A crime lord ascends to power and becomes megalomaniacal while a maverick police detective vows to stop him.
Director:
Mario Van Peebles
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Title: New Jack City (1991)
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1 win & 5 nominations.
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Wesley Snipes | ... | Nino Brown | |
| Ice-T | ... | Scotty Appleton (as Ice T) | |
| Allen Payne | ... | Gee Money | |
| Chris Rock | ... | Pookie | |
| Mario Van Peebles | ... | Stone | |
| Michael Michele | ... | Selina | |
| Bill Nunn | ... | Duh Duh Duh Man | |
| Russell Wong | ... | Park | |
| Bill Cobbs | ... | Old Man | |
 |
Christopher Williams | ... | Kareem Akbar |
| Judd Nelson | ... | Nick Peretti | |
| Vanessa Williams | ... | Keisha | |
| Tracy Camilla Johns | ... | Uniqua | |
| Anthony DeSando | ... | Frankie Needles | |
| Nick Ashford | ... | Reverend Oates | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
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
Taglines:
They're a new breed of gangster. The new public enemy. The new family of crime. See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for strong violence, drug content, sensuality and language | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
Edit
See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
8 March 1991 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
A Cidade do Novo Paraíso See more »Filming Locations:
Grant's Tomb - 122th Street & Riverside Drive, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$8,500,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$7,039,622, 10 March 1991, Wide ReleaseGross USA:
$47,624,253Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby StereoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Written by Stevie Wonder
Performed by Troop and [lonk=nm8145406]
Rap by Queen Latifah
Troop and Levert appear courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
Queen Latifah appears courtesy of Tommy Boy Records
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Leo O'Brien - who played one of the kids, loitering on the stairs, (who recognised that Ice-T, was a cop), actually starred alongside Mario van Peebles as his younger brother, in the movie Rappin' (1985) See more »Goofs
When Nino stabs Kareem, the dagger is in Kareem's hand in one shot, but next to his hand in another. 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 »Connections
Referenced in At the Movies: Lost in Yonkers/Carnosaur/American Heart/Posse/The Story of Qiu Ju (1993) See more »Soundtracks
LIVING FOR THE CITYWritten by Stevie Wonder
Performed by Troop and [lonk=nm8145406]
Rap by Queen Latifah
Troop and Levert appear courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
Queen Latifah appears courtesy of Tommy Boy Records
See more »
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Van Peebles directs a great cast in this detached-from-reality film about a truly evil drug-lord with a head for business and murder (Snipes), and a tough, street-wise pair of cops (Ice-T and Judd Nelson) hell-bent on bringing him down. The message is an important one - slogans are not going to win the war on drugs, and the way the message is carried in the film is more subtle than you might expect. The end of the film makes the point very clear, and I won't discuss it because I do not write spoilers. Like many of the more intelligent films made in the early 1990s, New Jack City is also an indictment of the euphoria of the Reagan years - telling the true story of what that time was like for those living from paycheck to paycheck, or trying to live without one, and dealing with the invisible "war on drugs" which had little to no effect on anybody in our inner-city neighborhoods.
Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne and Chris Rock give stand-out performances, and the rest of the cast provide excellent support. The film also stars New York City, and definitely has an NYC flavor (seasoned with more than a pinch of Hollywood). The cinematography is a little breathless - not unusual for the genre but in this case a bit extreme. The script is good, but perhaps too dense with rich plot details. And the editing provides a few pacing problems toward the middle of the film which, combined with the over-abundance of subplots, detract from the development of the main themes. The soundtrack is excellent - including a nice mix of hip-hop, rap, contemporary soul, and dance music - all blended nicely with the imagery of the film. Van Peebles style is well developed in this film, but I felt that some aspects of the plot were a little too outrageous for the seriousness of the film's message, and I fear that the message may have been lost on many of the film's viewers.
Overall, this is a good film. Entertaining and thoughtful, but definitely not for everybody.