New Jack City: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Review:
Music
Videos changed the way films are made. The speed and intensity
has quickened, but New Jack City was one of the first film to
actually look somewhat like a music video. It is a modern gangster
film, which seems to have borrowed many elements from the classics
and added hip-hop music and a trendy set of costumes. The only
problem with this is that the film was destined to be dated
a few years after it came out, while other gangster films remain
timeless.
New Jack City is
about a group of police officers who set out to take down a
drug lord in Harlem, played by Wesley Snipes. The streets are
become destroyed by the drugs that this kingpin is selling,
and people are tired of it. The usual struggles are involved
in taking him down, most importantly his power in the city.
While most gangster
films would choose to follow the gangster primarily, there is
more of an emphasis on the cops in this film. Although Snipes
is mesmerizing in the role, there is little to relate to and
the cops become the heroes in many ways. The glamour which is
used in all gangster film is hardly as appealing as it has been
in the past.
This two disc special edition features the film and a n extra
disc just for special features.
Special Features:
The Road to New Jack City
This featurette examines the grittiness and honesty that was
explored in the making of New Jack City. It also shows how the
film used the influence of music videos to show the story and
message. The interviews with the actors are great, especially
the ones discussing Wesley Snipes and how he got involved. The
featurette goes on to examine how other actors got involved
as well. Director Mario Van Peebles also goes on a tour to the
locations with his daughter. The featurette runs just under
thirty minutes.
NJC: A Hip-Hop Classic:
This featurette interviews hip-hop icons and radio personalities
who all give their accounts of the first time they saw the film
and how it spoke to them. The film features a great deal of
hip-hop music, which some may see as a way the film is dated,
but it is also something that people remember about the film.
This featurette is about twenty minutes long.
Harlem World: A Walk
Inside
Mario Van Peebles takes his family to visit the Schomburg Center
for research in Black Culture in The New York Public Library
in this featurette. They set out to get some of the history
of Harlem and find out a great deal about heritage as well.
This featurette has little to do with the film, but it still
is filled with great information. The featurette runs at about
ten minutes.
There are also music
videos by Ice-T, Christopher Williams and Color Me Badd. The
first disc of the two-disc special edition also has a commentary
track by Mario Van Peebles.
