Drug baron Nino Brown and his gang hit the streets with the highly addictive drug, crack. Taking over a town building they set up their own crack factory, but all is not lost. Two renegade cops infiltrate the operation and plan Brown's downfall. Read more
| Starring | Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Judd Nelson, Mario Van Peebles |
|---|---|
| Director | Mario Van Peebles |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller |
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Drug baron Nino Brown and his gang hit the streets with the highly addictive drug, crack. Taking over a town building they set up their own crack factory, but all is not lost. Two renegade cops infiltrate the operation and plan Brown's downfall.
| Starring | Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Judd Nelson, Mario Van Peebles, Chris Rock, Tracy Camila Johns, Michael Michele, Vanessa L. Williams |
|---|---|
| Director | Mario Van Peebles |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 36 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, Italian |
| Hearing-impaired | English, Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Released | DVD: 01 Jul 1999 Production year: 1991 |
| Format | DVD |
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Mario Van Peebles made his directorial debut with this hard-hitting mix of crime thriller and social drama, which is as indebted to the urban realism of Spike Lee as it is to gangster movies such as Brian De Palma's Scarface. Based on actual events, the film suggests that the problems facing black inner-city kids are often as much caused by exploitative drugs barons as they are by racial discrimination. Wesley Snipes achieves a chilling mix of arrogance and malevolence as a ruthless drugs lord, while Van Peebles and fellow cops Ice-T and Judd Nelson successfully convey a sense of crusade rather than mere law enforcement.
Touted as a ground-breaking addition to the crime-on-the-streets genre, Van Peebles' thriller is far more modest: a... read more on Time Out
When New Jack City first hit the cinemas in 1991 it was hailed as a beacon of light illuminating for everyone the injustices occurring in poor predominately black neighbourhoods in America. Politically it tried to make a good point and it was helped significantly by its Rap affiliations, not only in the soundtrack but also via its lead stars such as Ice T.
Looking back in hindsight, this film looks very dated and when we look beyond all the hype, the script and direction are both laughably substandard. I would call the Director, Mario Van Peebles, a one hit wonder, but this film is so poorly cut, the cinematography so hideous, the story so unrealistic, and the characters so cardboard-cut-out, that calling it a wonder is to do injustice to the action/crime/blaxploitation genre as a whole. I draw your attention to far more mature works such as Spike Lees Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991) and Malcolm X (1992) and notably John Singletons, Boys in The Hood, also from 1991 as being far better examples of the genre.
I like the pace at which the story in this movie was told. It's not blazing fast so you pick up on all the little things. The acting from all is done very well. Ice-T is a believable cop, I appericated how he wasn't shown as some perfect cop, but he wasn't bad either. He was human, which added to the realism. Westly Snipes delivers a stunning performance as Nino Brown. I think everyone should watch this movie and Sugar Hill back to back. Westly is great in both, and it's amazing how opposite the drug king pin character he plays really are in those 2 movies. New Jack City is gritty and real. And much like Scarface, you'll be left with a feeling of just how crazy life can be.
Wesley Snipes' (New Jack City, Undisputed, White Men Can't Jump) affection for a spot of vampire bashing appears undaunted, with news that his latest project will see him tooling up with the obligatory garlic, stakes, silver bullets and assorted other paraphernalia in another battle with the undead. The action star, whose distaste for creatures of the night became evident over the course of three Blade films, has signed up for Andrew Goth's Gallowwalker. Gallowwalker will see Snipes take on the Read more