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Juice

Juice (1992)

January. 17,1992
|
7
|
R
| Drama Thriller Crime

Four Harlem friends -- Bishop, Q, Steel and Raheem -- dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn't willing to take no for answer in a game where everything's for keeps.

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Linkshoch
1992/01/17

Wonderful Movie

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Cubussoli
1992/01/18

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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WasAnnon
1992/01/19

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

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Voxitype
1992/01/20

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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svikasha
1992/01/21

In the wake of the release of the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic, "All Eyes on Me", a lot of interest has been drawn to the obscure but underrated 1992 film "Juice". In this film, Tupac debuts in his one and only acting role because his life is tragically taken less than 5 years after the film's release in 1996 at the young age of 25. To his credit, Tupac portrays a struggling Harlem vagrant splendidly. Almost like a professional actor. His performance was eons better than most rapper-turned-actor's attempts at professional acting. It's a shame that this was his only role. In this film, Tupac plays Bishop, a rough street kid who feels like he has something to prove. In the opening scene of the film, a group of Puerto Rican gang members approach Bishop and confront him by asking him, "you got that much juice?" He responds with a sly, "you god damn right. Nobody **** with me". This sets the tone for the rest of the film. Bishop and his three friends Q, Raheem, and Steel grow up together in Harlem and drop out of school to engage in criminal behavior. The most remarkable thing about "Juice" is the character detail. All of the characters are accurate and lively portrayals of Harlem youth in the early 90's. The four youngsters engage in a multitude of criminal behavior ranging from robbing record stores by flirting with the female cashiers to scaring joggers at New York's public parks. The four main characters are clearly up to no good. But Q is the character who is most unsure of how deep he wants to be involved in the life of crime. Bishop and Raheem pursue the lifestyle willingly despite Raheem being the father of a young baby. Bishop on the other hand is not content to taking the straight and narrow path. In one scene, Bishop explains his philosophy to Q by explaining to him, "you gotta snap some collars and let them **********ers know you there to take them out anytime you feel like it. You gotta get the ground beneath your feet partner. Get the wind behind your back and go out in a blaze if you got to. Otherwise you ain't ****. You might as well be dead yo damn self". Compared to Bishop and Raheem, Steel and Q are a bit more geared towards the straight and narrow. However, the option to walk down the clean road is eliminated after one fateful night when the four African American youth from Harlem decide to rob a convenience store owned by an elderly Puerto Rican man who goes by the name of Fernando Quiles. Q initially wants to avoid participating in the robbery. He wants to go to a DJ competition instead. His three friends agree to let him go to the DJ competition, but only in the hopes that it will give them an alibi for their robbery. The DJ battle scene that ensues is central to the plot. It probably inspired the iconic rap battle in Eminem's "8 Mile" that is released a decade later in 2002. The most powerful moment in the film happens after the DJ competition ends when Q joins his crew to go out and rob a convenience store. In the subsequent tragic series of events, one of the four youngsters shoots the convenience store clerk in the back of his head right before everybody was about to leave. It is later revealed that the masked shooter was Bishop. Raheem confronts Bishop for shooting the clerk, and Raheem himself gets shot by Bishop. Bishop is clearly past the point of no return and Q witnesses Bishop attend Raheem's funeral. He sees Bishop talk to Raheem's sister and mother and sees the single mother and baby that Raheem's death left behind. To add insult to injury, Q also loses the DJ competition that he was attending the night of the robbery by default and is frustrated with his consolation prize of a Panasonic boom box. Bishop, Q, and Steel are clearly no longer friends. But there friendship turns dangerous when Bishop confronts Q at their high school and tells his former friend, "You know what? Last time you said that, I was kinda trippin', right? But now, you're right. I am crazy. And you know what else? I don't give a ****. I don't give a **** about you. I don't give a **** about Steel. I don't give a **** about Raheem, either. I don't give a **** about myself. Look, I ain't ****. And you less of a man than me, so as soon as I figure you ain't gon be ****, *pow*! So be it. You remember that, mother*. 'Cause I'm the one you need to be looking out for... *partner*!". After this tense exchange, Bishop ends up killing Steel which sets the stage for the final confrontation between Bishop and Q. The final moments of the film is a struggle between the two former friends which culminates tragically. It is a fitting homage and portrayal of a street vagrant's life in Harlem during the early 90's.

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gwnightscream
1992/01/22

This 1992 crime drama stars Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins and Khalil Kain. This focuses on 4 Harlem teen buddies, Q (Epps), Bishop (Shakur), Steel (Hopkins) and Raheem (Kain) who decide to rob a convenient store one Saturday night. Things take an unexpected turn when Bishop is hooked to the thrill of the gun killing the clerk and others. Q finds himself in a nightmare when Bishop not only threatens him, but also tries pinning the murders on him. Samuel L. Jackson and Queen Latifah also appear. This is a pretty good film with some tense and humorous moments and Epps & the late, Shakur are great in it. I recommend this.

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kenneyken-94849
1992/01/23

When this came out I was a hip hop submerged teenager and I thought this was the greatest movie of all time, now as a old fogey approaching 40 this movie brings back great memories but its pretty rubbish.Tupac shows his crazy side and to be fair he did a decent job of showing the tormented evil within.The soundtrack still stands up, the Bass in the Eric B and Rakim track still gives me goosebumps.All in all I think old sod's like me that grew up in the golden era of hop hop will use this to reminisce, and young kids obsessed with lil wayne, Tyga and whatever rubbish passes as hip hop today will think its daft.Worth a watch, just.

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Steve Pulaski
1992/01/24

Juice is yet another hood film that presents itself honestly and with a good sense of realism. It doesn't capitalize on anything but the reality and the dangers of growing up in a city lead by gun violence and senseless murders. In the mix of it all are four Harlem boys all portrayed effectively by Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, and Khalil Kain.The boys call themselves "The Wrecking Crew," and are trying to survive with what they have in a dangerous town. They spend most of their time at an arcade or a record shop when they cut school a little early, most of the time being harassed by the police or a gang in the process. One day, one of the boys named Bishop (Shakur) buys a gun, and convinces the other three members to come along in stickup. They rob the store, and from that moment on things go from bad to worse for the boys.There is a subplot involving another one of the gang's members nicknamed "Q" (Epps) who is an aspiring DJ, and has a big DJ competition the night of the planned robbery.Writer and Director Ernest R. Dickerson has worked as the cinematographer on various Spike Lee films, and this marks his very first shot behind the camera. While Juice is passable and well-made, it suffers by comparison with film's made by Lee like Do the Right Thing and School Daze. It also can be compared to Boyz N The Hood, another excellent hood film by John Singleton.I believe because of Spike Lee films and works of John Singleton is the reason why Juice has slipped through the cracks. It has a following, but because of strong critical acclaim surrounding the other pictures and this one just having mixed reviews is the reason why this isn't remembered as well as the other films.The moral of Juice is great about a psychological change one person can go through in a matter of time, the message about gun violence, and strong friendships being tested. However - this is taken in a more clichéd manner than any other hood film I've seen. We don't know a whole lot about the characters, and we don't know about they're raised. We don't get the parental backstory which is what Boyz N The Hood was cluttered with.I'm recommending Juice for its morals, its sense of realism, and its subject matter. However, the delivery is a little askew, and the four boys aren't developed as well as they could be. This is still one more realistic hood film that many should make time to see, but this film only reaches the level of average to decent while all of Singleton's films surpassed the above average mark.Starring: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by: Ernest R. Dickerson.

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