New Jack City (1991)
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 29
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 44,293
My Rating
Movie Info
The ruthless leader of a New York City drug syndicate battles to maintain his power and avoid imprisonment in this fast-moving action drama. While the film's heroes are Scotty (Ice-T) and Nick (Judd Nelson), a pair of tough, streetwise cops, the main focus is their target, drug lord Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes). A criminal businessman with no room for pity or emotion, the flashy but severe Brown has built an empire and transformed an abandoned Harlem apartment building into a well-defended
Aug 25, 1998
Warner Home Video
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Cast
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Wesley Snipes
Nino Brown -
Ice-T
Scotty Appleton -
-
Allen Payne
Gee Money -
Judd Nelson
Officer Nick Peretti -
Chris Rock
Pookie -
John Aprea
Don Armeto -
Nick Ashford
Reverend Oates -
Harold Baines
Kid on Stoop -
Sekou Campbell
Kid on Stoop -
Thelma Louise Carter
Reporter -
Bill Cobbs
Old Man -
Anthony De Sando
Frankie Needles -
Eek-A-Mouse
Fat Smitty -
Fab 5 Freddy
Master of Ceremonies -
Flavor Flav
D.J. -
Clebert Ford
Frazier -
Tiger Frederick
Basketball Player -
Linda Froehlich
Reporter -
David Michael Golson
Kid on Stoop -
Ben Gottlieb
Prosecuting Attorney -
Aaron Hall
New Year's Eve Band Mem... -
Damion Hall
New Year's Eve Band Mem... -
Laverne Hart
Prom Queen -
Garvin Holder
Kid on Stoop -
Tracy Camilla Johns
Uniqua -
Rynel Johnson
Basketball Player -
Tina Lifford
Recovering Addict -
Marcella Lowery
Woman in Hallway -
Erica McFarquhar
Teacher -
Christopher Michael
Bailiff -
Michael Michele
Selina -
Kelly Jo Minter
Recovering Addict -
Bill Nunn
Duh Duh Duh Man -
Leo O'Brien
Kid on Stoop -
-
Max Rabinowitz
Gigantor -
Paul Raczkowski
Recovering Addict -
Thalmus Rasulala
Police Commissioner -
Teddy Riley
New Year's Eve Band Mem... -
Manuel Santiago
Judge -
Gregg Smrz
Biff -
Bobby Stancil
Kid on Stoop -
Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
Prosecuting Attorney Ha... -
Keith Sweat
Singer at Wedding -
Russell Wong
Kim Park -
Gerald Levert
Singers - Winter - (Lev... -
Allen McNeil
Singers - Spring - (Tro... -
Max Raven
Gigantor -
Erik Kilpatrick
Recovering Addict -
Vanessa A. Williams
Keisha -
Christopher Williams
Kareem Akbar
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New Jack City Trailer & Photos
All Critics (29) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (7) | DVD (16)
Though this often plays like a 70s cop show, it became a prototype for the bling-heavy gangsta melodramas of the 90s.
Top CriticFilmmakers pull off a provocative, pulsating update on gangster pics with this action-laden epic about the rise and fall of an inner city crack dealer.
It's a superior example of what used to be called blaxploitation, with Van Peebles piling on corruption and carnage for all he's worth.
The movie was advertised (no doubt wisely) as a slam-bang action adventure, but in fact it's a serious, smart film with an impact that lingers after the lights go up.
The film's use of once-imposing, now-crumbling New York architecture is particularly effective in underscoring the story with an air of widespread urban decay.
Mario Van Peebles's drugland feature, a relentless, hold-on-to-your-hat experience, rarely lets up.
OK Van Peebles flick featuring Snipes.
We all know New Jack City is making the right statement on drugs, racism, the system, etc. But the fact is it's not very good.
A cynical director, Van Peebles has style to burn, but his work is too flashy to make sense. This is a gangster-thriller about crack trade in Hralem done as a moralistic melodrama with kinky violence.
Violent and very engaging.
Am I my brother's keeper? New Jack City is a perfect blind of movie, music video, acting, and stylized violence. A must own for fans of "mob" movies.
Peebles and his crew...turn a pedestrian script into an above-average gangster thriller. (Special Edition DVD set)
...a purely conventional story, but it unfolds in unique and innovative ways, with particularly good turns from its cast, all of which make it a worthwhile watch.
It's basically Scarface with a hip-hop mentality, but it's also a slickly entertaining and consistently engaging crime thriller.
Audience Reviews for New Jack City
Super Reviewer
Okay, so the main plot is pretty standard, with two mismatched cops having to team up to take down a powerful drug lord who has taken the streets prisoner with his ultra strong crack. It's still an enjoyable ride though, and it's quite stylish, with some actually pretty decent performances.
Okay, so Judd Nelson is underused, but he's good when he's there. Wesley Snipes is fine, but I feel like he's just doing a VERY low-key and subtle take on Tony Montana. The stand outs are Ice-T who, still very much known for his anti-cop songs is great as a tough streetwise cop, and really gets his acting career off to a great start, though after this it wouldn't pick up again until he portrayed another cop on Law and Order: SVU. The other top prize goes to the outstanding Chris Rock, who gives an utterly memorable and gripping turn as an ill-fated ex-junkie turned informer.
This is overall a really decent flick. It's ultimately nothing new, but very well played, and far better (both as a directorial debut and in general) than it could have been, so give it a shot.
Super Reviewer
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- Nino Brown: Good, cause you got to rob to get rich in the Reagan era.
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- Officer Nick Peretti: Excuse me, is this some kind of black thing?
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- Nino Brown: [Referring to his girlfriend] Cancel that bitch, I'll buy another one.
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- Nino Brown: Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change.
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