The Spook Who Sat By The Door/DVD/DVD Review

This highly intelligent and socially important African-American political drama is given a respectable and commemorative presentation on DVD; aligning the film's legacy with the civil rights progress made over the past 30 years.

The print quality looks a bit weathered, but that can be expected for 70’s genre cinema, albeit that this film is really much more confrontational and realistic than other flicks that exist under the blaxploitation umbrella.

The presentation of the feature is preceded by a nice introduction that gives audiences a look into the injustice and unrest in US inner cities in the 1960s and 70s, depicting a community so close to the brink that it may come as a shock to some audiences not familiar with this time period in American history.

Also included are theatrical trailers, TV spots, a one-on-one with the author Sam Greenlee and a commentary by black film star and director Robert Townsend. Sadly, I was unable to view the one-on-one or the feature-length commentary due to an extremely loud buzzing sound that came from my DVD player while viewing the special features.

Oddly, this same loud noise came from my computer when I tried to view the extras and it’s a profound enough annoyance that I was unable to hear any of the dialogue during Greenlee's interview.

Although this may only be an issue with the copy I viewed, I figured I’d give the DVD buying public a "heads up" on a very strange glitch that may mire the viewing experience.

Update: It recently came to my attention that the "Commentary by Robert Townsend" bonus feature is not a feature-length commentary, but an interview segment. What a letdown!

Reviewed by Mdeapo