Juice

Plot synopsis:
Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Q (Omar Epps), Raheem (Khalil Kain), and Steel (Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins) are four friends growing up together in Harlem. They regularly skip school, instead spending their days hanging out at Steel's apartment, at a neighborhood arcade, and also a record store where they steal LPs for Q's DJ interests. Generally, they are harassed daily by the police or a Puerto Rican gang led by Radames (Vincent Laresca).
Fed up with all of the disrespect and torment he and his friends have endured, Bishop decides that the group must go on to do bigger things in order to win respect. Q, however, is unsure if he wants to become involved in a life of crime. One Saturday night, under Bishop's persistence, the friends decide to rob a local convenience store to teach the owner, Fernando Quiles, a lesson. At first Q hesitates to go through with the robbery, unsure whether it will be successful. He also fears it will affect his chances of participating in a DJ competition in which he has yearned to compete for years. After being pressured by his fellow crew members, he decides to join in. During the heist, Bishop shoots the owner in the head, killing him.
After fleeing the scene, the four young men gather in an abandoned building where they argue over the evening's events. Q, Raheem and Steel become angry at Bishop for killing Mr. Quiles, and Raheem demands that Bishop give the gun to him. Bishop resists, and a struggle ensues between the two, and Bishop shoots Raheem dead. Panicking, Bishop, Q and Steel flee to another abandoned building, where Bishop threatens to kill Q and Steel if they reveal to anybody that he murdered Raheem.
Q and Steel realize that Bishop is beginning to break down and is becoming addicted to the thrill of killing. They agree to give Bishop as wide a berth as possible. However, while attending Raheem's funeral, the two are surprised to see Bishop there. Bishop goes as far as to hug Raheem's mother and promise to find his killer. Q and Steel are mostly generally able to avoid Bishop, but he finds them and confronts them one at a time, questioning their loyalty.
After a scuffle, Bishop kills Radames. In order to cover his tracks, he begins planning to frame Q for the murders of Quiles, Raheem and Radames. Fearful of Bishop, Q resorts to buying a gun for his own protection. Meanwhile, Bishop confronts Steel in an alley, accusing him of disloyalty, and shoots him. However, Steel survives the attack and is rushed to the hospital, where he informs Q's girlfriend Yolanda (Cindy Herron) that he has been framed by Bishop. Fed up with both the tension and troubles brought upon him, Q throws his gun into the river and decides to confront Bishop unarmed. Q and Bishop meet up, where a scuffle and chase ensues.
Q is shot once in the arm during the chase, and he is subsequently chased into a building where a party is being held. Bishop begins firing into a group of partygoers in an attempt to hit Q, but Q escapes unharmed. Q disarms Bishop while he's distracted, and Bishop leaves the scene with Q following him. Q eventually finds Bishop on the roof of a high-rise building, and the two become engaged in a physical confrontation. Bishop eventually falls off the ledge, but is caught by Q. Bishop begs Q not to let go, but Q eventually loses his grip, and Bishop falls to his death.
As Q is leaving the rooftop, a crowd from the party gathers to see what happened. One of the people in the crowd turns to Q and says, "Yo, you got the juice now, man." Q turns to look at him, shakes his head in disgust, and walks away. The film ends with a flashback clip of the four friends together in happier times as Bishop yells, "Wrecking Crew!"

Tags: comedy, neo noir, murder, cult, violence, flashback, revenge, blaxploitation

Review:
Unfortunately respect came at a price, which the film was precisely able to convey, through strong performances by Tupac, and by Omar Epps, as the aspiring DJ, in their first featured roles.
Great Old School Hood Movie - Tupac and Omar Epps steal it.
Juice is a film about 4 friends growing up in Harlem, it tells the story of how far you will go to get respect and how possessive the need to be respected can be.
The transformation of Bishop from the start to the end is played out perfectly by Tupac.The movie has a great urban old school feel with a belting hip hop sound track.
Where a movie like 'Menace 2 Society' was just a showcase of the gang life, 'Juice' mixes that with an interesting and true-to-life story.
In the mix of it all are four Harlem boys all portrayed effectively by Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, and Khalil Kain.The boys call themselves "The Wrecking Crew," and are trying to survive with what they have in a dangerous town.
They rob the store, and from that moment on things go from bad to worse for the boys.There is a subplot involving another one of the gang's members nicknamed "Q" (Epps) who is an aspiring DJ, and has a big DJ competition the night of the planned robbery.Writer and Director Ernest R.
While Juice is passable and well-made, it suffers by comparison with film's made by Lee like Do the Right Thing and School Daze.
It has a following, but because of strong critical acclaim surrounding the other pictures and this one just having mixed reviews is the reason why this isn't remembered as well as the other films.The moral of Juice is great about a psychological change one person can go through in a matter of time, the message about gun violence, and strong friendships being tested.
This is still one more realistic hood film that many should make time to see, but this film only reaches the level of average to decent while all of Singleton's films surpassed the above average mark.Starring: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Samuel L.
Some parts really gave me the creeps and I felt like I was there in the middle of the action being afraid I would get shot myself.Plus it made me look at the person of Tupac Shakur from another point of view.
Though it's "only" a movie, he makes you think that he's actually crazy and if you cross his path, he'll take you out.I love 2Pac as rapper and this was his first movie I've seen and I have to say that the film did fulfill exactly what I thought it would be, when talking about it's quality.At the end I just want to add that I'm really glad I have grown up in a happy home in a rather quiet neighborhood!I recommend this to all.
Juice is one of the Best Black Crime (Hood) movie of its time.
Top performances from Epps and Shakur make this film watchable, the story a fairly mundane one of street youth gangs drifting into crime in search of kicks, streetcred and "juice" (or power).
Shakur is the nutter who leads the way on a downward spiral, eager to get involved in any crazy venture and leading his more cautious friends down with him, Epps the good kid hoping to escape the ghetto life through his DJing skills.
Includes a great cast of Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Samuel L.
When this came out I was a hip hop submerged teenager and I thought this was the greatest movie of all time, now as a old fogey approaching 40 this movie brings back great memories but its pretty rubbish.Tupac shows his crazy side and to be fair he did a decent job of showing the tormented evil within.The soundtrack still stands up, the Bass in the Eric B and Rakim track still gives me goosebumps.All in all I think old sod's like me that grew up in the golden era of hop hop will use this to reminisce, and young kids obsessed with lil wayne, Tyga and whatever rubbish passes as hip hop today will think its daft.Worth a watch, just..
Spike Lee cinematographer Ernest Dickerson (he shot Spike's first 6 films) makes a stylish, dark debut with the 1992 teen drama "Juice".
Set in Harlem, the story chronicles the lives of 4 friends (including Tupac Shakur in a strong debut) trying to stay out of trouble.
Expectedly, Q would rather focus on an upcoming DJ contest but trash-talking Bishop has other plans.Dickerson's directorial manner is sleek and balanced, his camera and editing preferences are not as out there and in-your-face as Spike Lee, yet he knows exactly where to put the camera for each scene (the cross-cutting police interrogation sequence is most dynamic, better than that of "The Usual Suspects" and it pre-dates that film by 3 years as well).
The real beauty of this movie is found in the harshness of the world it portrays, dark, maze-like, and violent, and the way the characters both clash with and reflect this environment.
To take this path, to take up this tool, will hold dire consequences for every one of the crew.It is an engrossing pleasure to watch Bishop (played with disturbing intensity by Tupac Shakur) as his already thin shell of morality, held tentatively in place by his crew, erodes completely away...
We're supposed to believe that before the movie Bishop was down and then all of a sudden at the beginning he turns into some cold, calculating guy willing to murder his friends?
Juice follows four teenagers from Harlem: Q, Bishop, Raheem and Steel (Epps, Shakur, Kain, Hopkins) who try to get power and respect they call "juice." Q follows his dreams of becoming a successful scratch-n-mix deejay and deals with his love life, while Bishop tries more violent activities that break his friends and the streets where they live.
He did a great job acting, played the character very, very well.This movie never had any bad, boring, plain or corny moments to it.
This movie is kind of a signpost of the whole hip hop culture and is a reflection of the good and bad sides, summation in the plot.
Bishop was nowhere near as spiritually centred as Tupac.There are some awesome footage in the movie that so encapsulates 1991 hip hop culture, that positive uplifting vibe that seemed to dissipate within a matter of months into 1992.
Peer pressure, petty crime and violence mark the lives of the principals and the lure of a gun and its power result in a showdown between the reluctant Omar Epps and the psychotic Tupac Shakur.
Jackson and Queen Latifah are great in supporting roles and the movie has a nifty hip-hop soundtrack that adds pace to a solid uptown crime drama..
Really good performances by Epps and Shakur, and Hopkins gives great comic relief at times.
Bishop(Tupac Shakur) always was the one getting into fights all the time and he loved it.
Although the film was all original, right down to the script, Tupac's portrayal of Bishop is typical of Inner City youth who are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, violence, and gangs.
I recall the quote from the film when he states "U ready to die, nigga?" in front of Q - it reminded me of young black males who always were sent to the principal's office at my old high school who later ended up in the penitentary.All of the 4 youths depicted in the film - only two lived through the violence, except for Tupac and Khalil Kain's portrayal of a baby-daddy/gangbanger.
Rated R for Violence and Language Quebec Rating:13+ Canadian Home Video Rating:18A(Should be 14A)I saw Juice a couple of months ago.I would say I am a fan of films about South Central LA.Menace II Society is one of my favorite films of all time.I saw Juice expecting to see a movie like this.This is not like Boyz In The Hood or Menace II Society which are "growing up in the hood" films.Juice is actually a fairly entertaining thriller with good performances.Tupac is one of the few rappers who can actually act!
His acting in this film is excellent.Omar Epps and the rest of the cast are fairly good as well.The film is about four friends named Q,Bishop,Raheem and Steel who skip school one day, they find out afterwords that one of their peers was shot and killed while he tried to rob a store.After hearing about this, Bishop(Tupac) wants to do something crazy.So the four friends go and rob a store but Bishop ends up killing the owner.They then run into an alley where Tupac then kills Raheem.He threatens to kill Steel and Q if they tell anyone.The film then goes on with Q and Steel trying to hide from Bishop who is losing his mind and kills some more people, then frames Q for it.Q must prove his innocence and confront Bishop.Juice is a pretty good thriller with good performances and a good early 90's rap soundtrack..
Tupac Shakur plays a chilling villain in Bishop but he turns from a buddy to a cold-blooded stalking killer in an instant, and this I find very hard to believe.The soundtrack is a must-buy if you're a hip-hop fan, esp.
In the aftermath, the boys argue and Bishop kills Raheem.Tupac shows his acting chops and some real power with potential.
Also learned from this site how Tupac got casted-WOW!What a way to be discovered-just tagging along w/ his friend,Treach to his audition-talk about fate..but very uncanny how his character Bishop, reflected Pac's life-"Who's got the juice now?" is what Tupac is saying from up above, very eerie..
Roland Bishop (Tupac Shakur) is very menacing once he gets himself into the criminal life and goes through some very rich character development.
Power, respect, street cred are all things associated with "Juice" the 1992 coming of age film directed by Ernest Dickerson.
The movie's four main characters Bishop, Q, Raheem, and Steel, are all high school students living in the New York City area, who are tired of being nobody's on the streets and are on the quest for "Juice," the power and respect they thing they need to have to survive in their daily lives.
The movie portrays the life of inner-city urban youth, the four main characters are all best friends who rarely go to school and regularly go to the local pool hall or hang out at each other's house when their parents are at work.
Each characters performance makes you think that no one else could have pulled off the roles, the casting was perfect, and the performances of Tupac Shakur as Bishop and Omar Epps as Q steal the show.
All in all "Juice" is an entertaining movie, with great individual performances and a storyline that gives a fresh take on the genre, and has allowed this film to become a cult classic over the years..
In my opinion, I think Juice was a fine movie that examplifies the realistic day to day life of Young Black Youths in the areas where their community is the vast majority.
this is one of many movies the late Tupac Shakur (rapper,actor,poet) starred in and one of the best movies of the EARLY 90's the realism gets you caught up in the movie you'd be like "damn thats just like my school" juice is about 4 teenagers living teenage life we got Q (Omar Epps) wanting to quit crime to follow his dream being a DJ and bishop (2pac Shakur) is one of those who like's watching gangster movies and ain't got know visions of what he wants to be when he grows up and gets a rep going but unfortunately it goes to his head and starts to turn on his friends.after the store shooting early on in the movie.if you have not already seen this movie yet i suggest you buy its a great movie to watch full of surprises and shows 2pac and Omar Epps at there best..and show's us what most teenagers go through in and out side of school i recommend it to people over the age of 13.....
Juice is still interesting movie if your'e a Tupac or Omar Epps fan.
The script, written terrifically, centers around four youths: Roland Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Raheim Porter (Khalil Kain), Quincy (Omar Epps), and Steel (Jermaine Hall)...all in all, this movie is fantastic.
this movie is great,i love this moviei whatch it at least once every day the acting is good and tupac is the best character.
if you r a fan of tupac or just like movies about friends and struggels then i suggest u see this film.
What makes Bishop such a dynamic and terrifying but recognizable force is that we can understand where he comes from.He is the antagonist of this story of four high school friends (who rarely if ever go) who go for Bishop's plan to get "the Juice" - to do a Big Bad Thing and get some money but most of all to get respect.
For me, every bad decision hes made leads him to what he does and who he is (and though its a subtly done point, and powerfully so, he doesn't have a father as he's there but tuned out for reasons left ambiguous).Hes not the protagonist though, and I was mistaken thinking going in he was, that's Omar Epps's Q, the guy who wants to find a way out of Harlem and to make it it's through music.
Epps in his way is very good too, and in his way he has to be the one who is about as close to an "everyman" as one can find who is young and in a place like Harlem at that time.
There are a couple of types here and there as far as the minor characters (Samuel L Jackson plays one but brings it full life anyway for the 5 minutes hes on), but all the same we have a young game cast that's given the kind of material that enlivens melodrama with a good deal of humor early on (some still lands, especially with an audience, some doesn't) by being as real as possible.
The only stand out scene is the school locker confrontation between Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur (Shakur showed he could act).
I mean, we started to wonder if maybe this movie should've been made with subtitles.And if that weren't bad enough, on a purely professional level, "Juice" looks like it was shot by amateurs!
This was the point when Tommy and I were laughing at it so hard, we shut the movie off, and immediately drove back to the video store to see about getting a refund.If you know ANYTHING at all about film, then STAY AWAY from "Juice"!
I think people should pay attention to my review because I am a young adult, a teenager who lives in New York and can relate to a few topics in this movie.Three things that I thought were good from the movie were the dialogue, the actors especially Tupac as an actor and Omar Epps and the places where the movie took place.This movie accurately shows the teenage life in New York because it shows how kids be skipping school, spending more time in the streets than home and how their day one "bros" be switching up on them and how they deal with their situations in the hood.
First of all Im sorry for the bad english, but english is not my native language, now about the movie..., Im a huge fan of Tupac and hip-hop culture and I was looking foward to watch this movie since I've just watched Boys N the Hood and kids, and love it, and besides that Juice's imdb's rating is 7.1 stars at this moment.
Omar Epps is a great actor, but the show stealer has gotta be Tupac, his performance is so realistic.
Omar Epps is one of the most under-rated actors i've ever heard of, he plays the good guy pretty well, and kicks Bishop's ass in it.
The movie Juice released in 1992 was directed by Ernest Dickerson and cast four major actors which are Tupac Shakur, Omar Epps, Jermaine Hopkins, and Khalil Kain.
The movie being so reliable is what I believe makes the film incredible, it seems like it is a story that has happened to me and I'm just retelling it.
This 1992 crime drama stars Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins and Khalil Kain.
This focuses on 4 Harlem teen buddies, Q (Epps), Bishop (Shakur), Steel (Hopkins) and Raheem (Kain) who decide to rob a convenient store one Saturday night.
This is a pretty good film with some tense and humorous moments and Epps & the late, Shakur are great in it.
Juice(Ernest Dickerson)- Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Cindy Herron, Vincent Larasca, Samuel L.
Overall a good film, with some not so realistic plot turns, but still great message and characters.
Also good debut from Shakur, although overacted at times was still very powerful and overall strong acting, although Epps outshined the cast.
Your legacy continues...Juice is a 90's movie that tells the story of 4 Harlem youth that are friends until one snaps, becomes trigger-happy, and gets hooked on the thrill the gun.
After seeing this many times over the years, I must say that the characters in this movie makes it worth watching.
This Film is Tupac Shakur's Greatest Role and a Fitting Homage to Harlem's 90's Youth.
In this film, Tupac plays Bishop, a rough street kid who feels like he has something to prove.
I honestly didn't think Tupac at the end, turned into a bad guy like it really tricked you that he wouldn't be the villain but damn, he did it really really well!