Menace II Society

"This is the truth. This is what's real."

1993 1h 37m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 960

DramaCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.

“This is the truth. This is what's real.”

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Cast

Tyrin Turner
Caine 'Kaydee' Lawson
Larenz Tate
Kevin 'O-Dog'
Glenn Plummer
Pernell
Jada Pinkett Smith
Ronnie
Samuel L. Jackson
Tat Lawson
June Kyoto Lu
Grocery Store Woman
Toshi Toda
Grocery Store Man
Reginald Ballard
Clyde

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Allen Hughes
Writers: Tyger Williams, Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Allen Hughes, shot by Lisa Rinzler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Quincy Jones III. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Christopher Koefoed shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tyrin Turner and Larenz Tate and Glenn Plummer carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "This is the truth. This is what's real.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Allen Hughes directs. Lisa Rinzler behind the camera. Quincy Jones III scores. Christopher Koefoed cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 8.0× over at the box office.
333 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Allen Hughes, shot by Lisa Rinzler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Quincy Jones III. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Christopher Koefoed shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Tyrin Turner and Larenz Tate and Glenn Plummer carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "This is the truth. This is what's real.".
9IMDB entry: tt0107554 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 18 themes, including "drug dealer", "street gang", "gangster", "ghetto".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lisa Rinzler
Original score: Quincy Jones III
Editing: Christopher Koefoed
Production design: Penny Barrett
Costume design: Sylvia Vega-Vasquez
Sound: Ken Teaney
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,500,000
Box office: $27,900,000
Return: 797% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Menace II Society (1993)

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Allen Hughes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2025-09-07
★ 8/10
<em>'Menace II Society'</em> delivers an eventful 90 minutes! It's a film I certainly like, it is a predictable (beginning aside) ride but one that does manage to hit a fair bit. The characters are admittedly not the most likeable, though their predicament is still easy to connect to. Tyrin Turner makes for a solid lead, with Larenz Tate and Jada Pinkett (Smith) the pick of the rest; the latter, to be honest, brings the best acting of the main bunch. Aside from Pinkett, I did find the acting to be imperfect - not bad, whatsoever, but those away from Jada do get a bit cringey in parts. Good to see Samuel L. Jackson involved, albeit minimally. The ending, whilst good and totally serviceable, did irritate me slightly. I won't spoil what happens, but the 'last act' of Caine doesn't make total sense; you can tell they done it like that because it sounded dramatic on paper. Is it just me or did he laughably put the young fella in more danger? It took me out of the scene, I can't lie. Overall, this 1993 release is very good. I just evidently had a couple of (relatively minor, but noteworthy) issues with it, that's all.

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