Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence and future prospects.
Director:
John Singleton
Stars:
Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Laurence Fishburne,
Hudhail Al-Amir
In this film, we see the world through the eyes of main character Justice, a young African-American poet. A mail carrier invites a few friends along for a long overnight delivery run.
This is the story of Jody, an unemployed young black man, who's been living with his mother for several years, even though he's got a child of his own. Romantically, he's having ... See full summary »
Director:
John Singleton
Stars:
Alexsandra Wright,
Tyrese Gibson,
Taraji P. Henson
The gangster Nino has a gang who call themselves Cash Money Brothers. They get into the crack business and not before long they make a million dollars every week. A cop, Scotty, is after them. He tries to get into the gang by letting an ex-drug addict infiltrate the gang, but the attempt fails miserably. The only thing that remains is that Scotty himself becomes a drug pusher.Written by
Mattias Thuresson
This movie was the first theatrically released feature film that Mario Van Peebles had ever directed. See more »
Goofs
When Duh Duh Duh Man Is holding the guy off the bridge in the beginning you can hear the helicopter that is filming the scene. See more »
Quotes
Scotty Appleton:
Operation's gone, Nino's loose, Pookie's dead. I got Pookie killed, man.
Nick Peretti:
Cut out this self-pitying shit about you killing Pookie. If anyone killed him it was me. I could see it.
Scotty Appleton:
How the hell you gonna to tell me you killed Pookie?
Nick Peretti:
Do you remember when you said I didn't care? When what the hell was I doing at Pookie's funeral anyway? Remember? I used to be Pookie.
Scotty Appleton:
How the hell you used to be Pookie?
Nick Peretti:
I was poor white-trash Pookie. This whole drug shit, it's not a black thing, it's not a white ...
[...] See more »
Alternate Versions
German VHS & first DVD releases were edited for violence in two scenes (Nino kills a cop by cutting his throat/Scotty beats Nino at the end of the film), probably to secure a "Not under 16" rating. On TV the film was broadcast uncut. On the 2006 Special Edition DVD the film was released uncut. See more »
20 years after his father, Melvin Van Peebles, had made a revolutionary film called Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song, Mario Van Peebles would direct something of a classic himself with New Jack City. He plays the superior officer of a detective played by rapper Ice-T who we find out has personal reasons for wanting the drug dealer Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, dead. Assisting him is partner Judd Nelson and a former user played by Chris Rock before he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live". While Rock is better known as a comedian, he gives a fine dramatic performance here. Of course, it's Snipes who gets the lion's share of the acting highlights especially when his character's on trial. While it seems initially the drug lifestyle is glamorous here, it does show eventually that crime doesn't pay. So on that note, New Jack City gets a high recommendation from me. P.S. While I managed to watch this on YouTube, some parts were missing so I checked the Italian upload on the site to watch what I missed and I managed to understand what was going on despite the Italian dubbing.
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20 years after his father, Melvin Van Peebles, had made a revolutionary film called Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song, Mario Van Peebles would direct something of a classic himself with New Jack City. He plays the superior officer of a detective played by rapper Ice-T who we find out has personal reasons for wanting the drug dealer Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, dead. Assisting him is partner Judd Nelson and a former user played by Chris Rock before he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live". While Rock is better known as a comedian, he gives a fine dramatic performance here. Of course, it's Snipes who gets the lion's share of the acting highlights especially when his character's on trial. While it seems initially the drug lifestyle is glamorous here, it does show eventually that crime doesn't pay. So on that note, New Jack City gets a high recommendation from me. P.S. While I managed to watch this on YouTube, some parts were missing so I checked the Italian upload on the site to watch what I missed and I managed to understand what was going on despite the Italian dubbing.