Cheap Higher Learning (DVD) (John Singleton) Price

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Customer Reviews of Higher Learning

A great premise...but only an ok film
Higher Learning had the potential to be a really great movie portraying college life, identity crisis, and social conflict during one's freshman year at a university. Director John Singleton assembled a talented cast, including Laurence Fishburne, Omar Epps, Kristi Swanson, Jennifer Connelly, Ice Cube, Tyra Banks and Michael Rappaport. Unfortunately, Higher Learning does not live up to its potential. <
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>Why doesn't Higher Learning live it up to its promise? Because John Singleton couldn't decide on what kind of movie he wanted to make. The first hour of Higher Learning is the movie's strong point. Here we watch students arrive for their first day on campus, move in, decorate their walls, and adjust to life away from home. Anyone who has ever lived in a dormitory can relate to this experience. It is also during the first hour where Singleton brings up issues relating to racial conflict, sexual assault, money problems, alienation, and the struggles of balancing school work with a job and social life - all issues that anyone attending a college or university must contend with. <
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>However, Singleton loses focuses in the second half of the film. What began as a fairly decent social drama quickly descends into an adrenaline-pumping action film/thriller. While the film remains engaging throughout the second half, you can't help but feel that Higher Learning is essentially two different movies. <
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>Here is what would have made higher learning a top notch film. First, add an extra hour of movie time. A truly insightful drama regarding the complexities of college life needs to be three hours in length. Second, scrap the whole Malik vs. Remy subplot and instead focus on the character development of each man and each's adjustment to university life. Third, what the hell ever happened to Krista in the second half of the film? Her character goes from being one of the key elements during the first half of the film, but then she becomes only a minor player in the second half. Krista clearly came from an affluent white area of southern California, while her black roommate came from an entirely different social world. The film hints that both were stunned at first at the prospect of being each other's roommate. I would have liked to have seen Singleton devote time to develop the transformation of the two girls' relationship to that of close friends. <
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>Singleton's best film remains Boyz N The Hood. It would have been nice to see Singleton take Higher Learning more seriously and treat the film as a serious social drama on college life, like he did regarding gang violence with Boyz N The Hood. Having criticized the movie, however, I must admit that I do like Higher Learning and could personally relate to a lot of the subject matter contained in the film. During my junior year of college, a white supremacist organization had announced its plans to appear on campus in March to protest its opposition to a specific, unspecified group of people. Tensions mounted on campus, and fear circulated among students as to who might be the targeted group (Blacks? Latinos? Asians? Gays?). Like Higher Learning, a multicultural festival was hastily commissioned by the university to provide an illusion of campus unity. <
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>As a male, I can't speak with much authority on date rape and sexual assault on campus. However, there certainly is a racial/ethnic divide that exists on America's campuses as evidenced by the rise in hate-based activities over the past decade. In the two universities that I have attended, the student population consists primarily of white students who come from either suburban middle-class or rural backgrounds, and a smaller number of blacks and Latinos who come from Philadelphia. For many students, college is the first time they have any real contact with people who are unlike themselves. This can, and often does, result in escalating tensions and cultural clash...such as what is depicted within higher learning.

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Money badly spent
I saw previews for this movie on HBO back in 1996 and it looked pretty good. 8 years after that, I came around to watching it finally. That's when I actually bought it thinking it was gonna be a great movie. Turns out I was wrong. The two aspects that derailed this movie's potential were how Malik (Omar Epps) was being treated unfairly and the fact that they over did the whole Nazi theme. Oh yeah and no disrespect to Tyra Banks but she's not that great of an actress and that shows right here. The one highlight of this movie was when Ice Cube and all them beat up The Nazis. Classic ass whoopin right there. The one actor who played his part well was Laurence Fishburne but not even he could save this movie. I wasted $10 on this movie and it's $10 of the worst dollars I ever spent!

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John singleton at his best
Higher learning is a great film that a college person can relate to easy. I really enjoy this film alot, can't stop watching it. John singleton is at his best with this movie