Boyz 'N the Hood

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Summary: Straight Up like a 504 in a 203 zone
Review: Boyz N the Hood, is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. It's real, and it gives the viewer a perspective of gang life. This movie is like Silkk kickin it in a 912 area. Silkk tha Shocker is in tha house. He's chillen wit hiz boyz O'Dell, C Murder, Mystikal, Big Ed, and Kane. Buy this movie it's nice.

~Jack Marlow aka Silkk the Shocker and his crew

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Summary: BOYZ N THE HOOD Special Edition DVD Review
Review: Finally, "Boyz N The Hood" gets proper treatmant on DVD with a double-disc special edition. John Singleton's film debut was one of the first films to take a realistic look at what was really going on in many urban California neighborhoods at the time. Telling parts of his own childhood story, Singleton gave us some deep, social commentary mixed with some groundbreaking performances from a number of relative newcomers.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. is Tre Styles, a young black male growing up in South Central during the turbulent and violent early 90's. Under the watching eyes and guiding hand of his father, Furious (played brilliantly by Laurence Fishburne), Tre learns life's difficult lessons as with friends and family, he battles the harsh world that is out there on the streets.

"Boyz N The Hood" is one of the most movies that is hard to forget. Once you've seen it, chances are that you will want to experience it again. While later films in the genre exploited violent images and often glorified them for entertainment purposes, this movies touches on the emotion behind the violence. When there is violence even towards characters that we may perceive as "bad", the film shows us the honest consquences.

While there are many excellent performances here, it is first-time actor Ice Cube's portrayal of "Dough Boy" that really had audiences talking. No matter how many times I view the film's emotional climax, I always "feel" it. Cube's closing monolouge is just so genuine and powerful. As he walks off, fading into memory, we feel that loss. Dough Boy isn't some poor black sterotype that blows away people without thinking twice. He has human qualities. Even when he is doing things we don't agree with it, he is sympathetic. He is angry about the lack of love that he gets from his mother who praises his brother but shuns him. Despite fighting with his brother, he still runs to his rescue, moments later. Dough Boy is portrayed in a way that he can be hard-edged but we still can relate to his suffering. That seems to be what is missing from many of these hood films that try to duplicate "Boyz".

"Boyz N The Hood" was and still is one of the most important films in the genre. This DVD offers a lot of things that many fans have been waiting for such as an audio commentary, a featurette looking back at the film's making, and two deleted scenes. While the first omitted scene is a rather pointless back and forth between Gooding's Tre and his mother, played by Angela Basset, the second scene featuring the movie's stand-out characters Dough Boy and Furious is excellent. This DVD is definetly worth picking up for any true fan of this epic film.

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Summary: Some of you guys just don't get it!
Review: I was reading some of the reviews posted below, and was irritated when this movie was so often referred to as a "gang" movie. This isn't a movie about inner-city gangs, folks! The main characters, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Lawrence Fishburne, and his friends Ricky and Doughboy (played by Ice Cube) are NOT gang members. They are simply poor, urban youths trying to make their lives the best they can.

I can totally relate to Lawrence Fishburne's character, Furious, who amid the turmoil and suffocating poverty and despair of the ghetto, is trying to build a business that will improve both his family life and the neighborhood, as well as trying to keep his son (Gooding) on the straight and narrow path. Fishburne's character reminded me so much of my own father.

I watched this movie in high school, and was blown away by the frankness of the story-telling. It was not overly embellished by tremendous acts of violence, as is the case in most Hollywood movies about the inner-city, nor does it try to ignore the ugliness present in everyday life in South-Central.

The most heart-wrenching aspect of this film was the murder of Ricky, the USC-bound football star, who was gunned down in the alley the day he received the SAT result that would have allowed him to pass through the door leading out of the hopelessness of the ghetto.

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Summary: Great flick but depiction of s. central racially inaccurate.
Review: The real south central Los Angeles is made up of mostly blacks and Latinos. The percentage is actually in favor of Latinos, something like 55 percent of Latinos in south central, yet for the people that do not know this, that watch the movie, they might think that a ghetto like south central is completely African-American when in fact it is also a barrio and the Latin community is as much a part of the south Los Angeles hood as the black community. The only Latinos that are shown in that hood are the four girls that are walkling home from school.

Nevertheless, Singleton shows his brilliance in this movie.

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Summary: An Unforgettable Drama
Review: The 1991 classic film "Boyz N The Hood" is an unforgettable masterpiece. "Boyz N The Hood" takes place in South Central, Los Angelas and is the story of 3 boys turning into men. The three friends, Tre, and Ricky and Doughboy, who are half brothers, have to deal with the harsh reality that is South Central and the consequences of their actions. Throughout the whole movie they deal with different choices to make in their lives and the effect of these certain choices. The movie is very touching, depressing, and can teach you a lesson all at the same time.

You start out with Tre and some of his friends walking to school, and Tre ends up getting into a fight which lands him at his father's doorstep, due to a written agreement between him and his mother. His father, Furious Styles, tries and successfully teaches Tre to be responsible and teaches him about things he will deal with throughout his life. Ricky and Doughboy, on the other hand, don't really have anybody to teach them the ins and outs of life. This really has an affect on both of them later on in the movie. Doughboy, early in the movie, ends up in the pen at the early age of ten. 7 years pass, and Doughboy returns. It's from here when the story really picks up. It takes you through the daily lives of all 3, with Tre and Ricky trying to get into college and Doughboy hanging out all day on street corners with his friends. Toward the end of the movie, Tre's endurance is definitely put to the test, along with everything his father tought him. The ending is a serious tearjerker, or atleast it was for me. To see what happens, you'll have to rent it.

The bonus DVD comes with a few cool extra features. It includes the awesome video "Growing Up In The Hood" by Compton's Most Wanted. It also has a nice documentary on the movie. The documentary is lengthy, and very informative on how the movie came about. Audio commentary is included on the first disc, with John Singleton, the director, talking about different parts of the movie. He claims that most of what he used in the movie was taken from his own childhood. Alot that happened in the movie did happen to him, like his father raising him and teaching him about life. The picture is good, the sound is good, everything is brilliantly crafted in the drama. Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, and Morris Chestnut do a good job at portraying Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky. Lawrence Fishburne and Angela Basset also do a good job at playing Tre's mother and father. All of the actors did a fine job at playing their roles.

So I say atleast rent the movie, if you're still skeptical about it. It's a great movie, and will definitely keep you in your seat the whole time the movie is playing. Everything is made wonderfully, there's no doubt about it. However, if you're easily offended by racial comments, I don't think you need to watch this movie. Many racial comments are made about Caucasions, so like I said the easily offended should not view this movie. Other than that, this is a great movie that anybody could enjoy. It even adds jabs of humor throughout the movie, which kinda takes away from the drama a little bit. So, get this movie, it'll be worth your money spent.

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Summary: Way too many stereotypes...
Review: Way, way too many racist and sexist stereotypes here. Black males are portrayed as overly aggressive, violent street thugs or controlling, suspicious dads trying to "save" their sons by taking them away from their mums. The depiction of black females is no better; they are portrayed as irresponsible, loud, and always having sex and getting pregnant.

The depiction of blacks in general is very insulting; it portrays most of them as ignorant, aggressive, hostile to non-blacks, trouble-making, idle, poor, lazy, and loud.

The plot of the film is Tre's mum basically giving up and sending him to live with his dad. It discredits single moms and black females; the message given is that females are too "weak" to raise sons without the rescue of a man. Tre's dad then takes over Tre's life and shoves his mom out of the picture as if she were an unimportant footnote in her own son's life. The sexist message given here is that allegedly, only adult men can solve problems of child raising in a poor area of the city, which of course is an incorrect stereotype.

It would have been so much better if Tre had remained with his mom; his mom had been portrayed as strong enough to keep Tre from getting into drugs and crime and if kids of different races could band together and fight crime and drugs. It also would have been better if maybe there had been school scenes that made it clear that kids of ANY race, white, black, or mixed can get into drugs, crime, and can get pregnant, not just black kids. No kid, whether they are male or female and no matter what race or ethnic background they belong to, is immune to this dead end trap and both male AND female parents, whether they are single or married, are equally capable of guiding their children to steer clear of these common pitfalls.

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Summary: Harsh Realities of South Central
Review: The critically acclaimed Oscar nominated 1991 release "Boyz 'N the Hood" wonderfully desplicts the harsh realities of living in South Central Los Angeles. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Lawrence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett. This wonderfully written plot explores the lives of three young men strugging with everyday living. Two of them, while struggling to stay lawful citizens, hold high hopes of leaving that neighborhood and pursue higher dreams. Little do they know that their actions affect the community and their families. This film never holds back on the harshness of the violence and the environment. Each character holds their own persona that makes this film more powerful. The actors perform their characters beautifully, especially Gooding and Fishburne. All express wonderfully the individual everyday struggles. Such tremendous film quality makes "Boyz 'N the Hood" worth watching. Other films with similar theme followed shortly after this release ("Menace II Society", "New Jack City"), but none surpass this one. Many audiences will feel its powerful message after viewing.

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Summary: In Los Angeles.
Review: I grew up in Los Angeles. Lot of gangs. The gangs I talk of were school gangs. I don't know how it developed, but it seems as though high school students started to develop their own crews or gangs. This seems to have led to abnormal crime rate in the city, even though the authorities were cracking down on the popular crips and bloods.

Well, the movie touches base on the Crips and Bloods, but ignores the high school crews.

This movie is sad, but adds light to the situation in Los Angeles.

Who knows how to stop it. Maybe it's a phase. Maybe it's long lasting.

Well, see the movie. There is still lots of safe places to go if you're a traveller.

-Calvin

Rating:
Summary: Sure It's a Great Movie but...
Review: One of the things few people notice when watching Boyz N tha Hood is that the plot is just a rehash of Cooley High. Basically Ghetto quasi-intellectual has a friend that is really good at sports and got a scholarship. And while this quasi-intellectual kid is around in the movie he makes some girl lose her virginity.
Even though this movie's plot is just a rehash it is important to judge a movie on its own merits rather than contrast it to others. Boyz N tha Hood is a good movie in its own right. The acting is very good. Even Ice Cube who has today been relegated to cheap black comedy and lame action films did a fine job. However this movie does have its plotholes, for example why did Cuba's character have to move from the nice parts of town to the ghetto? But that is all ok.
What this movie is, is Cooley High for a new generation. Set in a different city, a different decade, and with a different soundtrack (the soundtrack of the former movie was Motown). This movie was entertaining and one could truly feel sorry for the characters who lost their lives for no good reason. Unfortunately this movie mirrors the reality of the life people face in the ghetto.