Spike Lee

Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing

Set on one block of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy Do or Die neighborhood, at the height of summer, this 1989 masterpiece by Spike Lee confirmed him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement. Over the course of a single day, the easygoing interactions of a cast of unforgettable characters—Da Mayor, Mother Sister, Mister Señor Love Daddy, Tina, Sweet Dick Willie, Buggin Out, Radio Raheem, Sal, Pino, Vito, and Lee’s Mookie among them—give way to heated confrontations as tensions rise along racial fault lines, ultimately exploding into violence. Punctuated by the anthemic refrain of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” Do the Right Thing is a landmark in American cinema, as politically and emotionally charged and as relevant now as when it first hit the big screen.

Do the Right Thing

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1989
  • 120 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #97

DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 1995 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee
  • Introductions by Lee
  • Making “Do the Right Thing,” a documentary from 1989 by St. Clair Bourne, in a new 2K digital transfer
  • New interviews with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, New York City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., writer Nelson George, and filmmaker Darnell Martin
  • Three programs from 2000 and 2009, featuring Lee and cast and crew members Barry Alexander Brown, Chuck D, Dickerson, Richard Edson, Frankie Faison, Jon Kilik, Kevin Ladson, Steve Park, Rosie Perez, Luis Ramos, Monty Ross, John Savage, Roger Guenveur Smith, and John Turturro
  • Music video for Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” directed by Lee, with remarks from rapper Chuck D
  • Cannes Film Festival press conference from 1989 featuring Lee along with actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Edson, and Joie Lee
  • Behind-the-scenes footage
  • Deleted and extended scenes
  • Original storyboards, trailer, and TV spots
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Vinson Cunningham and extensive excerpts from the journal Lee kept during the preparation for and production of the film

New cover, featuring a mural painted by Danielle Mastrion

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 1995 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee
  • Introductions by Lee
  • Making “Do the Right Thing,” a documentary from 1989 by St. Clair Bourne, in a new 2K digital transfer
  • New interviews with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, New York City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., writer Nelson George, and filmmaker Darnell Martin
  • Three programs from 2000 and 2009, featuring Lee and cast and crew members Barry Alexander Brown, Chuck D, Dickerson, Richard Edson, Frankie Faison, Jon Kilik, Kevin Ladson, Steve Park, Rosie Perez, Luis Ramos, Monty Ross, John Savage, Roger Guenveur Smith, and John Turturro
  • Music video for Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” directed by Lee, with remarks from rapper Chuck D
  • Cannes Film Festival press conference from 1989 featuring Lee along with actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Edson, and Joie Lee
  • Behind-the-scenes footage
  • Deleted and extended scenes
  • Original storyboards, trailer, and TV spots
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Vinson Cunningham and extensive excerpts from the journal Lee kept during the preparation for and production of the film

New cover, featuring a mural painted by Danielle Mastrion

Do the Right Thing
Cast
Danny Aiello
Sal
Ossie Davis
Da Mayor
Ruby Dee
Mother Sister
Richard Edson
Vito
Giancarlo Esposito
Buggin Out
Spike Lee
Mookie
Bill Nunn
Radio Raheem
John Turturro
Pino
Paul Benjamin
ML
Frankie Faison
Coconut Sid
Robin Harris
Sweet Dick Willie
Joie Lee
Jade
Miguel Sandoval
Officer Ponte
Rick Aiello
Officer Long
John Savage
Clifton
Samuel L. Jackson
Mister Señor Love Daddy
Rosie Perez
Tina
Roger Guenveur Smith
Smiley
Steve White
Ahmad
Martin Lawrence
Cee
Leonard Thomas
Punchy
Christa Rivers
Ella
Frank Vincent
Charlie
Steve Park
Sonny
Ginny Yang
Kim
Credits
Director
Spike Lee
Written by
Spike Lee
Produced by
Spike Lee
Coproducer
Monty Ross
Line producer
Jon Kilik
Cinematographer
Ernest Dickerson
Editor
Barry Alexander Brown
Original music score
Bill Lee, featuring Branford Marsalis
“Fight the Power” performed by
Public Enemy
Production design
Wynn Thomas
Costumes
Ruth E. Carter
Casting
Robi Reed
Sound design
Skip Lievsay
Production supervisor
Preston Holmes
Script supervisor
Joe Gonzalez
Sound recordist
Frank Stettner
Hair
Larry Cherry
Makeup
Matiki Anoff
Still photography
David Lee

Current

A Palette That Sizzles On-Screen
A Palette That Sizzles On-Screen

Filmmaker Darnell Martin and writer Nelson George discuss how vividly Do the Right Thing captures the heat of a Brooklyn summer and the diverse skin tones of its cast of color.

Do the Right Thing: Walking in Stereo
Do the Right Thing: Walking in Stereo

Even as it inexorably rolls toward tragedy, Spike Lee’s masterpiece takes in the symphonic scale of the human condition in all its variety and precariousness.

By Vinson Cunningham

Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing

Empathy and evenhandedness are at the center of Spike Lee’s work, and yet they are invisible to many of his viewers and critics.

By Roger Ebert

10 Things I Learned: Do the Right Thing
10 Things I Learned: Do the Right Thing

The story behind the making of Spike Lee’s masterpiece reveals a lot about the political climate and racial tensions of the era.

By Abbey Lustgarten

A. V. Rockwell’s Top 10
A. V. Rockwell’s Top 10

The winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival throws the spotlight on filmmakers who have paved the way for the kind of stories she strives to tell.

Life Meets Art in Uptight, Ruby Dee’s Groundbreaking Collaboration with Jules Dassin
Life Meets Art in Uptight, Ruby Dee’s Groundbreaking Collaboration with Jules Dassin

A rare example of a bold political film released by a major American studio, this portrait of the struggle for Black liberation embodied the great actor’s mission to fuse art with activism.

By Ina Archer

Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Top 10
Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Top 10

The Independent Spirit Award–winning director of Premature selects ten masterpieces that introduced him to the beauty of cinema.