Biggie & Tupac

2002
6.7| 1h47m| R| en
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In 1997, rap superstars Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G.) were gunned down in separate incidents, the apparent victims of hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick Broomfield's film introduces Russell Poole, an ex-cop with damning evidence that suggests the LAPD deliberately fumbled the case to conceal connections between the police, LA gangs and Death Row Records, the label run by feared rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.

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Reviews

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Kevin Chen This movie contains almost zero facts despite it being a documentary. Not only does the narrator add conclusions based on absolutely nothing, his voice is absolutely horrid to hear. To bear this voice for the rest of the movie is a task the gods could have given to Hercules himself. If that's not enough, the interviewer (also the narrator) has no clue how to do a proper interview. He not only asks the wrong questions but he also asks them to the wrong people. Assuming friendships on no solid evidence. The only thing worth watching in this documentary is the old video fragments of Tupac and Biggie. However the internet makes this movie absolutely not worthwhile to watch since these video fragments can probably be found online.
lildarryl2k I'm a big Notorious B.I.G. fan and believer of Tupac's N.I.G.G.A.Z. philosophy so when i seen the video tape at Wal-mart, i knew i had to own it. When I brought it home, i was hoping to find a link between their deaths and the police cover-up i've been hearing about in LA (mind you i live in north Carolina). What I got was a brutally honest, horrifying, well thought out documentary. The main argument about Nick Broomfield from Kurt And Courtney was his seemingly one sided mission to make you believe HIS truth. He does it here but instead of just interviews from people with a vendetta (and trust me, there are plenty here) with the culprits Broomfield say are responsible for their deaths, we also get interviews from BIG's Mother, Tupac's step-brother(who i seen as a opportunistic jackass), Former bodyguards for both Pac and Big, and the most important of all, Death Row CEO Suge Knight. The Most entertaining is of course Knight, not because of what he says happen( he refused to comment on either deaths, sorry ) but because of the remarks he makes of Snoop Dogg(wonder what he has to do with anything? watch). And if that doesn't do it for you, Volletta Wallace(BIG's mother)'s interview will make you cry(the last one i mean).
pwirth Biggie and Tupac is a chronology of Broomfield's complete failure to unearth any interesting material on his subjects, totally overshadowed by his blandiose, wooden narration.I found his attitude and treatment of his subjects to be insufferable, from his attempts at pidgin English (akin to reading Dick and Jane novels aloud) to his unprepared, incompetent interviews (showing up and ambushing people, losing sound files, etc.) Broomfield has a unique talent for getting in the way of the story he is purporting to tell. He was more interested in hearing himself talk, and following his own blundering, as he put up increasing barriers between himself and his subjects.In addition, how does the director expect us to be engaged by the story, when it is clear he has no interest in hearing what people have to say? Ambush journalism fails when you are being aggressive without asking anything of import. He can't ask an interesting question, how can one expect him to spin a compelling narrative?This movie was a pathetic attempt by a director worth ignoring.
bob the moo Filmmaker Nick Broomfield decides to take up the investigation into the murders of Biggie and Tupac in 1996/97. Taking his starting point to be an officer who claims he was discouraged from his investigation and forced off the job due to the involvement of other officers. His investigation leads him to uncover links to the FBI and fingers of suspicion that point all the way to the imprisoned head of Death Row Records, Suge Knight himself.Broomfield has had good documentaries and bad documentaries, this is one of his best efforts and is actually very good work and may help the actual investigation. The basic story sees Broomfield stumbling into various interviews as a sort of wide-eyed innocent. His style can be a little annoying at times and also his voice is quite monotonous but his material is griping.From the one officer that starts his trail, Broomfield uncovers lot of insightful stuff that shows a much bigger picture that has not been publically seen before. For example the FBI were trailing Biggie and Puffy hours before they got killed and had been for quite some time – so where were they when they got shot? Asks Lil' Caese – why didn't they at least catch the gunman? The conspiracy Broomfield puts forward is quite extreme but the evidence and the witnesses are there at every stage to back it up. By the time Knight is interviewed the case is pretty much made.The film makes very good use of old footage including the East/West kick-off at an awards ceremony and old footage of Tupac in the studio and Biggie rapping live at outdoor shows. The atcual interviews are all good and mostly very illuminating. Knight is quite intimidating but is clearly putting on a face. Lil' Caese is helpful as are many of the bodyguards and cops but the best interviews are with Biggie's mum – she doesn't have many facts but she really helps Biggie be a real person rather than just a larger than life rapper. The gaps are as prominent as the people – why no Puffy, why no Snoop, why no Faith Evans etc. However those that are involved all provide a lot of information.The music is good throughout (if you're into hip-hop) but can someone tell me why Gangstarr were used several times in favour of the artist's own stuff?Overall this is a must see for all hip-hop fans, but it is also a good view for those who like conspiracy theories. Broomfield's style is a little annoying but the pace and depth of the material is gripping and makes for very, very interesting viewing.