Fade to Black

if you're not a fan of hip hop, or can't see it as an art form this movie should change that for you. the conception of the black album and concert are documented to perfection. i will say that this movie is for fans, and there are things (ie his "rainman" ability to write songs) that will not translate well to people who aren't seriously into music. the movie will surely be judged as a concert film and not as the documentary that it is. fans of jay-z/hip hop will love it and will be able to respect what it takes for a hip hop show to sell out the garden in an hour. muchless, deliver one of the greatest performances in recent memory. overall an excellent documentary!

If you're a Jay Z fan this registration is a trip down memory lane. The concert and the backgrounds behind the songs off the Black Album are portrayed and during one last concert at Madison Square Garden the roof is blown off by one of rap's most talented mc's. Starring everyone from Mary J Blige, Beyonce to R. Kelly as guest performers this show has it all. One hell of a concert will give you insights into his music and if you weren't a fan yet, you will be after the credits roll.

Most hiphop or concert videos are done poorly. A few takes behind the scenes of bored band members and screaming groupies tell you nothing your imagination couldn't have figured out for itself. This movie however shows new insights into the way the collaboration with different artists works and yet doesn't distract from it's main purpose: show you the music, send you the vibe people must have had at the concert at Madison Square Garden.

Top notch!

When "Reasonable Doubt" was released, it was an instant classic by one of the best rappers of all time.

Jay-Z's "Fade to Black" is two movies in one. The first is Jay's last concert at Madison Square Garden promoting his latest and last album, "The Black Album." The second film is recording sessions that go behind Jay'Z's making of said album.

Well, the concert footage is great. One of the best concert films I've ever seen. Jay-Z's performance on stage is nothing short of adrenaline pumping. The guests are always game, even, if only for a verse. Some get more screen time than others, such as Memphis Bleek. Twista, Kanye West, Memph Bleek and Beanie Siegel make an impression. Mary J Blige is excellent. Others, such as Missy Elliott and Foxy Brown barely make an impression.

In short, this is an excellent concert film and if you are a Jay-Z fan, you should buy this one, because you will not be disappointed.

Some minor quibbles. The making of the album footage, while interesting, because Jay-Z never writes his rhymes down, he memorizes them all, and kinda freestyles in the booth, that's very compelling. But, it does get a bit redundant.

This film would be a ten if it was just the concert from beginning to end.

Minor quibbles. Great concert film. Energetic, always entertaining and humorous, this is a good film, especially if you're a hip hop fan. If not, something may be lost in translation. But, if you're inclined to read this, you will not be disappointed. Thumbs way up.

This documentary is part making of THE BLACK ALBUM and part his retirement concert in Madison Square Guarden intertwined with each other.

Throughout the documentary there is constant talk of Jay-Z's retirement with fans and friends talking about how they can't believe the Jigga man is retiring.

But of course that all turned out to be nothing more than a publicity stunt because 2 years later he released a new album and have made countless albums since.

So it definitely loses it's value from that fact, although tbh I and many others never believed him when he said he was retiring and there are enough good performances and insight on the making of the album that it makes worth watching regardless (if you're a fan).

Even if Jay-Z's performance on MTV's UNPLUGGED was a lot better though.

So yeah nothing amazing, and the retirement was just another hustle for Hov to put on his resumé and as he said 'you can't knock the hustle' so I guess we can't knock it too hard, and it's a hard knock life after all so knock knock on.

It's nearly impossible not to get caught up in the insane energy of the live performance scenes in this movie (from Jay as well as the audience, who were in love with the world, Jay, and whatever joker standing next to them in the rows out there too), and the man is obviously at his peak here. It didn't feel like a super-cohesive film, but that doesn't bug me too much. I could watch hours of him doing his thing in the studio and Rick Rubin and whoever else is there just sort of marveling at Jay's self-proclaimed "Rainman" routine of just sounding everything out until the puzzle pieces fit. He is not my favorite hip hop artist by a long shot but he is sure as hell interesting, and this film needed to be made, if not for anything else other than posterity. I've watched Fade to Black a good dozen times over the years. I like the authenticity of this film a LOT more than the recent documentary, Made In America-- which was amusing as hell and I loved the collection of artists, but many of the montage bits and segues were pretty pretentious.