Albert Hughes: Dead Presidents is flawed, took years for them to think Boyz N the Hood was a good movie, American Me is better than every hood film.

[Ol’Otis]

Menace was a low budget ass good fellas and Tyrin Turner acting was horrible

The fact that people think Menace is deep and had meaning is hilarious

 

[Marks]

Filmmakers can critique other peoples work harsher than any critic. It was a Russian filmmaker who shytted on a 2001 by Stanley Kubric, it was before my time.

Tarkovsky iirc, he thought it was a great technical movie, but completely cold/without an emotion truth to it and he believed the whole point of film was to get that kinda stuff across. Great filmmaker, one of my favorites and died a little early/young.

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

I think the "after school special" debate is pretty dumb. Yeah, there are messages in 'Boyz' and some of it feels heavy handed AFTER THE FACT but back in 1991 it was exposing audiences to a lot of shyt that they probably never thought about and Furious was sayin some real shyt

I'd say this. I do think Charles S. Dutton scene in the classroom is as powerful as anything Furious said. With much less screen time.
Maybe that was Hughes Bros subtle dig at Boyz that they can "school it" better than Boyz

However, seeing Furious journey as a father throughout the film is more compelling.

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

'Menace' was more raw and I think gave more insight into the minds of everyone comin up in Watts during that era but I think 'Boyz' is the better acted movie and also shot better. That's why as time goes on I start to lean more towards 'Boyz' because of the filmmaking aspects.

'Dead Presidents' is the Hughes best film

American Pimp is close if we're including documentaries.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I'll give you cast. Cast was great. I'd say I've grown to appreciate the cinematography of Boyz in the Hood. But idk breh. There are some Scorsese level shots in Menace II Society.

The slow mo before they shot up the house/Cain is stuck in my head.

That was well done in how it went silent and then you hear the bullets and you get the shaky cam but the thing that always irked me about it was the pin falling out and they never re-edited the shot. That was kinda amateurish to me.

'Boyz' has some amazing shots to me all throughout, you really get to know the neighborhood inside and out because he's giving you daytime, nightime, all in the same locations, it makes me feel like I'm there living on the same street as Furious/Tre, Dough/Ricky and Brandi

 

[Ozymandeas]

Preferred Boyz. Seeing Caine coughing up blood and Harold having spasms after getting shot in the head is too much for me

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Menace was a low budget ass good fellas and Tyrin Turner acting was horrible

The fact that people think Menace is deep and had meaning is hilarious

It hasnt aged well. It makes sense that Tate, Jada and Clifton Powell's careers lasted much longer.

I still dont know why the Hughes Bros wanted 2pac for Sharif. Unless it was for irony...

Maybe they feared we'd just see "Bishop" as Cain. idk.

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Both movies had their place. Menace did a better job of portraying LA street culture whereas Boyz gave you more of a general view into inner city life in LA as lived by both the street characters and the characters that represent regular life.

Yea he said in another video that Menace was a response to Boyz, New Jack City and Juice. About how Caine would be the bad guy in Boyz in the Hood.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I could never see Pac in any of the roles in 'Menace'. I think Pac is a great actor but I just can't really see him in any of the roles for that movie, I don't think he really fit as Sharif and I don't think he would have fit as wax either. Larenz Tate is one of the most underrated actors of his generation so there's no way Pac would have did a better job as O-Dog..

The only thing I can say is maybe Pac as Caine instead of Tyrin. We already know him and Jada would have had chemistry

 

[The Burger King]

Dead Presidents is amazing, but it’s one of those movies I can’t watch more than maybe twice a year cause it’s so damn depressing.

 

[Rell84shots]

Dead Presidents is an all time classic, i felt like that back then and still do now. There's no weak link or unnecessary plot in the whole movie.

 

[Rell84shots]

I could never see Pac in any of the roles in 'Menace'. I think Pac is a great actor but I just can't really see him in any of the roles for that movie, I don't think he really fit as Sharif and I don't think he would have fit as wax either. Larenz Tate is one of the most underrated actors of his generation so there's no way Pac would have did a better job as O-Dog..

The only thing I can say is maybe Pac as Caine instead of Tyrin. We already know him and Jada would have had chemistry

You don't think he could've played O-Dog? Pac made Bishop into a scary motherfukka.

 

[QU Hectic]

Like I said in my film thread about the movie, it really should had got the Criterion treatment. The movie had so many layers and perfected black cinema to a tee (Paid in Full comes close). The soundtrack, the theme, and the cinematic approach to the movie felt like the Hughes Brother's Magnum Opus.

It sucks that folks dikk ride Menace, but look over Dead Presidents and I love both flicks.

It was released by Criterion in laser disc format back in 97. There was someone who made a transfer from laser disc to Blu Ray and was selling it on EBay during the pandemic. The reason why criterion wont release it on blu-ray now is cause the film is property of Disney and they’re @ssholes when it comes to there ownership .

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

I could never see Pac in any of the roles in 'Menace'. I think Pac is a great actor but I just can't really see him in any of the roles for that movie, I don't think he really fit as Sharif and I don't think he would have fit as wax either. Larenz Tate is one of the most underrated actors of his generation so there's no way Pac would have did a better job as O-Dog..

The only thing I can say is maybe Pac as Caine instead of Tyrin. We already know him and Jada would have had chemistry

You don't think he could've played O-Dog? Pac made Bishop into a scary motherfukka.

If Pac played O-Dog it would have been very different. Larenz Tate really did feel like a teenage killer without a care in the world. O-Dog was a baby faced killer.

Pac would have probably played it like Lil Ze from City of God (I know the movie came out years later just using the type of performance I think he would have went for)

Should have cast him as Caine if for anything. Although maybe at the time he didnt seem innocent enough.

They wanted Eazy E for O-Dog and Mc-Ren for Wax at first.

 

[Cᵣₐₛₕ&ₜₕₑCₒᵤₚ]

Dead Presidents is a top 5 OAT movie for me. Easily the Hughes Brothers best piece. I think of it as not a hood, war, or crime film at all but rather just a time capsule of a brehs life in the civil rights era (obviously directly inspired by true events). Even the comedic charm shines a1 on rewatch, movie has a aura.​