Although Ice Cube says Lorenz Tate "killed it" playing the character, Cube admits regretting not taking the role. Menace II Society presents its protagonist with, if anything, too many options to escape his destiny (it seems like every 20 minutes, someone offers Caine what appears to be a permanent way out), but the films gloomy fatalism suggests hes stuck in a spiderweb he will never be able to extricate himself from, built by social factors that existed well before he was born. Violence & Gore Severe 40 of 47 found this severe They shared scenes in Menace to Society and Dead Presidents, but didn't share any scenes in Why Do Fools Fall In Love and Ray. Menace II Societydoesnt linger much on the quiet times because its not that sort of movie, but if you take it as documentary, you can get a skewed sense of the problem. Allen and Albert Hughes, who were just 20 years old when they made the film, acknowledge their goal was to educate white America through shock value. Tyger Williams wrote the script in 28 days over six weeks. Tasha: I also think theres an inherent understanding that the Watts riots were a watershed moment both in the civil-rights story and in mainstream Americas attempts to understand black-on-black violence: The commentary of the time was often focused on bafflement that the rioters were reacting with anger to white police oppression by burning, looting, and destroying their own neighborhood. No doubt the violence, poverty, anger, and hopelessness that pervades the film reflects the reality of growing up in a place like that, but the tone is ecstatic and pulpy, which makes watching a productively uneasy experience. But what makes neighborhoods like this tragic is that theyre places where many people try to live peacefully, but cant because of the constant threat of violence. There was a scene cut from the final film, because the actor in it was being "too gangster", and had no story that relates to the film. Report abuse. . this is one of the baddest Samuel L Jackson scenes from Menace II Society And the brutal tentacles of that environment - whether directly or indirectly, whether one is gifted, kind-hearted. He is seen twice throughout the video in quick shots. Now available on Special Edition Blu-ray is The Hughes Brothers 1993 crime-drama Menace II Society, courtesy of Criterion Collection. Heres another question regarding morality. 2022 Pitchfork Media Inc. All rights reserved. This was booed by audiences at test screenings, so the love scene was later added during reshoots. May 28, 2014 features / Movie Of The Week. ! 35 people found this helpful. Soundtracks. Also, thank you for fixing the pipe leakages in my bathroom. Caine is shot during a carjacking in which his cousin is murdered for refusing to give up his car. And regardless of whether this state of mind is a symptom or the condition, its agitated by climate. This was later cut out. Keith: For about half its running time, it doesn't seem like Menace II Society is going to offer much direct social commentary. there, in the shadow of the riots of 1965 and 1992, young caine (tyrin turner) is growing up under the influence of his ruthless, drug-dealing father (samuel l. jackson, in a chilling cameo) and his loose-cannon best friend, o-dog (larenz tate), leading him into a spiral of violent crime from which he is not sure he wants to escape, despite the original sound. But by the midpoint of the film, hes putting someone else through the same terror just to steal his fancy hubcaps. Editorial Reviews. The Hughes brothers were aware of the plot hole of the police not matching O-Dog's fingerprints to the liquor store robbery like they did with Caine's after they were both arrested. Watch popular content from the following creators: Simon (@foreignsimon), SimonSays(@simonsays239), TRAYDOGG_(@traydogg_), Editzz(@editsss_101), Reynaldo Gutierrez(@blvdrey), Muden_Clips(@muden_clips), Upstatejake(@upst8jake), My followers are hot(@shrekndlordfarquadschild), Brazygetnasty . "Honey Love" by R. Kelly plays instead. The sets look stagey and fake in part because theres no decor, but thats the way their apartment or home would lookno one has spare money for, or interest in, unnecessary furniture or wall art. Rate. Production was shut down for two days when members of the Hacienda Village Bloods (HVB) shot up the set in Jordan Downs (a housing project area, and a place considered Crip territory). Free shipping for many products! Menace II Societysympathizes with its characters, but its tuned to disapprove of their decisions, and present them as decisions, rather than the inevitable consequences of growing up in the hood. When O-Dog shoots a crackhead and then offers his crew the junkies leftover hamburger, or when Caine steals the hubcaps from some fool, those scenes are played for laughs more than for shock. Menace II Society (1993) Quotes Showing all 30 items [ Caine Lawson reflecting after being shot ] Caine : After stomping Ilena's cousin like that, I knew I was gonna have to deal with that fool someday. level 2 This is what's real. The opening scene of Menace II Society still delivers a jolt, 25 years after the films release, His bank card was declined. The Hughes brothers were embarrassed of filming a sex scene so they shot it in a way they were comfortable with. fun is a pretty good incentive to laugh along and order up a copy of the videotapeespecially given how useful that videotape later proves to someone who isnt actually down with whatever Caine feels like doing. Caine would look at him while O-Dog was in the back room. Nathan: The scene where O-Dog kills the junkie for offering to suck his dick, then tries to ensure that the junkies food doesnt go to waste, paired with the scene where Caine angrily demands a dudes shiny car rims and a double cheeseburger, reminded me of Larry Clarks Bully. In the empty classroom scene, Mr. Butler tells Kaine and Sharif "Being a black man in America isn't easy. | (There arent that many female cinematographers out there, which helped it stand out.) Afterwards, we get a lot of matter-of-fact scenes of life in Watts. Like its predecessors, though, Menace II Societyalso has a big-picture quality that works against it. Ilena (the girl who Caine slept with) actually isn't pregnant and is simply lying to get money out of Caine, according to the Hughes brothers. A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. Share this: Facebook | Twitter . Specifically, its straightforward and blunt about its characters criminal behavior and general lack of regret; theyre trapped in a bad place with bad role models, but Caine still consciously decides to go from cringing at O-Dogs behavior to joining in, and from regretting his family history, and how he was raised, to giving Ronnies son the exact same experience, practically line for line and note for note. Ice Cube kick started his acting career just a few years prior to this films release with Boyz N The Hood, a similar movie about coming of age in a gang-infested city. provoked movie scene. Yet many of us who see the movie thrill to the violence and feel awful about the real-world circumstances that lead to it, then continue to go about our lives as none of it touches us. The scene has yet to appear in any of the released versions of the film. all too well fight scene. Violence doesnt happen every day, but its an everyday reality that destabilizes life for everyone who lives there. A-Wax used a two-tone IMI Desert Eagle Mark VII when he, Caine, and O-Dog execute the carjackers at the take-out food stand. He has remained in the Inglewood area. Hes what Allen Hughes calls the worst of what can happen when kids arent nurtured.. Shawn and Marlon . The movie itself contains about five minutes of extra footage, and the extras consist of a hilarious deleted scene and two very short featurettes, "The Wayans Brothers Behind the Scenes" and "Hood Movie Gumbo". The trivia items below may give away important plot points. Although the shotgun has a pistol grip that accepts a folding stock, the stock has been removed. Another part of the conflict derives from cultural disconnect. Criterion has announced a bunch of new titles heading to their prestigious home collection for December. Let us explain all the clues in the movie that add up to the very plausible alternate theory that O-Dog wasn't an actual person. Noel: The Hughes brothers surely dont mean for Menace II Societys audience to approve of Caines overall descent into crime, but there are moments throughout the film where murder and theft are treated as maybe okay? Reality is shown as it happens because the news can no longer dodge the overt racism. Maybe that's because the title sounded like a ripoff of Blades of Glory, which came out earlier that year, or because Fury's Dan Fogler seemed like a transparent attempt at finding "a poor man's Jack Black." Tasha: Menace II Society takes a different tack from other movies about life in violence-plagued, gang-controlled, predominately black urban ghettos. Picked by Entertainment Weekly Magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Independent Films" in a special supplement, devoted to independent films, that was only distributed to subscribers in November 1997. Being in a room with a gun-waving multiple murderer who thinks his killings are hilarious (and potentially profitable!) The impression left most deeply for me is the rage and conflict present in virtually every scene. With Scorsese, most of the people introduced in those early-movie blitzkriegs turn out not to matter much; theyre around for the same reason as the Look at all my stuff! montage at the beginning of Wolf Of Wall Street, with a protagonist establishing the wallpaper of his daily life. 93.8K views | original sound - Muden_Clips. Scott:The films references to gangster movies like Goodfellas had me wondering what Menace II Societys relationship is to the world its depicting. This fan theory involves the 1993 film, \"Menace II Society.\" We set out to show tons of evidence in the film that proves the fan theory that O-Dog wasn't real, but was instead Caine's alter ego. Extras will include audio commentary on both versions with director Justin Lin, a gag reel, and 6 . This later on changed when Larenz Tate was cast for the movie. Noel:Its not just the direct violence thats destroying the community; Menace II Societyis blunt about how the macho culture of these young men is making escape from the cycle of murder/revenge-for-murder/revenge-for-revenge-for-murder all but impossible. I think were supposed to be both amused and horrified by Caine and O-Dogs actions; but also, on some level, were supposed to recognize our complicity in being entertained by such violence and amorality.