American Gangster The Complete Second Season

DVD Review

Paramount

BET

Released: June 10, 2008

American Gangster is entering its second season as the award-winning BET series continues to focus on the criminal aspect of the African-American community. The first season was received extremely well on DVD as BET and Paramount have teamed up yet again to bring the second season out on the format.

American Gangster features a series of ten episodes, each running for around 40-minutes. They are narrated by actor Ving Rhames across the 3-disc set and feature some absolutely incredible stories.

The episodes are presented in such a way that makes them both eye-opening and entertaining. This is not a boring history lesson to say the least.

The stories include….

1. The Philly Black Mafia

2. Larry Hoover

3. Melvin Williams

4. The D.C. Snipers

5. Frank Lucas

6. Felix Mitchell

7. Jeff Fort

8. Chaz Williams

9. Rayful Edmond III

10. Kenneth Supreme McGriff

The video quality for the DVD release is pretty standard and presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The transfer has a bit of problems, mainly because the source material is not all that perfect.

The footage looks decent with respectable colors and flesh tones, but do not expect to be blown away.

The audio is similar as it is presented in a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix, leaving a lot to be desired.

In terms of special features, the only extra is a set of four extended interviews with Melvin Williams, Frank Lucas, Frank Lucas Jr. and Bo Baines.

The interviews are pretty entertaining, but more is clearly needed to appease fans and give them more than just the episodes.

Overall, despite the lackluster special features the set is pretty solid as the ten episodes are extremely entertaining and intuitive. You will be drawn into the stories and will be intrigued by what they present. American Gangster The Complete Second Season is highly recommended on DVD.

Content: 9.0

The 10 episodes are fantastic with plenty of great stories to be had.

Video: 6.0

Extremely standard, problems in spots with consistent colors, textures, etc.

Audio: 5.0

A very sub-par audio mix.

Special Features: 6.0

The extra interviews are nice, but nothing else is provided.

Final Score: 8.0