Product Description

Documentary on the deaths of tupac shakur and biggie smalls and the east coast/west coast hip-hop/rap rivalry that culminated in late 1996 and early 1997. Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 03/22/2005 Run time: 140 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29634 in DVD
• Brand: 2Pac
• Released on: 2005-03-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Customer Reviews

Very Good Documentary on Biggie & Tupac
This is a documentary about Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Notorious BIG), who were popular rap music stars in the 1990's, but they were both murdered in their mid-20's barely 6 months apart from each other. Both crimes have never been solved, and British documentarian Nick Broomfield attempts to patch together some possible answers, involving various people either connected to the two artists or to the murder investigation.

Pros:
Broomfield reveals his own shortcomings and fears along the way, debunking the "fearless journalist" image that many in today's news culture like to promote. He apparently accepts an off-camera scolding from Voletta Wallace early on (his narration mentions it), when word comes back to her on his unannounced visits to some of Biggie (Wallace)'s old Brooklyn hang out spots.

Some standout interviews include:

Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace. She is very passionate and forthcoming in assessing the things that went right and went wrong in her son's life.

The high school teacher who Tupac allegedly considered a foster father of sorts; he claims that Tupac had the range to do Shakespeare, having gone to school at a Performing Arts academy.

Tupac's real father is interviewed, and looks like him; the footage is relatively short, concerning him, however-- especially since Afeni is not interviewed.

The ex-cops who were associated with Tupac, or LAPD, who offer lots of interesting views from their perspective on what happened..

shortly after Tupac's death, A bookkeeper who claims that he was paid money to arrange the murder of Biggie Smalls.

A former bodyguard of Biggie who ID's the alleged gunman who shot at Biggie the night he died.. the alleged party, known by name, has to date, never been charged.

Cons:
No involvement from Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur. Given that the Afeni-supported "Tupac: Resurrection" movie (MTV Films) came only a few years later, it is unknown whether she was in negotiations to start that project at the time that Mr. Broomfield began his work, or if she simply just wasn't interested in him for other reasons.

The interview with Suge Knight isn't very revelatory about the murder incident, but given Suge is an incarcerated felon and his history of gangster ethics, it was doubtful he'd set himself up to be labeled as a "snitch" over Tupac's death, whether he was involved or not.

No interviews are seen with anyone representing the LAPD. You have testimony from former officers, but none from LAPD officials themselves. it is unknown if Broomfield attempted to interview anyone from the LAPD.

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Assessment: Broomfield comes away with the conclusion that parties at Death Row Records were involved with the deaths of both Tupac and Biggie; accomplices would be parties at the Los Angeles Police Department, cops who moonlighted as "security" for the label who were allegedly crooked and involved with drug trafficking.

Bonus footage includes interviews that didn't make the main film, discographies for both artists, an interview with the filmmaker, and information about the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation.

Could have been a lot better.
I was bored last night, and so I decided to head down to my local video store to check out some movies. I went to the documentary section and saw this movie. I picked it up and read the back cover. It seemed promising enough. It was made in 2001, just prior to "Suge" Knight's release from prison. It supposeldy included interviews with a long-time investigator on the case and long-time friends of Biggie and Tupac.

I was somwhat dissapointed after watching the film. The thing about it is that while the director did a good job of getting interviews with people close to the case, he offered little as far as taking the information people gave him and forming some kind of opinion to share; the director seemed very apathetic through out the film and his motive and sincerity were questionable. At points in the film, his attention wavered, floating somewhere else. He showed a lack of professionalism, walking around with his equipment and at certain points when his interviewees said something to him, he reacted with coments showing that he really didn't understand what they were saying or that he really wasn't listening. At one point he goes into about a five minute questioning of a former girlfriend of dirty cops in the case about her sexual relationships with her ex-cop boyfriends--asking her if they had threesomes and what they were like. He shows an interest for sensationalism during an interview with Suge Knight, basically baiting Suge into talking about Snoop Dogg and his feelings about him. All these things have little to do with the actual topic of the movie: Biggie and Tupac.

The production of the movie is annoying and poor. There are times when the microphone does not pick up sounds well enough. The movie is shot in grainy visuals like points in the movie Traffic. The soundtrack is very monotnous, playing one or two songs through out the entire film: Gangstarr songs.

With all the bads about the film, there are some goods. The film offers a rare glimpse into the personal side of Tupac and Biggie. There are interviews with Tupac's biological father, Volletta Wallace, one of Tupac's childhood best friend from baltimore(whom they called whitey), Tupac's teacher in the art school he attended as a teen and other interviews. I felt like I knew a little more about who Biggie and Tupac were, behind the scenes, through these interviews. There is also great footage of Biggie and Tupac hugging on stage and of Tupac in the studio in June of 1996. Some of the interviews are so personal that they can bring you to tears.

Overally, I'd give this flick a 2.5/5. I think there could have been so much more done with the things the director had at his disposal. The interviewees were the stars of the film. The director was a dud.

More holes than Tupac and Biggie
The maker here claims the LAPD's rogue cops, moonlighting as Death Row Records security, helped kill Tupac because he was demanding $10m from Suge Knight, who commanded his dirty cop friends to shoot Tupac and make it look like an East Coast/West Coast rap feud. Biggie had to be killed a few months later to maintain the fiction. It may well be true. However, nowhere do we see the LAPD responding, nor any responsible attorney or any legitimate media, such as the LA Times, which got into trouble over this case. Still, it's an enjoyable entertainment, even if the filmmaker's ethics and medthods and editing are questionable. It doesn't really answer who killed either rapper. Suge Knight's prison interview never mentions the killings.