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New Jack: Hardcore (2006)

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Overall Rating 66%
Overall Rating
Ranked #14,814
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Connections: Wrestler: New Jack

An inside look at the man known as New Jack; the bounty hunter, the convicted murderer, and the extreme wrestling icon known and feared the world over. This long, in-depth documentary covers the history of the man, and his friends, narrated by Jerome Young himself in a quasi-interview style, with archive footage from the failed/cancelled reality TV show "Bounty", XPW, New Japan, Big Japan, and IWA. Interviews with former and current wrestlers accent this telling tail of the wrestling industry's most violent side, and it's most violent man. --IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: April 8, 2006
New Jack, for the uninitiated, is a wrestler well-known for his "extreme" style of wrestling and is best known for the six years he spent working for the now-defunct ECW. The man has had a pretty storied career; he was constantly giving the fans something to talk about with his insane in-ring antics (diving off a thirty-foot balcony, stapling dollar bills to an opponents forehead, amongst other things), but he's also caused a lot of controversy as well. For example, during a match with the 72-year-old wrestler known as Gypsy Joe, New Jack got pissed off at the man and started "shooting" on him... in other words, those punches and shots to the head with a baseball bat weren't "faked". Then there was the time that another wrestler tried to "shoot" on New Jack during a match, and received several legit stab-wounds for his troubles, and then there was the whole Mass Transit issue that nearly put New Jack behind bars. In this eighty-minute documentary, New Jack details his lengthy career, these incidents and much, much more.

Personally, I'm a fan of New Jack. The man is extremely entertaining in the ring, and he never failed to impress yours truly with the stunts that he pulled during his glory days. Jerome Young, the man behind the character, tells all about his career and his observations in this documentary, and he certainly doesn't pull any punches when it comes to calling out others by name. The documentary starts off at the very beginning of his career, back when he worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling with another fellow by the name of Mustafa as a tag-team known as "The Gangstas". During his time there, he was told by promoter Jim Cornette to "make the white people mad", as they were working in the deep south and, as you may have heard, Southerners aren't too fond of the colored people. The plan worked, and New Jack nearly caused riots with the fans and also got a lot of heat with the NAACP thanks to his in-ring and promo antics. Over the course of the next eleven years, the controversy behind the man never slowed down, and this disc covers nearly all of it.

The disc features little actual wrestling footage, since most of the footage covering New Jack's career is owned by Vince McMahon of the WWE. Instead, the story is told through straight-up interview footage with New Jack himself. Now, when you see the man on television, you get the impression that he is a vicious hoodlum, and you certainly wouldn't expect him to tell a good story or be very easy to listen to. However, New Jack (the character) and Jerome Young (the man) are like night and day; when he discusses the topics found on this disc, he's genuinely insightful, he's funny, he's informative, and above all else, he's entertaining.

There's no shortage of topics to be found, either. New Jack gives his thoughts on the "heat" (real-life rivalry) between himself and the tag-team formerly known as The Dudley Boys, his dislike for Tazz, "ring-rats" (in the music world, they would be known as groupies), backyard wrestling, drugs, Missy Hyatt, backstage fights between the wrestlers, ECW (and the competition between them and WWE / WCW / XPW), getting into physical altercations with the fans, and much, much more. He also discusses the Gypsy Joe incident (which is shown in its entirety), the Mass Transit incident, and we also get to see the stabbing incident between New Jack and another fellow whose name I couldn't find. Sadly, that last topic isn't discussed at all, but we do see it in its entirety.

When I reviewed director Michael Moody's previous film 101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler, I said: "By far, the highlight of the interview segments is New Jack." The reason for that is simple; he can tell a good story, he's insightful, and he's hilarious to boot. My thoughts on the man haven't changed after spending nearly two hours watching him discuss various topics, and fans of New Jack (or ECW in general) should definitely have this one on their shelf. The DVD is currently for sale at Hollymood's site (where you can also view a trailer for the film), and fans of the subject will find that it's well-worth the purchase price. 9/10.
bluemeanie #1: bluemeanie - added April 10, 2006 at 1:45am
Wrestling was entertaining when I was younger, but that was back in the days of Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Bad News Brown, and Irving R. Schyster. These days, wrestling just makes me laugh because of how terrible it is. All of the fun and mystery of the non-sport has been replaced by extreme fighting-esque tactics and moronic subplots. 1/10.
Chad #2: Chad - added April 11, 2006 at 2:30pm
This documentary is sold exclusively through the Hollymood site, so I'm going to assume that you didn't purchase it and therefore haven't seen it based on your opinions about the "sport"... however, I apologize if I'm mistaken. While I respect your opinions regarding professional wrestling as a whole (and agree with them to an extent - I personally haven't watched anything other than documentaries about it in ages), I must say that rating this feature 1/10 based solely on that dislike for the "sport" is a bit silly. I'm not a big fan of, say, chess, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't enjoy Searching For Bobby Fischer. I haven't seen that movie, so I'll withhold any comments about it... but I'm sure you get the point. Check out "Beyond the Mat" for an insightful wrestling documentary that damned near anyone would enjoy (hell, even Roger Ebert gave it 4/5). Although this particular movie is focused on one man's career, it falls into the same type of category as BTM.
bluemeanie #3: bluemeanie - added April 11, 2006 at 4:13pm
I actually saw "Beyond the Mat" when it was released and enjoyed it quite a bit. I also enjoyed the recently released documentary on the Ultimate Warrior. I gave this particular film a 1/10 because of the person it deals with. I enjoyed the other documentaries because they dealt with wrestling stars I gew up with. Newer wrestlers have lost the entire notion of the non-sport. They are not the same as the older wrestlers. You are correct -- I have never seen this particular film -- but my rating will hopefully make some people find entertainment elsewhere. Yes, basically, I am a bastard.
Chad #4: Chad - added April 11, 2006 at 6:51pm
You mentioned three names in your initial comment, and those three got started at various times. According to Wikipedia, Irwin R. Schyster debuted in 1991 and stuck around (in that particular role) until 1994, so I'm going to assume that you were watching somewhere in that stretch of time. This particular fellow (New Jack) got his start in 1993, so he's far from being lumped in with the "newer wrestlers" according to the examples you gave. However, even if that weren't the case, it's not very wise to generalize as such; you wouldn't say the same thing about directors, actors, or musicians. It's the same thing in wrestling... you take the good with the bad, and as with all things, you tend to remember the "good" things from the "good ol' days" much more than the bad. I'll end this comment with the thought of how bizarre it is to be discussing wrestling on a movies site.
bluemeanie #5: bluemeanie - added April 11, 2006 at 9:12pm
And you make some very valid points. However, I never have considered the ECW to be a legitimate wrestling organization. It was always the WWF for me, which is why I have never really been that keen on New Jack. He seemed to be an immitator in a wannabe organization. Alas, you make very good points. But I, being the bastard, still agree with my 1/10 rating.
Crispy #6: Crispy - added November 11, 2006 at 7:07am
Ironically, said "wannabe organization" was the source of most of the ideas that were blatantly stolen by your precious WWF
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