New Jack City

Though this often plays like a 70s cop show, it became a prototype for the bling-heavy gangsta melodramas of the 90s.

Filmmakers 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.

Violent and very engaging.

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.

Cooper’s script detests the city-conquering gangster Nino Brown (Snipes), but Mario Van Peebles’ camera is in love with him. The result is an indelible villain, memorialized by wild Dutch angles and prodigious overhead cinematography.

'New Jack City' is steeped in Blaxploitation filmmaking, and is a good deal more stylish and more fun than, say, 'Boyz N the Hood,' released the same year.

I mean, what else can one say about a film in which even Judd Nelson is an enjoyable presence?

New Jack City layers seasoning through charming characters, slick dialogue and memorable visuals that propels the film into legendary status.