Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes
Menace II Society
Directors Albert and Allen Hughes and screenwriter Tyger Williams were barely into their twenties when they sent shock waves through American cinema and hip-hop culture with this fatalistic, unflinching vision of life and death on the streets of Watts, Los Angeles, in the 1990s. There, in the shadow of the riots of 1965 and 1992, young Caine (Tyrin Turner) is growing up under the influence of his ruthless, drug-dealing father (Samuel L. Jackson, in a chilling cameo) and his loose-cannon best friend, O-Dog (Larenz Tate), leading him into a spiral of violent crime from which he is not sure he wants to escape, despite the best efforts of his grandparents and the steadfast Ronnie (Jada Pinkett). Fusing grim realism with a propulsively stylish aesthetic honed through the Hughes brothers’ work on rap videos, Menace II Society is a searing cautionary tale about the devastating human toll of hopelessness.
Director-Approved 4K/UHD + Blu-Ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration of the directors’ cut of the film, supervised by director of photography Lisa Rinzler and codirector Albert Hughes, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Original 2.0 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
- Two audio commentaries from 1993 featuring directors Albert and Allen Hughes
- New selected-scene commentary featuring Rinzler
- Gangsta Vision, a 2009 featurette on the making of the film
- New conversation among Albert Hughes, screenwriter Tyger Williams, and film critic Elvis Mitchel
- New conversation among Allen Hughes, actor and filmmaker Bill Duke, and Mitchell
- Interview from 1993 with the directors
- Music video from 1991 for 2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” directed by the Hughes brothers
- Deleted scenes
- Film-to-storyboard comparison
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Craig D. Lindsey
New cover by Drusilla Adeline/Sister Hyde
Director-Approved 4K/UHD + Blu-Ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration of the directors’ cut of the film, supervised by director of photography Lisa Rinzler and codirector Albert Hughes, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Original 2.0 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
- Two audio commentaries from 1993 featuring directors Albert and Allen Hughes
- New selected-scene commentary featuring Rinzler
- Gangsta Vision, a 2009 featurette on the making of the film
- New conversation among Albert Hughes, screenwriter Tyger Williams, and film critic Elvis Mitchel
- New conversation among Allen Hughes, actor and filmmaker Bill Duke, and Mitchell
- Interview from 1993 with the directors
- Music video from 1991 for 2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” directed by the Hughes brothers
- Deleted scenes
- Film-to-storyboard comparison
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Craig D. Lindsey
New cover by Drusilla Adeline/Sister Hyde
Cast
- Tyrin Turner
- Caine
- Jada Pinkett
- Ronnie
- Larenz Tate
- O-Dog
- Arnold Johnson
- Grandpapa
- MC Eiht
- A-Wax
- Marilyn Coleman
- Grandmama
- Vonte Sweet
- Sharif
- Clifton Powell
- Chauncy
- Glenn Plummer
- Pernell
- Bill Duke
- Detective
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Tat Lawson
- Charles S. Dutton
- Mr. Butler
- Ryan Williams
- Stacy
- June Kyoko Lu
- Grocery store woman
- Toshi Toda
- Grocery store man
- Khandi Alexander
- Karen Lawson
Credits
- Director
- Albert Hughes
- Director
- Allen Hughes
- Story by
- Albert Hughes
- Allen Hughes
- Tyger Williams
- Screenplay by
- Tyger Williams
- Produced by
- Darin Scott
- Coproducers
- Albert Hughes
- Allen Hughes
- Tyger Williams
- Executive producer
- Kevin Moreton
- Casting by
- Tony Lee
- Music by
- QD III
- Costume designer
- Sylvia Vega-Vasquez
- Production designer
- Penny Barrett
- Editor
- Christopher Koefoed
- Director of photography
- Lisa Rinzler
- Line producer
- Michael Bennett
Trailer for Menace II Society
