Biggie & Tupac

So I have to place a disclaimer: I probably only watched 30 minutes or so. I loved a lot of the footage, so, I'm sure if someone is a fan of these artists, it's going to be interesting, regardless.

There were several reasons why I shut this film off: 1) Don't do an ambush interview when you're trying to get an honest portrayal of these artists; it was excruciating to watch, and the Biggies mom interview - the camera work is awful, where she's over exposed and has heavy shadows on her face. 2) Talk to these interviewees and don't stick your big microphone in their face.

It just made me feel this director didn't care one bit about the story of these two very important artists. He had all the right people and he ruined it. I'll never watch one of his films again.

My two words to describe this film: excruciatingly painful

Growing up in New York exposed me to Tupac and BIG's music at a young age. Hip Hop started in NY and so it is deeply rooted in the culture since it began. I watched this film three or four times this week. It definitely brings up some very important, overlooked information. Both murders were very poorly investigated, if at all. There was obviously a lot of misinformation going on and internal corruption within certain police forces and government officials. What a surprise. It reminds me of the 9/11 investigation and how awful it was. Some people, even who have seen and reviewed this film on this site need to watch this film and recognize how well it was done.

Biggie and Tupac is a Documentary on the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls and the East Coast/, hip-hop/rap rivalry that happened in late 1996/1997. It has a very different style, and director Nick Broomfield is a very intrusive and un-forgiving documentarian. His unusual style puts me off of this documentary, and his constant repetitiveness and dull mono-tone voice adds insult to injury. Unlike a lot of documentaries Nick Broomfield is the main star in this documentary, and takes every opportunity to jump in front of the camera, and now and then throws in a rough piece-to-camera, describing what we have already just seen. However, there is some fantastic access, and I believe that Nick made the most of his contacts, and gained some fantastic access. His interviews with Tupac's mother, a very intense and truthful interview is just one of the fantastic moments in this film, as well as an extremely revealing interview with Biggies bodyguard, who reveals who he believes to of killed Biggie. From the amazing dangers taken, you can see that Nick Broomfield has a massive drive to make his documentary as revealing and factual as possible, and this is shown by the highly dangerous locations that they perspire to film in, one being one of the most notorious gun capitals in the east of America, and another being a high security prison. In both circumstances, Nick Broomfield fearlessly and intrepidly gets as much information as he can from local people and inmates, to get the broadest picture on the events as possible.

While all these points are very impressive, you still cannot sway from the mindless boredom that Nick incites. His on screen demine is highly irritating. Another grudge I have for this movie is the lack of time. There is no natural progression between each interview, and the events jump from one to another, rather than unfolding as they actually did.

Filmmaker Nick Broomfield decides to take up the investigation into the murders of Biggie and Tupac in 1996/97. Taking his starting point to be an officer who claims he was discouraged from his investigation and forced off the job due to the involvement of other officers. His investigation leads him to uncover links to the FBI and fingers of suspicion that point all the way to the imprisoned head of Death Row Records, Suge Knight himself.

Broomfield has had good documentaries and bad documentaries, this is one of his best efforts and is actually very good work and may help the actual investigation. The basic story sees Broomfield stumbling into various interviews as a sort of wide-eyed innocent. His style can be a little annoying at times and also his voice is quite monotonous but his material is griping.

From the one officer that starts his trail, Broomfield uncovers lot of insightful stuff that shows a much bigger picture that has not been publically seen before. For example the FBI were trailing Biggie and Puffy hours before they got killed and had been for quite some time – so where were they when they got shot? Asks Lil' Caese – why didn't they at least catch the gunman? The conspiracy Broomfield puts forward is quite extreme but the evidence and the witnesses are there at every stage to back it up. By the time Knight is interviewed the case is pretty much made.

The film makes very good use of old footage including the East/West kick-off at an awards ceremony and old footage of Tupac in the studio and Biggie rapping live at outdoor shows. The atcual interviews are all good and mostly very illuminating. Knight is quite intimidating but is clearly putting on a face. Lil' Caese is helpful as are many of the bodyguards and cops but the best interviews are with Biggie's mum – she doesn't have many facts but she really helps Biggie be a real person rather than just a larger than life rapper. The gaps are as prominent as the people – why no Puffy, why no Snoop, why no Faith Evans etc. However those that are involved all provide a lot of information.

The music is good throughout (if you're into hip-hop) but can someone tell me why Gangstarr were used several times in favour of the artist's own stuff?

Overall this is a must see for all hip-hop fans, but it is also a good view for those who like conspiracy theories. Broomfield's style is a little annoying but the pace and depth of the material is gripping and makes for very, very interesting viewing.

This movie covers everything of both murders. And it is sick how easily Suge got away with it. I, and i bet many others are sure he regrets killing off 2pac, the person who kept his company alive. This movie really makes you think.

Brilliant film, but very sad how Biggie got dragged into it to make it look like it was the East Coast beef that got 2pac killed. When in fact it was Suge and his crooked cops.

Nick does lots of research in this movie, more than ever has been covered before. People with neutral thoughts on Rap music and Violence even will love this documentary.

A MUST see.