Product Details

• Actors: Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie, Derek Luke, Mohamed Dione, Angela Bassett
• Directors: George Tillman Jr.
• Writers: Cheo Hodari Coker, Reggie Rock Bythewood
• Producers: Edward Bates, George Paaswell, Mark Pitts, Robert Teitel, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: April 21, 2009
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001TUZH7Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,544 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Notorious (Three-Disc Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In music terms, Brooklyn’s Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace was a hip-hop superstar to rival Oakland’s Tupac Shakur. In movie terms, however, 2Pac has long overshadowed B.I.G. with the films he made as an actor and the documentaries that followed in the wake of his similarly-unsolved murder. George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food, Men of Honor) aims to correct that imbalance with Notorious, the authorized biography of the larger-than-life New York rapper. Produced by his mother, Voletta Wallace (played by Angela Bassett), and record producer Sean "Puffy" Combs (Derek Luke), Tillman presents Biggie as a bright child who grew up to be a drug dealer before finding his true calling on stage, only to be cut down in the prime of life. In his feature-film debut, Jamal "Gravy" Woolard captures Biggie's complexity--the loyalty to his crew, the disloyalty to his ladies (including Lil' Kim and Faith Evans)--but struggles to make him as sympathetic as the figure that emerges in Nick Broomfield's Biggie & Tupac, simply because the script relies too heavily on the usual musical-bio clichés. Fortunately, several bright spots elevate the scenario, such as Anthony Mackie as Pac, Christopher Wallace Jr. as young Biggie, and Woolard's rapping, which segues seamlessly into B.I.G.'s (the soundtrack mixes original tracks with remakes). If Notorious isn't a failure, it isn't a triumph either, but Tillman has crafted it with love and respect, and only a stone could remain unmoved by the real-life funeral footage at the end. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Notorious (Click for larger image)

Product Description

NOTORIOUS (COLLECTOR'S EDITION) - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing portrayal of an amazing talent., December 28, 2009

By 

F. Greer "Buttons and Ruffles" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Notorious (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD)

When this movie first came out, I was so excited to see a biography of such a talented artist. Boy, was I disappointed.
The movie was quite obviously engineered and manipulated by Puffy and Bad Boy Records. Throughout the film, Puffy was portrayed as a virtual saint--always "saving the day" with his words of wisdom and innocence. He was never shown doing drugs (despite nearly everyone else smoking blunts throughout the whole movie), participating in the sex-filled music scene, or doing anything that would shed even a hint of a shadow upon him. It was quite sickening how saintly he is portrayed, especially when we all know better.

Tupac's portrayal was also hard to believe. His character made odd appearances throughout the film, always appearing as a paranoid, hyper-acting, shallow punk. As a huge Tupac fan, I was quite offended by the way he is portrayed.

The east/west feud was knocked down to a simple misunderstanding fueled by Tupac's baseless paranoia and the media. Biggie was portrayed as a victim of the feud. He just couldn't understand why Tupac would suddenly turn on him, since they had always been friends. (Poor little B.I.G.) All responsibility for fighting and fueling the feud was put on the media and Tupac. None was put onto Biggie or the saintly Puffy. They were helpless victims in the whole thing.

Biggie and Faith Evan's relationship was poorly developed. The movie seemed to focus more on Big and Kim's relationship than his and Faith's marriage. It was quite confusing.

Big's first child with his high school girlfriend was ill-developed and just plain confusing. His girlfriend was not even introduced until she showed up to tell him she was pregnant. Then, she was virtually dropped, making minor appearances from then on. The best way I can describe it is just plain weird.

Throughout the movie, song lyrics were dropped in as dialogue, such as "mo money, mo problems" and "to change the world, you have to change yourself." It seemed fake and engineered--a real eye-roller.

Though the movie was quite long, it was difficult to understand. Characters were abruptly introduced and had sudden major roles, but I couldn't figure out who they were. I actually had to review Biggie's biography while watching the movie to figure out exactly what was going on.

The film did have some positive notes. Some of the casting was wonderful. Lil' Kim and Biggie were both spot-on believable--the way they spoke, their mannerisms and their rapping. And the music was, of course, fantastic.

Maybe Shug will now produce a rival, west-coast rendition of Tupac's life. :-P
I'm sure if he does, it will have the nerve and gumption that Notorious does not.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music Biopic For the Hip Hop Genre, March 15, 2009

By 

T Boz (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Notorious [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Saw this when it was in theaters, and was pleasantly surprised it did not disappoint. What put this film over the top was the excellent casting; the characters of Biggie, Faith Evans, Lil Kim, and even Tupac and Voletta Wallace (played by Angela Bassett) made this a believable account of what happened between these intersecting lives that left such a mark on musical history, and ultimately, a tragedy. You really felt for young Christopher as he grew up in the 80's admiring the rising hip hop stars of the day, and perfecting his rhyming skills on the street, while trying to avoid the perils of drugs and crime. What I liked most about this film was the humanity they brought to his character, making him seem like more of a real person than a musical icon. He wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he was trying to be a good person, no matter what obstacles life threw in his way. Ultimately this is a tale of a flawed individual, as we all are, who was lucky enough to raise himself out of the conditions he found himself in, and tried to make his mark on history, which ultimately, he did.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as it could've been..., June 2, 2009

By 

Ciarra Logan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Notorious (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD)

I was overjoyed when I first heard they were making a film about the life of rapper Christopher "Biggie" Wallace. I'm a huge fan of his music, and I thought a biography about the famous rapper was long overdue. However, I don't think the film reached its full potential in essence. It could've been something great, but it settled for mediocrity instead.

Director George Tillman uses lots of flashy, glossy shots and camera angles for each scene. Biggie was a man who grew up as a drug dealer and hustler. Nothing about his life growing up was glamorous or flashy. So I expected a less glossy, more raw approach to the film; especially the scenes of him as a child in Brooklyn. The movie didn't focus on Biggie's trials and hardships as much as they could've. Instead they chose to spend more time focusing on scenes with Biggie in clubs partying, on stage rapping, or in one scene...him getting pleased by 2-3 different women. The film should've cut back on these type of glamorous, luxury driven scenes, and focused more on the story of Christopher Wallace.

Some of the casting was flawed as well. None of the actors looked like the people they portrayed. The worst was Derek Luke's portrayal of Sean "Puffy" Combs. It's bad enough that the actor looked absolutely nothing like him. He was far more attractive. But it's even worse that Puffy took his role as executive producer and made his character in the film out to be a saint. When all of the other characters in the film were smoking blunts, Puffy was in the back making beats. When Biggie felt uninspired or encountered any kind of trouble, Puffy was the voice of reason; offering inspirational advice and encouragement. Puffy wanted to look as innocent as possible in this film. And he used his power as executive producer to make that happen. We all know he wasn't the saint he appeared to be in the movie. Who was he trying to fool?

I was a little disappointed in Angela Bassett's portrayal of Ms. Wallace as well. Bassett is a fantastic actress. This we all know. But she wasn't quite right for this role. The thing that bothered me the most was the way her Jamaican accent faded in and out throughout the entire film. One minute it was present, the next it was completely gone. The real Ms. Wallace has a very strong, prominent Jamaican accent. Bassett struggled to bring that accent to life. She didn't look or sound anything like the woman. And because of this, I didn't find her role the slightest bit believable.

There were also countless plot holes and unexplained storylines. How about some more information on Big's father. He left when Biggie was young. And that's really all we know and are told in the film. Who was Biggie's first baby's mother and how did they meet? We didn't see her at all until she popped up and said she was pregnant, which literally seemed to come out of the blue with zero explaination or development. Some more development into the Biggie/Faith relationship would've been nice too. The film wants us to believe that Lil Kim was Biggie's whore, while Faith was the woman he truly loved and wanted to settle with. And yet, the movie features more scenes and development between Biggie and Lil Kim than Biggie and Faith. I found that strange.

For a movie that was nearly over 2 hours long--it left too many unexplained questions. Instead they spent most of the film showing Biggie on stage rapping. Which was okay every now and then, but these scenes would last up to 3-4 minutes, which was completely unecessary.

There are some good attributes to the film, however. I was pleasantly surprised by Naturi Naughton's portrayal of Lil Kim. It was right on point; convincing and believable, especially during the scenes where she rapped Lil Kim's lyrics. She had the walk, talk, and essence of Lil Kim down to perfection.

Jamal Woolard's portrayal of Biggie was also a nice surprise. His voice was damn near identical to the rapper's. He also had his movement and mannerisms completely memorized, right down to the heavy breathing. I thought it was a good debut role for an unknown actor.

Overall, Notorious had its good points and bad points. Most of the casting was poor. The guy who played 2Pac was so unbelievable in the role it was almost comical. The direction and cinematography for the film was flashy and over-glossed. It didn't take the raw, gritty approach it should've. But at the same time, there were some real gems in this film. Jamal and Naturi's character portrayals were pleasant surprises. But even they couldn't save this movie from its numerous plot holes and unexplained storylines.