Customer Reviews

New Jack City [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The two-disc special edition of New Jack City is a great investment for fans of the classic hip-hop drama. Released in 1991, New Jack City was the first feature film Mario Van Peebles released. The film also was a breeding ground for actors who went on to have very successful careers. The music of the "New Jack" movie is almost as memorable as the movie itself. Ice T stars in the film as a "New Jack" cop who goes undercover to break down the "CMB" crime mob. Crack was running rampant. Wesley Snipes starred as Nino Brown and Allen Payne starred as his right hand man "G-Money." It's a great film and Chris Rock appears in the film as a crack head named Pookie. "New Jack City" is the first hip-hop gangsta movie classic. It wasn't just a shoot em' up bang bang movie, it really captures the essence of those mafia/organized crime movies. The DVD's packaging is very nice.

The Road To New Jack City-
This is hands down the best featurette on the special features.
Usually when you see these behind the scenes features, at lease one of the main actors is missing. Not so with New Jack City. Mario Van Peebles (actor/director), Ice-T, Chris Rock, Wesley Snipes, Allen Payne and Judd Nelson speak on the film. It's really interesting to see the actors express their feelings about the film. Nino Brown is such a memorable character and Wesley Snipes seems very upbeat in reminiscing about the film. This featurette is really amazing because they get inside of every major character involved in the film. They even discuss certain scenes. This is great.

NJC-A Hip Hop Classic
Fab Five, Nappy Roots, Truth Hurts, A DJ from Power 106, Ed Lover, Ice T, Warren G, and a few others speak about the film and the films soundtrack. Cassandra Mills-the soundtracks producer tells the story of the films soundtrack. She states this was the first soundtrack that featured rap, hip-hop and pop songs. She explained how Color Me Badd had a #1 song, the Christopher Williams song was doing it's thing on the pop charts and the Ice T song was thing on the rap chart. She states they had three hit songs from the soundtrack prior to the film even coming out.

Music Videos
Ice T-New Jack Hustler
Color Me Badd-I Wanna Sex You Up
Don't Wake Me (I'm Dreamin)-Christopher Williams

Two disc set also includes a feature title "Harlem World-A Walk Inside (Mario takes viewers on a tour of memorable locations seen in the film) and Director/Co-Star commentary by Mario Van Peebles.

Mario Van Peebles directed and co-stars in this influential and well filmed urban crime saga that surprisingly still holds up today. New Jack City, like King of New York, Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society, has spawned a host of immitators to this day, but it's Peebles heartfelt message that sets New Jack City apart from others. Peebles stars as one of the honest cops (along with pimp turned rapper turned actor Ice-T and Judd Nelson) trying to nail ruthless drug czar Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and bring down his empire of drugs and murder, to little avail. A young Chris Rock stars as a recovering addict who Ice-T and co. look upon to help them nab Nino, but it soon proves to be something that is much easier said than done. Unlike the "gangsta" films that followed, New Jack City offered a glimmer of hope under the violence and pounding hip-hop soundtrack, and it helped launch the career of the charismatic Snipes who would become an action star as the decade progressed. The rest of the cast does great as well, and it's nice to see that the film gets the Special Edition treatment it has deserved. All in all, New Jack City remains a near classic of the genre, and still manages to hold up to this day.

I grew up on a staple of spaghetti westerns (Terence Hill), kung-fu (Bruce Lee & Jacky Chan) and action (Bruce Willis) flicks but as a young black man growing up in Kambuzuma, Harare, Zimbabwe I did not identify myself with any ONE genre. Kine 1000 was a typical urban cinema goer's paradise.
Enter Wesley Snipes in 1991's New Jack City and my whole world changed. Here was a despicable villain, vicious, arrogant and totally self-serving an individual as you ever will see, yet he was charming ang very likeable at the same time. I identified with him, I hated his politics (so to speak) but in the same breath I knew a 1000 like him who corrupted nations and enriched themselves while so doing. The movie was set in America but it could have been enacted in any urban city in the world.
Happening, relevant and totally and brutally believable! Snipes is excellent, Allen Payne, Ice T, Judd Nelson & Chris Rock not far behind this movie set the the tone for all drug related movies to follow. Brilliant movie, brilliant acting this film turned me off drugs for life!

This motion picture is about the crack cocaine epidemic and the devastating impact that it had on life in the inner city. This is a tough and uncompromising movie.

The main character in New Jack City is Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), the leader of the Cash Money Brothers (CMB) gang that is one of the biggest crack cocaine trafficking outfits in New York City (NYC). Together with his partner Gee Money (Allen Payne), Brown lives a glamorous life of luxury, fast cars and hot chicks. To put it mildly, Brown is a poor role model for inner city youth.

As Brown's CMB empire grows, he becomes ever more arrogant. The CMB takes over an apartment building and evicts the inhabitants, including an elderly World War II veteran. The CMB is becoming big, fat and out of control. The CMB is hell bent on contaminating the NYC inner city scene. Brown even dreams of taking down the Mafia so that the CMB can become the dominant organized crime gang in NYC. Brown initiates action against the Mafia and scores some success. The shootouts between the CMB and the Mafia are very well done.

Eventually, the top brass at the New York Police Department (NYPD) wake up to the CMB menace and resolve to do something about it. Two of its best detectives, Scotty Appleton (Ice-T) and Nick Peretti (Judd Nelson) are assigned to the case. The detecting duo get a big break when they come in contact with a druggie named Pookie (Chris Rock). The detectives put Pookie on the road to recovery and Pookie agrees to infiltrate the CMB for the NYPD.

New Jack City is a most interesting movie. On the surface, it is just another cops and drug dealers movie, but it is really more than that. It is a tough, realistic portrayal of the damage wrought to the inner city by the crack cocaine epidemic. It presents an involving story with a strong anti-drug message. This movie really makes clear just how bad the drug problem is in the inner city and how illegal drugs have ravaged the community.

New Jack City is a well executed movie. It features strong performances by such actors as Ice-T and Wesley Snipes, who have generally not made strong performances on other movies. It has a strong script and an involving plot. It probably should have won the Academy Award for Best Picture, yet it was not even nominated for an Oscar in any category. This was because, for all its great points, New Jack City was generally regarded by both the critics and the Hollywood elite as a "black" movie and as such unworthy of being considered as legitimate cinema irregardless of how much money it earned for its releasing studio.

This movie was both entertaining and educational in that it taught this country's youth the dangers of drugs and how it
leads to a person's downfall. The message of this film was plain and simple: Crack cocaine can destroy a person's life and damage the lives of others. If we do not continue to fight the war on drugs, then drugs will continue to destroy our country.

10 years ago, Mario Van Peebles released a movie that would launch a new wave in Black cinema and would put then up-and-coming Wesley Snipes on the Hollywood map. Although not without its flaws, "New Jack City" is a highly entertaining film about the so-called war on drugs and drug lords in NYC. Snipes gives a charismatic performance as Nino Brown; props also go to Ict-T and Allen Payne, and Judd Nelson is...well...Judd Nelson. It helps that the film also has a pretty good soundtrack. Although the film seems to glorify the drug scene a bit, and despite some dated outfits and trends (love those flattop haircuts!), this film is overall a keeper!

Ahh..... New Jack City, what a classic. The tale of a man who runs the streets of New York selling crack, the overly agressive cop who wants to kill him himself, and the funny and funny-looking crack addict turned good. Ice T plays a cop who wants to shut down Snipes' business and watch Snipes die with his own two eyes. The loving part of the movie includes Chris Rock as Pookie, the crack addict who decides he is done with crack tries to help the cops but ends up being killed. The action in this movie in unbelievable. Wesley Snipes and his crew are one of the meanest in film history ive seen. He makes Al Pacino and Robert De Niro look like pussies. This is definitely a must see and a must own.

Everyone wants to be like Nino Brown but you cant sell drugs forever. The movie is very 90's and its a classic. In 2009 im hearing rapper also using some form of New Jack City in their rythmes or songs. For example The LOX- Brothers Keeper, Uncle Murda said " If I was Nino I wouldn't give pookie a job" there is more. Itz scareface in the hood its all about Money, Power, and Respect.

A battle between a merciless drug lord and a street smart cop. The rise and fall of a gangster is done often but rarely with the grit and style of this movie. The acting is first rate ,Wesley Snipes was born to play Nino Brown. The morale message sinks in without being to preachy or self-rightous. Wow what a movie.

Gotta love this one, enough Violence, Drugs, & "F" bombs to saticfy almost anyone! No, seriously, it really is a good movie. But i'm not gonna ramble on for 50 paragraphs like some [...] on why you should rent this. Just do it, and if not...it's your loss! now f*** off!

This DVD took forever to get here;but it was well worth the wait.
New Jack City is A modern day classic it put Wesley Snipes on the
radar screen.This DVD is clear no jumps no static well worth the
discount price I paid for it.If you like NJC Amazon is the place to buy it.Patience will save you A lot of moola.