Get on the Bus
Get on the Bus
R | 16 October 1996 (USA)
Get on the Bus Trailers

Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of characters including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop who is of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the march, including manhood, religion, politics, and race.

Reviews
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
tdrish This movie sucked. Let's get that food off the plate, first of all. Spike Lee is better then this, and he's released much better movies. Do The Right Thing, for example, was a great film that examined a day in the life of Brooklyn seen through the eyes and views of different races. When racial tensions break through on a hot summer day, the results aren't pretty...but that is life. Get On The Bus? Has no point. Has no destination. Has no soul. Has no reason being a movie. After the fuel of Malcolm X still burned on years after its 1992 release, it seemed Lee decided to steer away from his talented traits, and go for broke in selling his racist BS that ONLY blacks can appreciate. I mean, for an example, on the bus, their is mainly only black people on the bus. There's only one white guy, a pre-Eminem who only acts black. Wonderful joy! The movie simply follows a bunch of young radical twits who want to join The Million Man March. Plot? Forget it. Bus breaks down, a man is nice enough to stop and pick them all up, and the white driver is pretty much threatened by all the black men who get on the bus with him. Is this treatment for kindness? I think not. The "roll call" scene pretty much declared this film a piece of sh*t. I thought it was biased. I'm against all that. I thought it involved extreme prejudice. If I'm prejudice toward anything, it's films like this. Looking at the other reviews, it seems some will disagree. That's fine, maybe their seeing it in a different light, but I stick to my beliefs, and declare this a racial mess of a movie. I had high hopes for you, Spike Lee. I won't make that mistake again, trust me.
LordBlacklist The day when Mr. Spike Lee gets the respect he truly deserves will be a great day indeed, but also horrendously overdue. Get On The Bus is a masterpiece. The characters are vibrant and alive, and through them a wide variety of subjects and questions about what makes a man are covered. The brilliance of the film operates on too many levels to mention in one paragraph, but the fact that the cast is a group of black men from vastly diverse backgrounds makes one wonder how some of these men could be identified as the same when they are as different as night and day. Trust, honor, tradition, brotherhood, and cultural history are abound in this tale yet it is just amazing that so much happens in a movie primarily about a bunch of people taking a bus ride. Lee leaves no stone unturned in speaking on the political and social matters that face black men but it never feels forced or contrived in the slightest. The dialog always feels naturalistic as if these are real people and not just characters on a page. Every character is three dimensional regardless of the amount of screen time they are allotted. We are introduced to Gay men, Republicans, Democrats, wise men, young men, flawed men, law men, men of faith, rich business men, poverty stricken single fathers, and all manner of opinions leading to the comment that if there is one thing for the average person to get out of this film it would be that while this diverse group of black men are just men, not African-Americans, not blacks, not Negroes, just men.
stephenpaultaylor Do The Right Thing is by far, one of my favourite movies of all time. I was hugely influenced when I saw it, as a quasi-gangsta white Canadian teenager. My uncle had the book on it, which I read with fascination. However, in my books, DTRT was Spike's best film, and Get on the Bus is flawed.First of all; the music. Awful. Now, there's no accounting for taste, and clearly Spike is all about promoting 'black', american music etc., but the music is just plain bad. Bland R&B, forgettable hip hop, Soul etc. The music really ruined it for me.The acting was great. I thought the story also had a sufficient amount of drama etc. but at the same time, it was overly sentimental. I was impressed by Spike's characters' analysis of homophobia and racism within black culture. He dissects the intrinsically convoluted and complex nature of cultural identity (specifically black identity). I also thought the writing was quite good, as in the dialogue. There were some interesting, thought provoking points of view.However, I was put off by the heavy, heavy Christianity within the film. It was way too over the top, and, granted, I am still recovering from 14 years of Christian indoctrination, which ended over fourteen years ago. Especially Ossie's character. I mean, it was too much. Spike seemed to be shoving his religious views down our throats. I was put off by that. There wasn't a single atheist on the bus (or agnostic, for that matter).It was an interesting effort, but if you want a strong, dramatic, totally satisfying effort from Spike, try Do the Right Thing.
Agent10 This was really one of those films which turned out to be a gem. I didn't care about the fact it was black-funded and had a virtually all black cast. The way I look at it, regardless of the racial signifying, it was a very strong film filled with symbols and depictions of black men that haven't been seen in other films. To me, Spike Lee should focus on the aspects of black life instead of showing the lines that separate. Instead of making everything about racism, he should focus on the relationships which can exist and develop between people and diversity of the said individuals. The men all had different backgrounds; gay republicans, used car salesman, a UCLA film student, an older gentleman who actually experienced deep racism, an young Islamic man with a past, a father and son in the middle of a personal conflict and even the arrogant actor. Full of great performances, especially Ossie Davis, this film should have been the type of film Spike Lee would strive to make.