Riot (TV Movie 1997)

Riot: Directed by Richard Di Lello, David C. Johnson, Alex Munoz, Galen Yuen. With Dante Basco, Kieu Chinh, Mako, Alexis Cruz. In April 1992, following the notorious Rodney King verdict, the streets of Los Angeles became a battlefield, the backdrop to four personal intertwined stories. In Gold Mountain, Jeff Lee and his parents run Good Neighbor Liquor in South Central L.A. Theirs is an Asian family of “old world” values at odds with a modern world-cultures that are about to clash in ways they never imagined. In Caught in the Fever, a day at the mall for Manuel Alvarado, the eldest son of a poor Hispanic family, and his girlfriend Iris, spirals into a nightmare as they’re drawn into the out-of-control frenzy of a violent afternoon. In Homecoming Day, Turner Coates returns to the South Central hood of his youth to visit his mother – a homecoming overshadowed by an inescapable threat. In Empty, Boomer Phillips and his fellow LAPD officers are in a South Central restaurant when Boomer receives the command from his dispatcher to get out of South Central-but the command comes too late. Boomer’s already in too deep, and there’s no escaping the chaos around him. The Rodney King verdict has been announced. The violence advances block by block. Now, in the aftermath of an outrage, the lives of the Lee family, Carlos and his friends (Caught in the Fever), Officer Phillips, and Coates and his mother will cross with stunning impact. Each one of them will be pushed to their limits. Each will have their strength tested and their spirit challenged as a day like no other erupts before the eyes of a nation.

“I just watched this movie and I found it very disturbing, but at the same time loved it. I especially enjoyed the performance of the Asian actor Dante Basco, and the chemistry between he and his parents. Where most young male characters playing the, u0026quot;angry youthu0026quot; role tend to play it one dimensional, Dante was colorful, emotional, and In the words of Bill Clinton, u0026quot;I could feel his pain.u0026quot; The most heartfelt scene in the movie, was when the Asian Father Played by Mako, held his son telling him to stand by his side, they are about to lose everything. The second and third short was not as compelling as the first, But the forth and last short made up for the lack of the middle two. It was great how each short interlooped with each other, and the added actual news footage of the riots. I could watch this movie time and time again.”