Menace II Society - Criterion Collection Laserdisc Preservation

The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, presents

The sleeper hit of 1993, Menace II Society, a harrowing nightmare about life in inner-city hell, is a powerhouse filmmaking debut by the Hughes brothers. 21-year-old twins Allen and Albert employ splendid cinematography and editing to place their gangster drama into a constantly shifting, predatory world, one that references both the history of Watts and the contemporary media’s culture of violence. Prompting comparisons to Mean Streets and Bonnie and Clyde, Menace II Society captures a sense of life at relentless risk with complete conviction.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Surround

2 x Dolby Digital Audio Commentary tracks Subtitles: English / French / German / Spanish Main title: 1080p

Supplementary material: 480p Laserdisc source

1993 97 MINUTES COLOR SURROUND 1:78:1 ASPECT RATIO MENACE II SOCIETY is under exclusive license from New Line Cinema TM ® © 2019 by New Line Cinema Home Entertainment.

All Rights Reserved. © 2019 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved. Cat. no. CC1371L. ISBN 1-55940-475-2.

Warning: unauthorized public performance, broadcasting, or copying is a violation of applicable laws. Printed in the USA. First printing 2019.

1993

n Unrated director’s cut, featuring material deleted from the theatrical release n Audio commentary of co-directors Allen and Albert Hughes on separate tracks, discussing the film’s production in front of and behind the camera n Video interview with the Hughes brothers discussing their film, its reception, its cultural context, and their careers n Two deleted scenes dropped in the final cut n Two music videos directed by the Hughes brothers n Excerpts from Albert Hughes’ student film The Drive By n Storyboards and storyboard-to-film comparison of key action sequence n Production documentation n Original theatrical trailer

BLU-RAY EDITION

The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film. Visit us at Criterion.com

Design and Layout - pineapples101@gmail.com

LD 219

The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, presents

The sleeper hit of 1993, Menace II Society, a harrowing nightmare about life in inner-city hell, is a powerhouse filmmaking debut by the Hughes brothers. 21-year-old twins Allen and Albert employ splendid cinematography and editing to place their gangster drama into a constantly shifting, predatory world, one that references both the history of Watts and the contemporary media’s culture of violence. Prompting comparisons to Mean Streets and Bonnie and Clyde, Menace II Society captures a sense of life at relentless risk with complete conviction.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Surround

2 x Dolby Digital Audio Commentary tracks Subtitles: English / French / German / Spanish Main title: 1080p

Supplementary material: 480p Laserdisc source

1993 97 MINUTES COLOR SURROUND 1:78:1 ASPECT RATIO MENACE II SOCIETY is under exclusive license from New Line Cinema TM ® © 2019 by New Line Cinema Home Entertainment.

All Rights Reserved. © 2019 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved. Cat. no. CC1371L. ISBN 1-55940-475-2.

Warning: unauthorized public performance, broadcasting, or copying is a violation of applicable laws. Printed in the USA. First printing 2019.

1993

n Unrated director’s cut, featuring material deleted from the theatrical release n Audio commentary of co-directors Allen and Albert Hughes on separate tracks, discussing the film’s production in front of and behind the camera n Video interview with the Hughes brothers discussing their film, its reception, its cultural context, and their careers n Two deleted scenes dropped in the final cut n Two music videos directed by the Hughes brothers n Excerpts from Albert Hughes’ student film The Drive By n Storyboards and storyboard-to-film comparison of key action sequence n Production documentation n Original theatrical trailer

BLU-RAY EDITION

The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film. Visit us at Criterion.com

Design and Layout - pineapples101@gmail.com

LD 219

The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, presents

DVD EDITION

The sleeper hit of 1993, Menace II Society, a harrowing nightmare about life in inner-city hell, is a powerhouse filmmaking debut by the Hughes brothers. 21-year-old twins Allen and Albert employ splendid cinematography and editing to place their gangster drama into a constantly shifting, predatory world, one that references both the history of Watts and the contemporary media’s culture of violence. Prompting comparisons to Mean Streets and Bonnie and Clyde, Menace II Society captures a sense of life at relentless risk with complete conviction.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Surround

2 x Dolby Digital Audio Commentary tracks Subtitles: English / French / German / Spanish Main title: 1080p

Supplementary material: 480p Laserdisc source

MENACE II SOCIETY is under exclusive license from New Line Cinema TM ® © 2019 by New Line Cinema Home Entertainment.

All Rights Reserved. © 2019 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved. Cat. no. CC1371L. ISBN 1-55940-475-2.

Warning: unauthorized public performance, broadcasting, or copying is a violation of applicable laws. Printed in the USA. First printing 2019.

1993

n Unrated director’s cut, featuring material deleted from the theatrical release n Audio commentary of co-directors Allen and Albert Hughes on separate tracks, discussing the film’s production in front of and behind the camera n Video interview with the Hughes brothers discussing their film, its reception, its cultural context, and their careers n Two deleted scenes dropped in the final cut n Two music videos directed by the Hughes brothers n Excerpts from Albert Hughes’ student film The Drive By n Storyboards and storyboard-to-film comparison of key action sequence n Production documentation n Original theatrical trailer

1993 97 MINUTES COLOR SURROUND 1:78:1 ASPECT RATIO

The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film. Visit us at Criterion.com

Design and Layout - pineapples101@gmail.com

LD 219

LASERDISC PRODUCTION CREDITS Producers

Mikki Halpin and Michael Nash

Film-to-tape Transfer Supervisor

Maria Palazzola

Technical Director

Morgan Holly

Production Manager

Antonia Smithson

Audio Commentary Editors

sean Anderson and Erik C. Loyer

Audio and Video Production Coordinator

Mark C. Brems

Videographic Design

Eric Saks

Disc Jacket Design

David Hutchins

Film-to-tape Operator

David Bernstein, Pacific Ocean Post

Supplement Online Editor

Randy Lowder, Pacific Ocean Post

SPECIAL THANKS This special edition of Menace II Society would not have been possible without the generous participation of Albert and Allen Hughes. Thanks also to Michele Bell, Patti Bodner, Linda Carhart, Leslie Gerard, and Jeff Robinov.

NOTES Raw Fusion “Throw Your Hands in the Air” video courtesy Hollywood Records.

From the album “Live from the Styleetron” CAT: HR61236 2Pac “Brenda’s Got a Baby” video courtesy Interscope Records. From the album “2Pacalypse Now” CAT: 791767-2

Menace II Society is, without doubt, a very auspicious beginning for Allen and Albert Hughes, 21-yearold twins from Detroit. Having honed their craft on the assembly line of rap music videos, the Hughes brothers bring a raw, edgy, urban sophistication to bear on a complex narrative of generational anguish. They also deftly reconfigure and American icon - the gangster - and rewrite the classic gangster genre to fit a new era.

American cinema has always had a close relationship with the gangster. From as early as D.W. Griffith’s Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), through the Italian gangsters of the 1930s in Scarface, Little Caesar, and Public Enemy, to the romanticized Godfather epics of the early 1970s, Hollywood has relied on the gangster as one of its most identifiable villains. The assimilation of Michael Corleone into mainstream America in Godfather II, however, and Henry Hill snitching on his colleagues in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, both signalled the death of the traditional Hollywood mobster.

As these images fade, Hollywood has become increasingly familiar with a new breed of celluloid criminal, the modern day “gangsta,” whose turf has been transformed into the “hood,” whose mission in life is to “put in work,” and whose sole motivation is to take the art of “gangbanging” to a higher level. Menace II Society adds to the genre, but makes a point of not capitalizing on the “allure” of the gangster lifestyle.

The film’s main character, Caine, describes in voice-over what we see on the screen. After the opening scene, the film reverts to footage of the 1965 Watts rebellion. The Hughes brothers use this historical quotation to chart a version of America that has reduced its African-American citizens to positions of complicit silence. The hopelessness of ghetto existence is handed down from generation to generation like a family heirloom, In these historical circumstances, young males grow up to become, in Caine’s description of O-Dog, “America’s nightmare: young, black, and don’t give a fuck.”

Told in the tradition of Sunset Boulevard’s Joe Gillis, Caine’s voice-over narration clues us into the perverted psyche of life in the ‘hood. This vividly portrayed life ranges from racial confrontations between Korean merchants and African-American youth, to car-jackings, drive-by shooting, teenage pregnancy, and the inevitability of either the penitentiary or the cemetery as one’s eventual place of residence.

Like the gangster films of the ‘30s which documented the realities of the depression, Menace II Society could easily be construed as a cinematic version of the evening news. Unlike its precursors, however, which utilized new sound technology to create a heightened sense of realism, Menace shuns mere media redundancy, going instead for a heightened stylization.

On many occasions, the Hughes brothers visually choreograph life’s mundane moments into feats of pure spectacle. We witness a police chase filmed with the desperate grace of an Olympic track event. We catch a subtle critique through the use of a low-angle shot that contrasts Caine’s

“blackness” with a picture of the “blue-eyed Jesus” who adorns the living room wall. And we connect Caine’s unmitigated anger with his father’s rage through an incredible camera pan that says more than any complex plot point ever could.

This visual stylization foregrounds the role of media spectacle, which is also addressed in the film via the security camera videotape that documents the exploits of Caine and O-Dog in the opening scene.

The tape becomes a hot commodity, circulating through a community of friends and catapulting the two boys into a notoriety that come of being linked with the greatest killers in the history of Hollywood.

The characters are continually confronted by images that define and categorize their existence. We watch Caine squirm as he is forced to watch It’s a Wonderful Life with his grandfather. A gangster film on the television in Caine’s hospital room serves as both a pale comparison to life in the ‘90s and a reminder of the inevitable downfall of the gangster. Caine is ultimately trapped between Hollywood’s presentation and O-Dog, who has been completely sutured by visual imagery to the point of being unable to distinguish between movies and life.

The visual stylization is underscored by the Hughes brothers’ masterful musical cues that incorporate the best of 1970s soul music with a range of hip-hop-influenced music that defines our current society. The soundtrack for Menace, like Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack to Superfly and L.A. and Babyface’s work on the soundtrack to Boomerang, functions to make a good film that much better by extending our experience through the rich musical heritage that African-American oral culture has always provided.

Menace II Society ends up redefining this genre from “gangster” to “gangsta.” It also serves notice that the most recent wave of AfricanAmerican film remains a powerful force in popular culture, and it indicates a very promising future for the twins.

-- Todd Boyd

LASERDISC PRODUCTION CREDITS Producers

Mikki Halpin and Michael Nash

Film-to-tape Transfer Supervisor

Maria Palazzola

Technical Director

Morgan Holly

Production Manager

Antonia Smithson

Audio Commentary Editors

sean Anderson and Erik C. Loyer

Audio and Video Production Coordinator

Mark C. Brems

Videographic Design

Eric Saks

Disc Jacket Design

David Hutchins

Film-to-tape Operator

David Bernstein, Pacific Ocean Post

Supplement Online Editor

Randy Lowder, Pacific Ocean Post

SPECIAL THANKS This special edition of Menace II Society would not have been possible without the generous participation of Albert and Allen Hughes. Thanks also to Michele Bell, Patti Bodner, Linda Carhart, Leslie Gerard, and Jeff Robinov.

NOTES Raw Fusion “Throw Your Hands in the Air” video courtesy Hollywood Records.

From the album “Live from the Styleetron” CAT: HR61236 2Pac “Brenda’s Got a Baby” video courtesy Interscope Records. From the album “2Pacalypse Now” CAT: 791767-2

Menace II Society is, without doubt, a very auspicious beginning for Allen and Albert Hughes, 21-year-old twins from Detroit. Having honed their craft on the assembly line of rap music videos, the Hughes brothers bring a raw, edgy, urban sophistication to bear on a complex narrative of generational anguish. They also deftly reconfigure and American icon - the gangster - and rewrite the classic gangster genre to fit a new era.

American cinema has always had a close relationship with the gangster. From as early as D.W. Griffith’s Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), through the Italian gangsters of the 1930s in Scarface, Little Caesar, and Public Enemy, to the romanticized Godfather epics of the early 1970s, Hollywood has relied on the gangster as one of its most identifiable villains. The assimilation of Michael Corleone into mainstream America in Godfather II, however, and Henry Hill snitching on his colleagues in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, both signalled the death of the traditional Hollywood mobster.

As these images fade, Hollywood has become increasingly familiar with a new breed of celluloid criminal, the modern day “gangsta,” whose turf has been transformed into the “hood,” whose mission in life is to “put in work,” and whose sole motivation is to take the art of “gangbanging” to a higher level. Menace II Society adds to the genre, but makes a point of not capitalizing on the “allure” of the gangster lifestyle.

The film’s main character, Caine, describes in voice-over what we see on the screen. After the opening scene, the film reverts to footage of the 1965 Watts rebellion. The Hughes brothers use this historical quotation to chart a version of America that has reduced its African-American citizens to positions of complicit silence. The hopelessness of ghetto existence is handed down from generation to generation like a family heirloom, In these historical circumstances, young males grow up to become, in Caine’s description of O-Dog, “America’s nightmare: young, black, and don’t give a fuck.”

Told in the tradition of Sunset Boulevard’s Joe Gillis, Caine’s voice-over narration clues us into the perverted psyche of life in the ‘hood. This vividly portrayed life ranges from racial confrontations between Korean merchants and African-American youth, to car-jackings, drive-by shooting, teenage pregnancy, and the inevitability of either the penitentiary or the cemetery as one’s eventual place of residence.

Like the gangster films of the ‘30s which documented the realities of the depression, Menace II Society could easily be construed as a cinematic version of the evening news. Unlike its precursors, however, which utilized new sound technology to create a heightened sense of realism, Menace shuns mere media redundancy, going instead for a heightened stylization.

On many occasions, the Hughes brothers visually choreograph life’s mundane moments into feats of pure spectacle. We witness a police chase filmed with the desperate grace of an Olympic track event. We catch a subtle critique through the use of a low-angle shot that contrasts Caine’s “blackness” with a picture of the

“blue-eyed Jesus” who adorns the living room wall. And we connect Caine’s unmitigated anger with his father’s rage through an incredible camera pan that says more than any complex plot point ever could.

This visual stylization foregrounds the role of media spectacle, which is also addressed in the film via the security camera videotape that documents the exploits of Caine and O-Dog in the opening scene. The tape becomes a hot commodity, circulating through a community of friends and catapulting the two boys into a notoriety that come of being linked with the greatest killers in the history of Hollywood.

The characters are continually confronted by images that define and categorize their existence. We watch Caine squirm as he is forced to watch It’s a Wonderful Life with his grandfather. A gangster film on the television in Caine’s hospital room serves as both a pale comparison to life in the ‘90s and a reminder of the inevitable downfall of the gangster. Caine is ultimately trapped between Hollywood’s presentation and O-Dog, who has been completely sutured by visual imagery to the point of being unable to distinguish between movies and life.

The visual stylization is underscored by the Hughes brothers’ masterful musical cues that incorporate the best of 1970s soul music with a range of hip-hop-influenced music that defines our current society. The soundtrack for Menace, like Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack to Superfly and L.A. and Babyface’s work on the soundtrack to Boomerang, functions to make a good film that much better by extending our experience through the rich musical heritage that African-American oral culture has always provided.

Menace II Society ends up redefining this genre from “gangster” to “gangsta.” It also serves notice that the most recent wave of AfricanAmerican film remains a powerful force in popular culture, and it indicates a very promising future for the twins.

-- Todd Boyd

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Criterion Collection - Laserdisc Preservation Menace II Society: Special Edition #219 (1993) (Uncut) [CC1371L] https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/05398/CC1371L/Menace-II-Society:-Special-Edition Blu Ray - Region A/B/C DVD - Region All Audio: English PCM 2.0 Surround / 2 x Dolby Digital Audio Commentary tracks Subtitles: English / French / German / Spanish Main title: 1080p Supplementary material: 480p Laserdisc source

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