Straight Outta Compton (2015)

The group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.

Director:

F. Gary Gray

Writers:

Jonathan Herman (screenplay), Andrea Berloff (screenplay)

Stars:

O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 28 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
O'Shea Jackson Jr.	...	Ice Cube
Corey Hawkins	...	Dr. Dre
Jason Mitchell	...	Eazy-E
Neil Brown Jr.	...	DJ Yella
Aldis Hodge	...	MC Ren
Marlon Yates Jr.	...	D.O.C.
R. Marcos Taylor	...	Suge Knight (as R. Marcus Taylor)
Carra Patterson	...	Tomica
Alexandra Shipp	...	Kim
Paul Giamatti	...	Jerry Heller
Elena Goode	...	Nicole
Keith Powers	...	Tyree
Joshua Brockington	...	Young Warren G
Sheldon A. Smith	...	Warren G
LaKeith Stanfield	...	Snoop (as Lakeith Lee Stanfield)

Storyline

In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels-armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent-stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world's most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.

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Plot Keywords:

hip hop | gangsta rap | rap music | gangsta | based on true story | 

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Taglines:

The world's most dangerous times created the world's most dangerous group

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence, and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Straight Outta Compton

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$56,100,000, 16 August 2015, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$161,197,785

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$201,634,991

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Legendary Entertainment, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min 167 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A lot of the dialogue in the trailer is from the director's cut and didn't make it into the theatrical, including "you can't bring that [Eazy-E's AK-47] on a bus!" In the director's cut, Eazy-E brought his guns onto the bus because they were going to Southern states such as Tennessee and he was cautious.

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Goofs

On the unrated director's cut; when Dre Dr. Dre talks to one of his homies in the car about not getting anything done in the new studio - from behind the background is a traffic barrier (blocking off the street for filming) with modern day cars passing by along with a present day police vehicle.

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Quotes

Eazy-E: [N.W.A is in the studio recording their first diss track to Ice Cube, Real Niggaz] See that shit right there, that's what I'm talkin about. Fuck that nigga Cube, man. Nigga ain't shit!
Dr. Dre: How you figure, man? His record the hottest shit out right now, E.
Dj Yella: Yeah man, for real Cube killed that shit.
Eazy-E: So we supposed to just sit there, and not say nothin' and look like bitches and just take it?
D.O.C.: [inebriated] Take what? I don't give a fuck what you talkin' about. I like that shit.
[bumps into Eazy, mumbles]
D.O.C.: ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The only opening credits are graffiti writings of the main characters and their actors.

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Connections

Features What's Happening!! (1976)

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Soundtracks

Mothership Connection (Star Child)
Written by George Clinton (as George Clinton, Jr.), Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell (as Bernard Worrell)
Performed by Parliament
Courtesy of Island Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Something Fishy Is Going On Here!

I've been writing reviews for IMDb for ten years, and I think something fishy is going on here. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is getting very, very high reviews from the vast majority of IMDb reviewers -- but the nine and ten- star reviews are all getting pelted with "negative" marks, earning scores of "1 out of 15" likes.

So what's the problem? The problem is that this movie wasn't supposed to be a hit. The mass audience wasn't supposed to respond to the story of young black men facing oppression and coming out on top. The American people were not supposed to see the real truth about how their police treat minorities every day.

Quick, let's bury the good reviews! Let's spawn a phony backlash! Let's discredit Dr. Dre and Ice Cube on the basis of things they did twenty years ago. Oh, and let's all get sentimental about Eazy E because he's dead, and young black men are okay once they're dead. The dead ones are no longer scary and threatening.

The problem with this movie is that the people who made it actually dared to portray young, angry black men as heroic, not as criminals or predators. It's okay to glamorize white criminals, because Hollywood was built on that. From PUBLIC ENEMY to THE GODFATHER, white audiences have always loved to sentimentalize their own criminals. But you can't do that with black men who rap about crime, even when they aren't actually criminals themselves. When Cagney postures like a thug in some ancient piece of crap that's cool. But when black men do it today that's dangerous and irresponsible!

There are very powerful elements in this country that are terribly frightened by this movie. They're frightened because this movie gets white audiences to see young black men as something other than dangerous criminals. The scenes of NWA being roughed up by police are a terrible threat to the powerful elements in our society, who stay in power only by keeping white people scared of black men. They can't tolerate the idea of black male victims, so they instantly start a media backlash portraying the victims as criminals.

I say this is a good movie, a powerful, exciting film that presents a side of American life that is almost never seen on the screen. I know I'm not going to get many likes for this review, but what the hell.

I've got enough already.