History Film / NewJackCity

** Nino is shown watching ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'' multiple times, and has clearly taken all the wrong lessons from it, since it's implied that he admires Tony Montana and wants to emulate him. [[spoiler:Like Tony, Nino meets his end when he's gunned down and takes a nasty fall.]]

** Implied to be the motivation behind [[spoiler: Gee Money's betrayal of Nino.]] They were supposed to be partners but the latter treated the former more like a sidekick, taking everything for himself.

Rumors of a straight-to-video sequel have popped up, [[DevelopmentHell but has not been officially confirmed as of yet.]] However, starting in Fall 2022, [[ScreenToStageAdaptation a staged version of the movie]] called ''New Jack City: Live on Stage'' was done by Je'Caryous Johnson. It was released to good reviews and continued to be performed until June 2024. Additionally, this movie, ''FIlm/SugarHill1993'', and ''Film/AboveTheRim'', all written by the same screenwriter, has been dubbed the Harlem Trilogy, sharing the same setting of Harlem, New York.

* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Frankie Needles' New Year's gift to Nino is a statue of him with a white lynch rope around his neck, causing the CMB to cut his ponytail off and him and his mob bodyguards to leave.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the VillainOpeningScene of the film, Nino and Duh-Duh-Duh Man are about to throw a corrupt business man over a bridge for a deal gone bad. Nino mentions that he'll see him and doesn't wanna to be him. [[spoiler:This is how he meets his end, though for a [[VigilanteExecution different reason.]]]]

Rumors of a straight-to-video sequel have popped up, [[DevelopmentHell but has not been officially confirmed as of yet.]] However, starting in Fall 2022, [[ScreenToStageAdaptation a staged version of the movie]] called ''New Jack City: Live on Stage'' was done by Je'Caryous Johnson. It was released to good reviews and continued to be performed until June 2024. Additionally, this movie, ''FIlm/SugarHill'', and ''Film/AboveTheRim'', all written by the same screenwriter, has been dubbed the Harlem Trilogy, sharing the same setting of Harlem, New York.

Rumors of a straight-to-video sequel have popped up, [[DevelopmentHell but has not been officially confirmed as of yet.]]

* DumbMuscle: The Duh-Duh-Duh Man. Well, he's not actually "dumb" ''per se'', he's just sort of viewed as this on account of his heavy stuttering and how he serves mainly as Nino's personal enforcer.

->''"Idolator! Your soul is required in Hell!"''

* PreMortemOneLiner: "IDOLATOR! YOUR SOUL IS REQUIRED IN HELL!"

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Scotty is ultimately dissuaded from killing Nino and convinced to let the system do its job... only for Nino to be [[MiscarriageOfJustice practically acquitted]], leading to the [[ChekhovsGunman old man]] committing a VigilanteExecution anyway]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When Keisha is killed at the wedding shootout, Nino is clearly distraught.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Nino can turn on the charm when it suits him, but at the end of the day he's still a selfish, violence-prone bastard.

* HeroAntagonist: Scotty.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Subverted. Nino manages to get off with a light sentence but is shot by the old man whose house he had stolen.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Nino gets shot to death, just like he shot many innocent people.]]

* LargeHam: Pookie, Nino, and Scotty.

** The story of Nino Brown was based on the Chambers Brothers story. These four brothers sold crack in Detroit. Like Nino had his apartment building called "The Carter," the Chambers Brothers also had an apartment called the Broadmoor. They moved into the 4 story, 52 unit building, selling different types of drugs on each floor. They often sold drugs alongside families who already lived in the building, forcing them to leave or deal with their illegal and dangerous activity. Officials have often claimed that the brothers ran their drug operation like a large, very organized corporation. The foursome became nationally known when they were caught on tape counting laundry baskets of money and flaunting their wealth.

* VillainousFriendship: Nino has a friendship with Gee Money that doesn't seem to be faked. When they establish their criminal empire, Nino tells Gee that they've finally made it and that they have to look out for each other. Near the end, he expresses his friendship with Gee as more important to him than all the money and women he has gotten, but they just can't go back to the way they were [[spoiler: after Gee betrays Nino by allowing an undercover cop to infiltrate CMB and also making a deal with said cop behind Nino's back. Nino struggles to kill Gee as tears roll down his face.]]

* SaltAndPepper: Scotty and Peretti.

* BlatantLies: When Nino claimed Kareem Akbar, "the educated brother from the bank" whom he stabbed in the hand and nearly strangled earlier in the film, was the real head of the CMB.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: After Pookie's death, Peretti claims that he saw a lot of himself in the youth, admitting that he too was a drug addict when he was younger.

* BadBoss: Nino has no problem with betraying, physically assaulting, or even ''killing'' the people who work for him. During the trial sequence, he avoids more severe charges by lying and claiming that Kareem was the true mastermind behind the operation.

* BrokenAesop: Scotty is ultimately [[spoiler: dissuaded from killing Nino and convinced to let the system do its job]]... only for [[spoiler: Nino to be [[MiscarriageOfJustice practically acquitted]], leading to the [[ChekhovsGunman old man]] committing a VigilanteExecution anyway]].
%%* BrokenBird: Selina because of Nino being a DomesticAbuser.

%%* CatchPhrase: "Rock-a-bye, Baby."

%%* DisposableWoman: "Cancel this bitch! I'll buy another one." He just has Selina kicked out rather than killed, but the sentiment is made very clear.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the VillainOpeningScene of the film, Nino and Duh-Duh-Duh Man are about to throw a corrupt business man over a bridge for a deal gone bad. Nino mentions that he'll see him and doesn't wanna to be him. [[spoiler:This is how he meets his end, though for a [[VigilanteExecution different reason]]]].

%%* GangBangers: The CMB are a notable subversion.

%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Scotty and Peretti.

%%* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Scotty almost comes close to this, but Peretti and Stone [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan tell him it's not worth it]].

%%* {{Jerkass}}: Nino is this in general.

%%* LimitedSocialCircle: The CMB.
%%* LoveMartyr: How Nino's girlfriend Selina could stay with him is a mystery, given how he mistreats her. At least until Nino crosses the MoralEventHorizon[[invoked]].
%%* TheMafia: Nino used to be friends with them... [[KickTheDog Until he backstabs and kills them.]] Though it was in retaliation for the wedding shootout.
* MisaimedFandom: In-universe, Nino is a noted fan of ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'', watching Tony Montana's shootout at the end of the movie multiple times and quoting the "The world is yours line" as an inspirational motto. Also doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}, as [[spoiler: neither Tony nor Nino got to ride off into the sunset at the end.]]

** When undercover cop Scotty Appleton and drug kingpin Nino Brown are hanging out one night, Nino confesses that he killed an innocent schoolteacher as part of an initiation into the LA Boys gang. Scotty asked Nino if the killing was business or personal. Nino made it clear that all his killings are business, never personal. [[spoiler: The schoolteacher was Scotty Appleton's mother, and Scotty nearly kills Nino during the climax, making it clear that killing his mother was personal.]]

-->'''Nino Brown''': Look at you... in a few years they'll be marking your grave. Me? I'll be right here. What can you offer them? Another "I have a dream" speech? Some of that same shit you ripping off to me? Look where we at. Not a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of. You's the fool, old man.
** Nino Brown continued to joke about the war veteran later that night. [[spoiler: But the old man would get the [[ChekhovsGunman last laugh.]]]]

%%* TokenWhite: Peretti.

%%* VillainProtagonist: This movie chronicles Nino's rise and fall.

%%* WhatTheHellHero?: Nick Peretti, especially in his racist rants against Scotty. But initially he comes to respect Scotty as an equal, especially after Pookie dies.

* CurbStompBattle: When Scotty finally gets his hands on Nino, he beats the shit out of him in broad daylight without Nino putting up much of a fight, though Nino did manage to punch Scotty on one occasion.

* DrivenToVillainy:[[spoiler: The old man shoots Nino]] after the latter gets off on with light sentence.
%%* DrugsAreBad: And the drug ''trade'' is even worse. The ENTIRE movie centers around this trope.
* DumbMuscle: The Duh-Duh-Duh Man. Well, he's not actually "dumb" ''per se'', he's just sort of viewed as this on account of his heavy stuttering and is mainly Nino's personal enforcer.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Nino can turn on the charm when it suits him, but at the end of the day he's still a selfish bastard.

* MisaimedFandom: In-universe, Nino is a noted fan of ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'', watching Tony Montana's shootout at the end of the movie multiple times and quoting the "The world is yours line" as an inspirational motto.

** This is averted ''hard'' when [[spoiler:Nino kills Gee Money for ratting the CMB out to the cops. Unlike every other atrocity he committed in the film with a straight face, It's obvious Nino took the betrayal ''very'' personally, and hated the fact he had to kill Gee Money over it.]]

%%** Also, this film is a reference to ''Film/TheGodfather.''

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Nino tries to gain the people's support by handing out free meals to the poor and money to the children. The cops Scotty and Peretti openly call his Robin Hood act out as crap, as does an old man whose grandson is among those children. At the same time, Nino has forced entire families out of their homes to build his drug factory and is preying on the poor to sell his drugs. Deconstructed as Nino's empire starts to fall apart, and especially when Scotty beats him to the cheers and encouragement of a crowd, it's made clear that the people of the neighborhood despise Nino.

Snipes plays Nino Brown, a rising crime lord and drug dealer in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, who takes control of an apartment complex and capitalizes on the crack epidemic. But he is opposed by [[HeroAntagonist undercover cop Scotty]] (Ice-T), [[ButForMeItWasTuesday whose mother he killed back in the day.]] And now he vows to stop Nino and the deadly CMB at all costs.

* BookEnds: The opening shot slowly zooms in on the famous Manhattan skyline in New York, and ends with credits scrolling up while the camera slowly pulls away from the city. Both shots also have the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boL2vbpU3Y0 movie's]] ThemeSong playing. It also begins and ends with someone falling down to their deaths, though it's Nino getting shot by the old veteran.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: {{Subverted}}; Nino had no idea the middle-aged woman he killed happened to be Scotty's mom, but he ''absolutely'' remembers the actual incident and recounts it to Scotty, who is undercover at the time, as it was the first time he killed someone--he was told to kill a random person [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten to prove his loyalty to his new gang.]] We don't actually find out until the very end of the movie that Scotty was after Nino for this, and Nino doesn't deny remembering the incident [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown because Scotty is beating the crap out of him as he tells him this.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man CLEARLY made sure Pookie’s last few moments of his life were horrible and excruciating as possible, considering how he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and for good measure had his neck completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll. That’s not even getting into the fact that his entire body would have been blown up if Scotty and Peretti hadn’t have defused the bomb.

* NonProtagonistResolver: [[spoiler: Nino is ultimately killed by [[ChekhovGunman a seemingly random old man]] who has been railing against Nino's drug operations throughout the entire movie.]]

* VerbalTic: Duh-Duh Man stutters constantly.

* VigilanteExecution: [[spoiler: Druglord Nino Brown walks arrogantly out of the courtroom in front of the police protagonists, confident he will not serve a sentence commensurate with his crimes. The old man who was hounding Brown throughout the film for destroying his neighborhood with his drug trade shoots him dead in the courthouse foyer.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Nino tries to gain the people's support by handing out free meals to the poor and money to the children. The cops Scotty and Peretti openly call his Robin Hood act out as crap, as does an old man whose grandson is among those children. At the same time, Nino has forced entire families out of their homes to build his drug factory and is preying on the poor to sell his drugs. Deconstructed as Nino's empire starts to fall apart, and especially while Scotty beats him to the cheers and encouragement of a crowd, and it's made clear that the people of the neighborhood despise Nino.

* NothingPersonal: When undercover cop Scotty Appleton and drug kingpin Nino Brown are hanging out one night, Nino confesses that he killed an innocent schoolteacher as part of an initiation into the LA Boys gang. Scotty asked Nino if the killing was business or personal. Nino made it clear that all his killings are business, never personal. [[spoiler: The schoolteacher was Scotty Appleton's mother, and Scotty nearly kills Nino during the climax, making it clear that killing his mother was personal.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man CLEARLY made sure Pookie’s last few moments of his life were horrible and excruciating as possible, considering how he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and for good measure had his neck completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll. That’s not even getting into the fact that his entire body would have been blown up if Scotty and Peretti hadn’t have diffused the bomb.

* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Frankie Needles' New Year's gift to Nino is a statue of him with a white lynch rope around his neck, causing the CMB to cut his ponytail off and him and his mob bodyguards leave.

* BrosBeforeHoes: Nino makes with Gee Money's mistress when she offers herself to him. When Gee Money later voices his anger at Nino for taking everything for himself, Nino dismisses the girl as a skank and says that Gee means infinitely more to him.

* HiMom: Nino Brown, who's just been given two years for drug trafficking and several murders in exchange for his co-operation with the authorities, smugly uses the phrase in front of the cameras while he's boasting to the press that he thinks the American justice system is the finest in the world.

-->'''Kareem''': I knew I knew Washington. He's 5-0.

* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: Nino Brown relates a tale from his youth; his gang initiation involved killing someone, but it couldn't be a rival gang member. He ends up shooting a schoolteacher on the street in broad daylight. Unfortunately for Nino, the person he relates this tale to is undercover cop Scotty, ''the schoolteacher's son.''

* NothingPersonal: When undercover cop Scotty Appleton and drug kingpin Nino Brown are hanging out one night, Nino confesses that he killed an innocent schoolteacher as part of an initiation into a gang. Scotty asked Nino if the killing was business or personal. Nino made it clear that all his killings are business, never personal. [[spoiler: The schoolteacher was Scotty Appleton's mother, and Scotty nearly kills Nino during the climax, making it clear that killing his mother was personal.]]

* StopOrIWillShoot: Subverted when the hero cop chases a young criminal through an extended ChaseScene and the cop ''never'' draws his gun. However, when the crook suddenly draws a gun, that is when the cop draws his own and shoots him down.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man CLEARLY made sure Pookie’s last few moments of his life were horrible and excruciating as possible, considering how he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and for good measure had his neck completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll. That’s not even getting into the fact that he would have been blown up with if Scotty and Peretti hadn’t have diffused the bomb.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] an episode of ''Series/FatherTed''.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man CLEARLY made sure Pookie’s last few moments of his life were horrible and excruciating as possible, considering how he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and for good measure had his neck completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man clearly make Pookie’s last few moments of his life excruciating as possible, considering how he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and for good measure had his neck completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man clearly make Pookie’s last few moments of his life excruciating considering how he looked like he was beaten to a pulp, throat slashed, shot and his neck being completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man clearly didn’t give Pookie a quick and easy death considering how he looked beaten to a pulp, throat slashed and his neck being completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Gee Money and the Duh Duh Man clearly didn’t give Pookie a quick and easy death considering how his neck was completely TWISTED AROUND like a toy doll.

* BookEnds: The opening shot slowly zooms in on the famous Manhattan skyline in New York, and ends with credits scrolling up while the camera slowly pulls away from the city. Both shots also have the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boL2vbpU3Y0 movie's]] ThemeSong playing.

%%* DumbMuscle: The Duh-Duh-Duh Man. Well, he's not actually "dumb" ''per se'', he's just sort of viewed as this on account of his heavy stuttering and is mainly Nino's personal enforcer.