Posted on: September 30, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Tupac Vs. Biggie : The Legacy Continues / 2006 MVD / 120 Minutes / http://www.mvdb2b.com /

The DVDs that Chrome Dreams come out with are typically solid, and this re-interpretation of the Tupac Vs. Biggie tragedy is no different. They have gathered so much in the way of information that this requires two full hours of storytelling. Not happy with just providing the documentary, a number of extra bits and pieces are added to this set. This includes extra photographs, discographies of both rappers, quizzes about each rapper, and more. Furthermore, this documentary provides exhaustive interviews with friends, family ,and other individuals associated with the two rappers.

The one thing that comes to my mind as a question is whether indivudals have already seen enough in the way of information about the Tupac and Biggie saga, if the West and East Coast war was covered too much to make this a worthwhile purchase. Since the amount of footage present on the television and on certain news stations has died down considerably in the years since the shooting, there is a good chance that individuals that have since gotten into either Tupac or Biggie might not know a fuller story than was provided them by friends or family. This would be a good introduction to anyone who has not been burnt out with the coverage that was updated seemingly hourly after the shootings occurred. There are a few other reasons to pick of this DVD, such as what is touted on the box, “interviews never previously aired”. While I am not a scholar enough to verify that fact, I had not seen some of the interviews that were presented during this DVD. I’m not sure what exactly the purpose of the “pivotal landmarks” shoots that are present throughout the DVD. Yes, it makes sense to understand where each rapper is coming from, but I would rather liked to see footage of either rapper going through their own turf rather than someone coming back years after their death.

This DVD set is unauthorized, so I am unsure what material was not allowed to be used in the making of this documentary. The information provided in what is left out might have been important to understanding why exactly the events unfolded the way that they ultimately did. Still, with all of the different estates and legal clearances that would have been necessary to create an “authorized” documentary on both Tupac and Biggie (and that is even without considering the power of veto that the estates would have had), it is better that the creators went with the unauthorized tag and cut themselves free of those headaches. The quality may be different than it would be otherwise, but not discernibly lower. The two-DVD set does its research admirably, adding a scholarly air to something that was tragic and never fully explained by anyone that originally was covering the case. “Tupac Vs. Biggie” is a must for anyone who needs to know the facts of the case without having biased or otherwise weak reporting color the opinions taken away from it.

Rating: 6.2/10

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