Boyz n the Hood (1991)
John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face... (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: John Singleton
Written By: John Singleton
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Nia Long, Regina King, Morris Chestnut, Lexie Bigham, Tammy Hanson, Desi Arnez Hines II, Kenneth A. Brown, Darneicea Corley
Country: USA
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Boyz n the Hood belongs to 59 collections
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| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 7 |  |
Paxton | 60 36th |
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A great cast as long as they're nowhere near moving vehicles. I'm looking at you Cuba Gooding Jr. in Boat Trip, you Nia Long in Are We There Yet along with Ice Cube who was also awful on a boat in Anaconda and a bike in Torque. For Angela Basset it was spaceships in both Supernova and Critters 4. A train ride caught Morris Chestnut unless you're a big Under Siege 2 fan. Only Lawrence Fishburne went unscathed who whether by sea in Apocalypse Now or space in Event Horizon isn't tainted by travel.
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| 5 |  |
BillyShears | 80 77th |
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What begins as an urban Stand by Me becomes one hell of a preachy movie. I was about to turn it off in the first few minutes, we go from a shot of a STOP sign after an opening text about black crime rates, then we get gunfire cutting to a picture of Ronald Reagan. I am shocked that the director was only 24 years old and made something like this though. Would watch a spinoff movie about the self-hating black cop and his uncomfortable white partner.
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| 4 | thecedex | 80 83rd |
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I dont belong anywhere near the hood, but we are all people. Boyz n the Hood's take of redemption, triumph, loss, and despair in the most violent shows us that, in the end, it's the person alone who has the strength to create his/her future.
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| 4 | Skenkere | 77 78th |
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Great movie with great performances. Not as subtle as say, Do the Right Thing, and definitely a bit more obvious and preachy, but that doesn't seem to hurt it. Even though you can see the tragedy coming from miles away, it doesn't lessen the impact of it. The characters that are focused on are really well done. I actually probably felt the most sympathy for doughboy, even though, of the main characters, he was supposed to be the "bad" one. Also Furious Styles is an awesome name.
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| 4 |  |
KasperL | 75 77th |
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Not exactly 'The Wire' but it seems a reasonably realistic portrayal. Well-written and -directed, especially for a debut. Sure, it sort of hammers its anti-violence message home but if I have to be preached to, I want Furious Styles to do the preaching (Fishburne, rock solid here, was such a promising actor). The second-best character and performance to go with it is Doughboy as played by Ice Cube. Additional plus points for the 'Stand by Me'-ish prologue.
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| 4 |  |
Gnalkhere | 80 71st |
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At the time of reviewing this, i'm currently sitting at John Singleton's age when he got nominated for Best Director. I need to get my shit together.
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| 4 |  |
juntakinte99 | 80 65th |
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I disagree with Eazy-E calling this an After School Special with cursing. A better example would be coming-of-age films like Stand By Me. Singleton was more of a classical filmmaker--especially in image design and editing--which creates appropriate comparisons to a young Orson Welles. The social drama is slightly dated, although most pictures of the era were. Still, it rightfully spawned numerous imitations that merged the narrative sense of hip hop and the auteur aesthetic of indie film.
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| 4 |  |
Jasongirl67 | 75 69th |
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I remember this film really impacted me I had never seen anything like it before and the whole Ricky getting shot and dying scene had me in tears I just watched this recently and I think it's held up pretty well over time
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| 3 |  |
Vandelay1 | 70 75th |
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good movie
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| 2 |  |
ozymandius10 | 86 92nd |
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Excellent movie. Ice Cube in easily his best role (I think he just tries to play outside of what he can actually do well too much). Cuba Gooding is great, and the story is gripping. Sad stuff.
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| 2 |  |
twincinema | 85 85th |
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Since I have watched this nearly 30 years later, it's hard to comprehend how different this would have felt at the time -- a coming of age drama about black teens. Also, love the name Furious Styles.
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| 2 |  |
sidehacker | 66 43rd |
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Singleton's father figure is faultless and delivers his ideas (which are actually the ideas of the film itself) a bit too neatly. There's literally a scene where the inhabitants of another neighborhood gather around him to hear him talk about gentrification. Maybe an "after-school special" in how blunt and unsubtle it is, but last time I checked, those films weren't about how racism and capitalism are linked. Points for an Over the Edge reference.
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| 2 |  |
ImThatDingo | 77 73rd |
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Really well done. Makes ya thankful ya don't live these guys' lives.
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| 2 | myfavchords | 88 93rd |
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This is a great and powerful film. John Singleton has made some other good films but no other film he has done has lived up to this one. Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr. give great performances here.
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| 2 |  |
mattorama12 | 82 91st |
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The marquee film for the inner-city LA of the late 80s and early 90s. Despite the fact that it is predictable and a bit on the nose with its themes, it is still incredibly effective because of the rich characterization and overall atmosphere.
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| 1 |  |
MartinTeller | 68 32nd |
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Terribly preachy, especially in the character of "Furious Styles" (what a moniker!). I think Menace II Society does a better job with a very similar story.
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| 1 |  |
SlrSoapbox | 90 92nd |
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The kind of defining work you see once in a generation. Let's hope it saved some lives.
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| 1 | lifeandall | 94 91st |
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Gripping story about family and social values. Superb cast of actors and perhaps Singleton's best directed movie.
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| 1 |  |
Kavu | 84 83rd |
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Singleton directs in the streets like Spike Lee: the mood is incredible. Good acting performances to a well written script.
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| 1 |  |
BattleToad | 80 63rd |
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Impressive performances by most of the cast make this film meaningful and bold. Really good!
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| 1 | Jherman89 | 85 84th |
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A powerful film with excellent supporting performances.
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| 1 |  |
Pickpocket | 9 93rd |
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Preachy as hell but it's so interesting and well made you probably won't care. If you would've told me the guy who made this would one day direct 2 Fast 2 Furious then I would've never stopped vomiting.
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| 1 | hojo | 85 71st |
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It's a shame Cuba Gooding Jr. went from this to BOAT TRIP.
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| 1 |  |
tinythedogg | 100 99th |
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This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The realism of the characters and the situations present gives a person something to think about. Really well acted and well written, as these are characters you really care about and hope to see them do well. When I seen Ricky get shot that was a shocker to me as he was the last person I would have expected this to happen to. This is a movie I can never get sick of watching.
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| 1 | rdwn29905 | 72 56th |
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cuba when he was young and promising... that means before Snow Dogs
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| 1 |  |
Alex Watkins | 4 70th |
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A bit preachy, to be sure, but I find it very heartfelt and touching. I especially appreciated that the movie was able to get across its themes with a certain amount of subtlety; there is no black-and-white line between the criminals and the innocents. And it's very well-directed and shot, with soft, warm cinematography that helps to create a loving aura around the characters.
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| 1 |  |
Bojangles | 50 38th |
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Preachy is not usually a valid criticism for me, and it certainly isn't here. I hate how people try to cut down any movie that tries to explicitly say something important. Why don't we just chop the balls off of the entire movie industry? Subtle =/= better. Anyway, the movie is pretty good and highly influential.
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| 1 | Dustyd | 85 94th |
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Strong movie.
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| 1 |  |
nandorizzi | 80 80th |
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His greatest quality is to present the different reasons for the crime.
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| 1 |  |
gtown1479 | 87 89th |
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This is a heck of a powerful film. Man it was one of my favorites when I was going through this phase. I can't believe the same Cuba Gooding Jr does those stupid Hanes Commercials now.
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| 1 |  |
muzak66 | 95 96th |
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Ice Cube was awesome.
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| 1 |  |
Obdurate | 80 66th |
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The acting, cinematography, script, direction, sound effects/mixing -- everything about this movie is great except one thing: the music. It makes it seem like an after school special, which it kind of is in terms of its message... but you don't need to make us suffer that mostly awful soundtrack. Still manages to be a deeply emotional film, but how awkward the tone could get at time felt at odds with what it's doing. Change the music and you got yourself a 90.
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| 1 |  |
XakkMaster | 91 91st |
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This movie is like a course in overcoming the troubles of inner-city life and Furious Styles (Fishburne) is our seasoned professor. His words on race relations may have been more directly relevant in the early 90s, but still hold many truths today. The greatest take away is his advice on how to be a man and how to rise above reckless influences. While recent works provide deeper, more intense looks at the 'hood,' this was a bold and influential release that still speaks to a young male audience.
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| 1 |  |
eric-jan | 90 98th |
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ALWAYS LOOK A PERSON IN THE EYES. NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR SOMETHING. DONT RESPECT ANYONE THAT DOESNT RESPECT YOU BACK.
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| 1 | tripper54 | 85 68th |
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I found this movie incredibly powerful when i first saw it at the cinema. Rewatching it a few years later, it left me luke warm. Is it me, or has it dated badly?
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| 1 |  |
AtGiza | 86 83rd |
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psi of 61? gtfo guys. this was great.
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| 1 |  |
SirStuckey | 80 78th |
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You won't be searching very hard for the themes of this coming of age movie set in inner-city Los Angeles movie as they are front and center and right on the nose. Great performances help make the lack of subtlety work, especially by Fishburne and Gooding Jr.
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| 1 |  |
Judo Koala | 83 85th |
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Remains distressingly relevant.
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| 1 |  |
mwgerb | 75 91st |
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Laurence Fishburne is the soul of this intense, powerful look at the inner city and gang violence. It may lack some subtlety, but it's surprisingly well crafted for a 24-year old's directorial debut. The musical score is entirely forgiven by the background sound that constantly captures the distress and dangers of the hood.
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| 1 | pieterpronk | 83 80th |
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A classic hood movie, which makes us care about the characters and thus about the violence of the world he lives in.
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| 1 |  |
hellboy76 | 70 79th |
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Fairly solid look at inner city Los Angeles, important for the fact hat it was one of the first. Some wooden acting drags it down in parts but overall it was effective.
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| 1 |  |
closedmouth | 60 20th |
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Wow, this was really disappointing. Maybe I'm used to the ultra-hard gritty realism of David Simon shows, but this felt like a preachy, Hollywood production, not the street-level reality I'd heard about. It had potential, but the proselytizing and the god-awful score (the hip-hop playing on the corners was great, but wow, that early 90s MIDI orchestra and shitty synths, ugh) made me cringe for the most part. Too bad.
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| 1 |  |
Lord Moe | 88 77th |
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"Boyz n the Hood" is engrossing and powerful. It has an agenda and wants everyone to know about it, and that is not a negative point. Ice Cube's famous quote at the end of the movie sums up a dichotomy that still lasts to this day. People like to say it's preachy. Sure, that's fair. But some things need to be preached. Sometimes it's not enough to demand subtlety. The white majority demanded subtlety of Malcolm X too, but black people needed a loud voice. This film is both stylized and real.
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| 1 |  |
hsncrspywl | 57 24th |
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I enjoy it but it's condescending and not actually good in any way, we were all 16 once, I regret nothing
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| 1 |  |
Groovy_Souls | 90 90th |
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This really isn't the type of movie I would normally watch, but holy crap was this powerful. The story is so character-driven and the acting is actually really good for the most part. Fishburne and Gooding stand out above all, and Ice Cube stands a bit below everyone... Yet that doesn't ruin the movie. This was really enjoyable yet really rewarding.
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| 1 | dogeatmoon | 85 86th |
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Fantastic movie.
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| Average Percentile 63.44% from 2983 Ratings |  |