Juice [Blu-ray]

Product Information

The Wrecking Crew — The film's surviving lead actors talk about how they came to be cast in the film and the bonds they immediately formed with one another. Hours after a brief but passionate debate about whether to get involved for a cut of the heist (they sit this one out), the guys learn that Blizzard has been shot dead by police. When betrayal and jealousy seep into their relationships you see and feel that with the intensity all four actors of the Wrecking Crew brought to the show. At times, the newfound clarity makes some of the parts with Khalil seem like a stage play, but that's why 2Pac and Epps were always the standouts.

Nearly anyone who was anyone in the early '90s rap scene (from Too Short and Salt-N-Pepa to Cypress Hill, Big Daddy Kane, and the aforementioned Naughty by Nature) wound up on the soundtrack, which would be certified gold in barely two months. That’s made clear by trying to show the issues shared among the friends and conflict found between them and other groups, let alone the police. Updated daily and in real-time, we track all high-def disc news and release dates, and review the latest disc titles.It’s a front heavy mix, but there is quite a bit of surround nuances that come from the street scuffles, and the heavy club scene where Q does his turntable magic. It kicks off right away during the credits and doesn’t stop with tracks by Naughty by Nature, Big Daddy Kane, Too Short, Cypress Hill and more. The silent main menu adapts the cover art (which actually emphasizes Tupac to a lesser degree than the original poster did) to fill the 16:9 screen.

Colors are a tad desaturated, contrast seems fairly strong and given the age of the film I’ve seen many look much worse. Juice may be 25 years old, but the way you can tell that is from the fashions and slang and music, not in the way the film looks in Paramount's first-rate 1. Paramount gives this influential film a highly satisfying 25th anniversary Blu-ray that wins you over with great picture and sound plus a hearty supply of high quality extras. I had forgotten all about that failed experiment (Bud Ice debuted a few years later and still survives, don't think dry made it to 95! considering faces, complexly stitched or densely constructed clothes, or various examples of rougher urban surfaces, like concrete and brick.This film has all the strength and impact of its comrades but was unfortunately tainted thanks to some studio interference for the climax. It all adds up to a film that remains quite effective, even if it stops short of being a well-regarded modern classic all-around.

Even so, it’s a tightly done movie that has a singular focus and sticks to that purpose with dogged persistence. Shakur shines as a character whose facade of bravado conceals his fear of the prison life suffered by his traumatized father. None of the bonus features for this release are new, but collect all of the extras from the 25th Anniversary release.Let's get the rough patches out of the way first because most of the transfer is genuinely excellent.