Dave (Philladelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

When I saw "Light It Up", the first thing that popped in my mind was "these kids have a point". A few weeks ago I read about two towns from California. One was a "rich" neighborhood, and the other was known as a "poor" neighborhood. The rich neighborhood was currently having a pool put into their school. On the other hand, the poor neighborhood had a school full of 3,000 students, but they only had 1 toilet. After a teacher got all of the children in a class to take pictures of all of the bad qualities of the school. These pictures were printed in the town paper, two weeks later construction was started to fix the school up, just as much as the town to the side of them! In "Light It Up", the teens take a different approach to fix the conditions of the school, they still got their point across. This movie was very insperational, and the web site of it explained how to quote "light it up" for your school and/or neighborhood. The teens that act in this movie portray a real image of youths today. The directing and drama in this movie is extroidenery.