Two unorthodox police officers who don’t like each other, Scottie Appleton (Ice-T) and Nick Paretti (Judd Nelson), and their superior (Mario Van Peebles) work hard to bring down drug kingpin Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and his gang of drug dealers (they call themselves Cash Money Brothers, CMB for short) at the height of New York City’s crack cocaine epidemic ten years ago. As Brown rises to power and makes millions of dollars every other week by dealing and producing crack from a large apartment complex (driving out many inhabitants), Appleton and Paretti must act quick to end Brown’s reign and violent tendencies, and in the process restore peace on the streets and restrict crack abuse that’s bringing down poor neighborhoods. Appleton’s solution is recruiting former crack addict Pookie (Chris Rock) to infiltrate Brown’s operation, but in the end Appleton is forced to take matters into his own hands even if it means risking his life and career.

CRITIQUE

New Jack City is an overall effective and dramatic movie. Director Mario Van Peebles and the actors make every scene count and the memorable scenes stand out with high regard (the bridge scene and bike chase at the start of the movie are exhilarating). The story is not as fleshed out as I would like and part of it you've seen before in other movies, and the basic core of the characters has a bit of a negative slant (basically there are no good guys here as the two police officers played by Ice-T and Judd Nelson are quite unorthodox indeed and Nino Brown’s crew is somewhat hardcore), yet this doesn't deter from enjoying the movie. The acting is top notch; everybody does a very fine job. The script is well written in terms of getting across to the viewer the overall story and character’s struggles. Photographed beautifully by DP Francis Kenny and directed with a keen eye and sense of directness by Van Peebles, New Jack City is a cool, violent and modern gangster thriller that also has a realistic and important message.

THE VIDEO

Warner Bros. presents New Jack City in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Picture quality is very nice. Colors are good but the blue tint in certain scenes makes the picture look a bit too cool (cold). Other than that the print is cleaned up nicely. Sharpness and detail look favorable. Some grain still appears, but that’s not bad. Optional subtitles include English, Spanish and French.

THE AUDIO

Warner Bros. presents New Jack City in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The music is presented very well through the rear speakers and the sound effects come across via a lively atmosphere. A French Dolby 2.0 dub track is also available.

THE EXTRAS

Disc 1:

The Audio Commentary by Director/Co-Star Mario Van Peebles is fairly interesting and offers enough stories and insights into the movie, production and overall message to satisfy the fans.

There’s also the theatrical trailer.

Disc 2:

The Road to New Jack City (28:09) features all-new interviews with producer Doug McHenry, director Mario Van Peebles, and actors Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock and Judd Nelson. This is an informative and enthusiastic retrospective documentary that offers interesting recollections about the movie and characters from the interview participants. Van Peebles also visits the locations used for the scenes of the building complex that Nino seized and the wedding shootout sequence (where he reenacts part of).

NJC: A Hip-Hop Classic (20:17) offers insights into the movie and its soundtrack as well as thoughts on hip-hop culture from artists Ice-T and Warren G, associate producer Fab 5 Freddy, soundtrack executive producer Cassandra Mills, DJ Big Boy, radio personality Ed Lover, the group Nappy Roots, and Moses Edinborough (co-creator of “Yo! MTV Raps”), as well as several others (including the author of “The New H.N.I.C.”). This is better than I thought.

Harlem World: A Walk Inside (10:15) provides an inside look at the city of Harlem as Christopher Moore (historian and curator of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture) takes Mario Van Peebles and his children on a tour of the museum and a walk on several Harlem streets.

Also available are 3 music videos: New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme) by Ice T, I'm Dreamin' by Christopher Williams, and I Wanna Sex You Up by Color me Badd.

FINAL THOUGHT

This new DVD edition of New Jack City comes highly recommended.