Product Details

• Actors: Chris Rock
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Run Time: 67 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000399WN
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,171 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #85 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > General AAS
  • #93 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > General
• Learn more about "Chris Rock - Bigger and Blacker" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Comedian Chris Rock makes a raucous return to his stand-up roots in this HBO special filmed at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater. Despite his manic and profane delivery, Rock's comedy is often rooted in traditional subjects for comedians: family relationships, misunderstandings between men and women, and observations on how childhood has changed. But he takes his material right to the edge, proving himself to be a sharp-eyed satirist. Serious and timely issues, such as school shootings or children being neglected by partying parents, are tackled by Rock, who's not afraid to slip in a serious point while being hysterically funny. His defense of President Clinton against his accusers is a good example of how Rock's material is almost always bound to offend someone: he slices through the self-righteous rhetoric of the impeachment spectacle, but even the behavior he defends comes in for ridicule with jokes that are extremely funny as well as extremely coarse. The pace of this one-hour show is uneven, and some viewers will no doubt find Rock's penchant for using profanity as punctuation tiresome. But those who like intelligent comedy with a hard edge will find much to laugh at in Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker. -- Robert J. McNamara

Product Description

' 'The funniest man in America' ' according to Time magazine and Vanity Fair, presents an hour of ' 'riotously funny' ' (Entertainment Weekly) and ' 'breathtakingly provocative' ' (Chicago Sun-Times) outstanding stand-up comedy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock On! February 23, 2000

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

Chris Rock follows up his 1996 hit "Bring the Pain" with another hilarious 1-hr routine. As always, Chris serves up his brutally honest opinions on the social and political nightmares we live in today. In this performance you'll find him tackling school gun violence, the plight of Native Americans, Ricky Martin, delinquent parents, racism, police brutality, incurable diseases, taxes, and a host of other issues. What makes Chris Rock so hilarious is that his commentary not only rings true but hits upon feelings and thoughts most of us have but are often afraid to express in today's "politically correct" atmosphere. Plus, Chris' naturally funny-looking physical appearance adds color to his performance. As with many other comedians, Chris Rock ends up spending a great deal of time on cliche comedian fodder such as sex and man-woman relationships. Thankfully, Chris Rock has managed to avoid tired old jokes and put hilarious new spins on these topics.

If you want intelligent comedy, this is the video for you! However, be forewarned that Chris Rock has a penchant for using the "f" word when emphasizing points, which some may find annoying after a while, and he is bound to say something that may offend someone. Nonetheless, I think that's what makes Chris Rock great and universal. Although Chris caters to an African-American audience, he ultimately has ideas that speaks to all segments of society- conservatives, liberals, white/black/asian/latino, homosexual, religious, non-religious, etc. A view that one segment of society finds appealing is bound to be held in disdain by another.

I must admit, in the past year that I've become a Chris Rock fan, I've found it difficult to watch other comedians. Few are as hard-hitting as Chris Rock. Get this video to see what I mean! While you are at it, get "Bring the Pain"- this one packs even more punch than "Bigger and Blacker".

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Performance By Chris Rock September 4, 2000

By Dingo Warrior

Format:DVD

This was just an absolute delight to watch. Chris Rock comes at you with topic after topic and always blends everything smoothly together(like the Ricky Martin livin' la vita loca and the robotusim jokes throughout the night). This is a top notch performance from a top notch comedian. Even if you're not a Chris Rock fan you must respect his work on "Bigger & Blacker". His presence on the stage is incredible and his performance is even more spectacular. Chris Rock is a very intelligent comedian that shows you a vision of the world we tend to hide or ignore. After seeing this show so many times I started to ask myself how can he remember and deliever his act so smoothly. It seems like as if Chris Rock is having a regular conversation with the crowd as he performs on stage. Chris tackles enough issues in this show to have everyone (black or white)to relate to the material in some way. There is no doubt about it, this DVD is great and if you didn't see it on HBO or home video then you need to pick up this DVD. The price on this DVD is good but the show itself is great. A Must have for true fans of comedy. ( intellectual or silly )

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharp Views on Various Human Conditions... April 10, 2005

By drefractor

Format:DVD

What makes you laugh? "Bigger and Blacker" dishes out the following:

1) Profanity -- quite a bit of it. If you laugh at the mere thought or sound of profanity, buy this DVD. But in reality, the raw language is irrelevant. Watch the intensity of the delivery and pay attention to the ideas surrounding the "bad" words.

2) Social/Political Commentary from one man's perspective -- A LOT of it.

Chris Rock, as he continually states either directly or indirectly, is a "law and order conservative" (well, mostly order!) and a "moral" liberal. His moral liberalism is a bit extreme for most people, but it is refreshingly consistent and counterbalances the traditional notion of "liberal" tolerance with the libertarian ideal of being accountable for one's actions. Oh, and by the way, there are no victims in Chris Rock's universe. If you dislike "Victim" mentality, you will find it well dismissed here.

3) Social/Racial Commentary from a black man's perspective -- There is a fair amount of this in Bigger and Blacker, but nothing earth shaking. Although he is clearly not pleased to be directly on the negative end of racial profiling, Rock typically redirects his racial commentary into larger themes (violence, hypocrisy, value systems...).

4) About Men and Women -- Who are we, together and apart? These subjects are always fertile ground for comedy. Although he attempts to soften the blows by continued professions of his love for women, Chris's take on women in general is pretty harsh, while not quite so hard, nor as detailed on men. Rock has a clear disdain for absentee fathers, but men get a pass on most of their behaviors -- behaviors that are excused as "understandable" (if not necessarily right) attempts to get around intolerable actions of women. Judging by the apparent reaction of the female members of the audience, Chris puts enough meat on the bones of his contentions to warrant serious contemplation after the laughter.

5) Physical Presence -- Energetic, intense, animated...

6) Limited Exaggerations -- Bigger and Blacker material mostly avoids "over-"exaggeration while its points are being made, and make no mistake, Chris Rock is trying to make a LOT of points (Rock's latest stand-up effort, "Never Scared" drifts more often into realm of over-exaggeration by my account, thus rendering it less enjoyable despite some great ideas).

7) Bonus Points -- A hilarious question is asked about medical science's ability (or lack thereof) to cure major diseases... An observation is given about social security's relevancy to black men... Both of these bonus points strain at the limits of exaggeration, but contain enough weight to make them worthy of an acid laugh or three...

In short, Bigger and Blacker is not light comedy. If you primarily like self- depreciating comedians, Chris Rock is not your man; If you are a diehard of the "left" or "right," he is not your man. If you prefer to believe that the world is generally rosy, he is not your man. If, on the other hand, you enjoy exceptional (almost) equal opportunity skewerings of pretenses and prejudices, it doesn't get much better than "Bigger and Blacker".