Product Details

• Actors: Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Lira Angel, René Assa, Bruce Paul Barbour
• Directors: Bill Duke
• Writers: Henry Bean, Michael Tolkin
• Producers: David Streit, Deborah Moore, Henry Bean, Michael De Luca, Pierre David
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 14, 1999
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305505802
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,452 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Deep Cover" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem) directed this edgy action yarn that stretches the barriers of the genre. It explores the fine line between good and evil, while testing the resolve of a moral man seduced by an easier, more pleasurable lifestyle. Although the plot eventually becomes too overblown and earnest, Deep Cover proves far more intelligent than the average action pic. Laurence Fishburne is the straight-arrow undercover cop who gets so far into his assumed identity that he has trouble recognizing the good guys from the bad. The characters, all flawed, are fleshed out and believable as they face their decisions with questions and doubt, unlike most in this genre. Jeff Goldblum provides smarmy comic relief as an eccentric mid-level drug dealer/attorney who is probably a psychopath and most definitely paving his path to hell. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Product Description

DEEP COVER - DVD Movie

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A superior, yet intimate portrait of an undercover cop December 16, 1999

By MilesAndTrane

Format:DVD

Unlike many other films that have taken the undercover cop story and pursued it in a typical fashion, "Deep Cover" takes a tense, intimate approach. Director Bill Duke creates a quiet masterpiece casting Laurence Fishburne as a by-the-book cop assigned to infiltrate a major cocaine empire in Los Angeles. His connection inside is Jeff Goldblum (in probably his best performance ever), a supposed clean-shaven Jewish lawyer who secretly longs for the thrill of a gangster's life while trying to maintain a family at home. Duke does not glorify these drug dealers as Scarface-type millionaires who revel in money & mansions but rather paints them as quiet, suspicious businessmen who hold no true alliances to anyone while nesting in pool halls & boxing gyms. There is never a moment where any of these characters are seeking fame & fortune. Instead, they are looking for recognition of their power over both their friends & foes.

Fishburne soon finds himself sucked into the dealer's life against his will, doing whatever he can to infiltrate the organization despite how far "deep" he's involved in it (as opposed to the cliche that the cop decides he likes being a drug dealer). Meanwhile, Jeff Goldblum also enters the chaos that's unraveling, learning to embrace the thug within him that was waiting to emerge. The film has the unmistakable look & sound of the early 90's (a good time in film & music if you ask me), but it has aged well due to sharp cinematography and a fine soundtrack. The film has a slightly distracting sub-plot involving Fishburne and a Christian cop played by Clarence Williams III, but Williams pulls it off with such conviction that you don't mind.... There is also a great performance by character actor (and Spike Lee regular) Roger Guenever Smith as a switchy, mid-level dealer. Possibly one of the most overlooked "cop" films of the 90's, and a must-have for fans of Laurene Fishburne or Jeff Goldblum. Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good film; almost cliche free. July 1, 2001

By Nathan

Format:DVD

I, like so many other people who grew up in the time I did, was first attracted to this film solely through the title song by Dr. Dre on the soundtrack to the film. It was ridiculous how much I heard that song get played all over the radio and the hype it surrounded the movie with during that spring of 1992. In fact, it, in many ways, has outlasted the film itself in terms of pop culture's memory. And that is actually a shame.

This a superior thriller, taking the undercover cop story and crafting a tension-drenched and surprisingly subtle movie. And though it begins to lose its bottom by the end and becomes a little contrived, for the first three quarters of the movie it is expertise and a whole lot more unpredictable than most films of its genre. Veteran actor Laurence Fishburne stars, in, surprisingly, his first lead role, as an L.A. cop who is assigned to go undercover and infiltrate a major cocaine empire in Los Angeles. It is a job he reluctantly takes; as a child he witnessed his junkie father killed while pulling a stickup on Christmas Eve. The flashback of this is shown as the opening scene and is one of the most disturbing in the film, as the young child, who had just listened to his father ask him what he wanted for Christmas, watches the whole bloody incident in horror and pain from the parked car. This plays heavily on his conscience and his psychic well-being as the film goes on. He goes everywhere from the seedy streets of the inner-cities and ghettos as a cocaine dealer and manages to get all the way to the highest ranks of the organization. He does this by working his way into the circle of a mid-level drug distributor.... A supposedly clean-shaven man who owns a house, has a beautiful wife, and an eight-year-old daughter whom he practices the multiplication tables with in the morning. This key character is played with nervous ingenuity by Jeff Goldblum, in one of his most impressive performances, and is the symbol of the disturbing depths that a man's greed can go to.

All of this, while extremely strong assets, are more or less pretty routine in films such as these. Director Bill Duke, however, manages to take it a step further and elevates this film with style and class. He has Fishburne narrate the story and allows the langage to be poetic and colorful, something that derives from classic 1940s film noir. My favorite line in the narration is on Fishburne's first day on the streets as a dealer when the voice-over says "The great thing about life on the streets is you know how it's gonna be. It's always the same. It's always getting worse." The strongest and most potent scenes in the film are the ones dealing directly with Fishburne's struggles with the moral decisions he must make. The "deeper" involved he gets in the criminal life, the more he begins to realize the cold and inhuman manner with which the government and authorities have been cast. It's not that he decides he likes being a drug dealer, it's actually the exact opposite. He becomes more and more determined to infiltrate the organization, by any means necessary, no matter how violent and chaotic it gets. As I said, the film does begin to lose its bottom by the end, as the plot becomes slightly overblown, however, I won't go into details as it would spoil some surprises. And overall the courage and conviction of the performances causes you to forget the lackluster final quarter. Roger Ebert said that this was "a drama disguised as a thriller" and I will have to agree with that statement. It is much more dependent on characters than on action scenes, and that is what makes it so much better and more intelligent that most of its genre. Everywhere in this film there is the unmistakeable look and feel of the early '90s, whether it's in the great soundtrack, the sharp cinematography, the fast-paced editing and camera movements, or the screen sweeps that segue from scene to scene. It was a good time in movies and music, if you ask me, but this film has aged much better than its closest companion 'New Jack City' has. Possibly one of the most overlooked cop films of the '90s. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Above all expectations! May 5, 2002

By Borjan Komarica

Format:DVD

This is the only movie that I rented on reccomandation from video-store clerk that proved worth watching.

Excellent cast, believable characters and dialogue, story with suspense and twists, well directed action and to top it all of -a moral story.

Plot in a sentence: honest black cop goes undercover and finds himself too deep...

This is no easy viewing, especially when you watch it by yourself for the first time, but it's quite rewarding in the end.

Favourite line: "All this time I thought I was a cop pretending to be a drugdealer. I am nothing but a drugdealer pretending to be a cop."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Underground Classic! September 5, 2001

By Dr S J Davies

Format:VHS Tape

This is a truly excellent movie. Everything is good - the script, the plot, the cinematography, but above all the acting. How Larry Fishburne did not get an Oscar for his performance is beyond me. He has a really powerful screen prescence, his narration is pitched perfectly, but most impressive is the way his character's personality changes and develops throughout the film, something that takes really good acting and control to achieve. All of the other actors do well also, but none of them are as good as Fishburne. The action is gripping but controlled but it is the powerful plot which holds the entire film together. The film starts as a fairly standard "cops movie" but you realise about half way through that it's nothing of the sort. Forget about "Traffic" this is one of the most powerful attacks on the (so-called) "War on Drugs" that you are ever likely to see. The movie also raises all sorts of deep questions, about loyalty, principles, and how to maintain your integrity in a deeply corrupt system. Go and see it now!