InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Ross622 This movie is unlike any other gangster movie that I have ever seen and is arguably one of the best of all time, and it's very hard to believe that this is a directorial debut and it is also one of the best debuts I've ever seen. The movie chronicles the career of a gangster named Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) who is a very ruthless gangster who will do anything necessary to make money even if it's illegal with the help of his trusted cohorts Gee Money (Allen Payne) and Kareem Akbar (Christopher Williams). Brown is also under investigation by detectives Scottie Appleton (Ice-T) and Detective Stone (Mario Van Peebles, who also directed this movie) who also have an informant named Pookie (Chris Rock). It is funny to me but prior to watching this movie I never thought of ever seeing Wesley Snipes as a gangster, and Chris Rock in a dramatic role altogether but in their cases their performances exceeded my own expectations, but Ice-T i'm used to playing as a cop because of his work on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Everything in this movie is nearly flawless, but there was one minor problem that I had which was that the songs about "New Jack City" go on and on and can get pretty annoying after a while of hearing them but everything else including the Wesley Snipes performance, and the visionary direction of Mario Van Peebles struck the right chords in telling a story set in the suburbs of New York City, telling a pure and realistic message about what drugs can do to people on the streets and how harmful they can be, which is a reason why more people should watch this movie to learn about the harmful effects of drug addiction. This is one of the 10 best and most memorable movies of 1991.

Gideon24 One of the biggest box office smashes of 1991 was New Jack City, a slightly over-the-top but engrossing crime drama, set during the advent of the crack epidemic of the 1980's, which follows the charismatic rise of a drug dealer named Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), whose overthrow of a ghetto apartment complex and turning it into a drug manufacturing and selling empire, elevates him to the title of drug lord and a group of cops who have made it their life mission to bring him down. The story eventually whittles its way down to a cat and mouse battle between Brown and one cop named Scotty Templeton (Ice-T), with whom a personal connection is revealed.Directed by Mario Van Peebles, who also appears in the film as the cop in charge of bringing Nino down, this film struck a chord with that all- important 18-34 demographic for the wrong reason, primarily that it glamorizes drug abuse and makes the lifestyle that can be achieved selling drugs very appealing, despite a somewhat preachy screenplay and some unappealing characters.On the plus side, Wesley Snipes lights up the screen as Nino Brown and there is a scene-stealing turn by a very young Chris Rock, as a crack addict who Scotty throws under a bus as an accomplice in his mission. Allen Payne is also effective as Nino's childhood friend and second in command as is Judd Nelson as Scotty's rogue partner.Rich with violence, sexual content, and a score that is a hip-hop lover's dream, it is no surprise that this film cleaned up at the box office.

dee.reid There are few action films and crime thrillers as socially relevant and powerful as 1991's "New Jack City," a gritty and violent portrait of America's so-called "war on drugs" during the United States' "crack epidemic" (the mid-to-late '80s and early '90s). Stylishly directed by veteran film actor Mario Van Peebles (in his directorial debut), the film also makes an explicit indictment of the Reagan-era policies of the time that led to the decimation of many of America's already-crime-ridden, low-income inner-city neighborhoods, and for violent drug kingpins to set up shop and exploit the heavily impoverished, desperate masses (many of whom lived in largely-minority communities and seemed neglected by the larger part of society as a whole).The film also explicitly condemns crack cocaine and it doesn't shy away from the devastating effects it has not just on the people who are many times hopelessly addicted to it, but for the communities, as well. Using the ultra-bloody gangster classic "Scarface" (1983) as a foundation for its story and as a cinematic backdrop, "New Jack City" details the rise of a ruthless, megalomaniacal drug lord named Nino Brown (a truly effective Wesley Snipes), and his crime syndicate the Cash Money Brothers (CMB) as they quickly and assuredly take over New York City's drug trade and begin flooding the streets with crack. Snipes's portrayal of Nino Brown makes him one of the most insidiously vile movie characters in the history of the medium - a brilliant embodiment of pure evil, viciousness, and megalomania.Aligned against him, are New York City's finest. Maverick police commander Stone (Van Peebles himself), a determined New York City narcotics cop, has a plan. He realizes that the CMB is too large and sophisticated an operation to take down using traditional methods - they need something else, newer, better, more radical measures of law enforcement. He explains to his superiors, "You want me to take down a new-jack drug kingpin, I'm going to need some new-jack cops!" He finds his new-breed of cops in a pair of outcast narcotics detectives - Scotty Appleton (rapper Ice T, in his first major film role) and Nick Peretti (Judd Nelson), who both have strong personal motivations for wanting to go to battle against Nino Brown and the CMB. And so the war is on..."New Jack City" was an important film for its time, for its highlighting of the plight of inner-city communities decimated by crack cocaine during the crack epidemic, and the almost-futile attempts by the police to rid the streets of its influence. "New Jack City" in a way was very much like a 101-minute CNN expose, since it succeeded in bringing greater attention to a topic often neglected (or poorly reported or simply glossed over by) mainstream news media before and after the time of the film's release. Like Chuck D (lead rapper for rap group Public Enemy) said a while back about rap music, "Hip-hop is the black CNN," "New Jack City" in many ways fulfills the same purpose.The acting performances are flawless from all involved. I already mentioned the powerful Wesley Snipes as the main antagonist Nino Brown. But Ice T turns in what is probably his most famous acting performance - before the TV series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," at least - as the fiercely committed Scotty Appleton (I also single out his acting because he's also one of my favorite rappers of all time). Judd Nelson's Nick Peretti works as a perfect foil to Scotty, as the other unconventional cop chosen to fight the CMB and who also has a tragic story of his own for wanting to bring down Nino Brown and ridding the streets of crack. Allen Payne delivers a careful performance as Nino Brown's childhood friend and second-in-command Gee Money. And comedian Chris Rock eschews comedy in favor of a more serious dramatic performance as a crack addict-turned-police informant named Pookie.I'm 27 right now, going on 28 in September. I should also state that I'm a black male, and I live in suburbia - far, far away from the dangerous inner city where this film's story takes place. When I was younger, I was often forbidden by my loving, over-protective parents from ever watching "New Jack City"; such shielding of me from such a grim reality is understandable, but unfortunately I also find it highly regrettable. Now that I'm older, I see that this is one of the most powerful, and essential, police-action movies ever made - because it highlights the oft-overlooked devastation that crack cocaine had during that time in low-income, largely minority communities - in other words, people like me but who were way less fortunate than me, and that saddens me deeply. So there's an emotional investment in here for me, too.See "New Jack City" and be prepared to be blown away.8/10

tavm 20 years after his father, Melvin Van Peebles, had made a revolutionary film called Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song, Mario Van Peebles would direct something of a classic himself with New Jack City. He plays the superior officer of a detective played by rapper Ice-T who we find out has personal reasons for wanting the drug dealer Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, dead. Assisting him is partner Judd Nelson and a former user played by Chris Rock before he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live". While Rock is better known as a comedian, he gives a fine dramatic performance here. Of course, it's Snipes who gets the lion's share of the acting highlights especially when his character's on trial. While it seems initially the drug lifestyle is glamorous here, it does show eventually that crime doesn't pay. So on that note, New Jack City gets a high recommendation from me. P.S. While I managed to watch this on YouTube, some parts were missing so I checked the Italian upload on the site to watch what I missed and I managed to understand what was going on despite the Italian dubbing.