InsidePulse DVD Review – Gang Wars

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Credit: Amazon.com

Director:

Marc Levin (Both Documentaries)

Cast:

Gang War: Bangin’ in Little Rock

Steve Nawojczyk ………. Himself
Trig ………. Himself
KK ………. Himself
Becky ………. Herself
Taz ………. Herself
Loco ………. Himself
L.A. Moe ………. Himself
Bobby Banks ………. Himself
O.G. a.k.a. Leifel Jackson ………. Himself
DeWitt Jackson ………. Himself
Reverend H.D. Stewart ………. Himself
Marvin Weathersby ………. Himself
Sonny Boy ………. Himself
Abe ………. Himself
Greg ………. Himself

Back in the Hood: Gang War 2

Leifel Jackson ………. Himself
Marvin Weathersby ………. Himself
Moran Ellis ………. Himself
Sonny Boy ………. Himself
Kim Jackson ………. Herself
DeWitt Jackson ………. Himself
Derrick Williams a.k.a. “Blue” ………. Himself

The Show

If you grew up in a small town in America, you might have felt safe from what cities had to deal with on a daily basis. Cities are usually associated with crime, drugs, poverty, gangs, etc. People think you won’t find all of that in small towns. If you think that, though, think again. Gangs and crime are everywhere. From the big cities like New York City and Los Angeles to the small towns like Little Rock, Arkansas.

Little Rock is the capital city of Arkansas and the biggest city in the state, but it doesn’t compare in size to other capital cities in other states. However in 1994, the homicide rate in Little Rock was higher than both New York City and Los Angeles! That’s right, there were more murders, mostly gang-related, in Little Rock, AR than New York City and Los Angeles. This is the subject of this two-disc set of HBO Documentaries.

I’m not going to lie, I have a personal bias while watching this DVD set. I grew up 30 minutes away from Little Rock, AR. I was 12 in 1994. Around that time, I was told to never wear red or blue when I went to Little Rock. I never really understood why, until later in life. The subject of this DVD set is the reason why you didn’t want to wear red or blue in Little Rock, AR in the 1990’s.

In 1994, Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson went into Little Rock to make this documentary for HBO. The fact they picked Little Rock meant nothing really. They just wanted to show that gangs are not just in big cities. They are not in certain parts of America either. They are everywhere, including small Southern towns like Little Rock. In this first documentary, we mainly follow the county coroner, Steve Nawojczyk, around Little Rock. He got exclusive access to all of the major gangs in Little Rock. There were 50 gangs in Little Rock at this time. That included the “Bloods” (wearing red) and “Crips” (wearing blue) from Los Angeles, and the “Folk” from Chicago.

We learn about the inner workings of these gangs and see what they are all about. Besides that, we also learn that gangs have no racial barriers. It’s not just Black and Latino kids getting involved in gangs. There are White gangs as well. In fact, we take a look at one in Little Rock. It’s mostly all white and they don’t act any different than other gangs we saw. We see how certain members of the gangs got involved in gangs, a day in their lives, and the love they show for each other. Gangs are a family, whether you think so or not.

Ten years later, Marc and Daphne went back to Little Rock. This is second disc in this set. It’s 2004 and this HBO Documentary mainly follows a gang member from the first documentary. Leifel Jackson a.k.a. “O.G.” went to prison at the end of the first documentary. He is now out and ready to change his life and the lives of others. He started an after-school program called “Our Club”. He takes us around Little Rock as we revisit some of the same places and see what has happened to some gang members from the first documentary.

You might expect that things have changed and everyone has grown up and gotten out of gangs. You might believe that everyone found “God” and changed their lives for the better. That is somewhat true, but really what you see here is just a new generation of gang members. We see that most of the gang members from the first film have gotten out of the gang life. Not all of them, but most of them. A large percentage of them have died in 10 years.

Despite Leifel’s efforts, he can’t keep some kids away from gangs. He feels that we have nothing to give kids in place of gangs so there is not a whole lot he can do. He can change a few lives for now, but once things don’t improve for these kids, they will fall back into the life of crime. Why? Crime pays.

While there is a war that America is involved with in other countries, the war on gangs is often ignored in this country. Gangs still exist and they probably always will. Police think they have a handle on it, but they don’t realize how deep the roots of these gangs go. The main lesson here is that you can leave Little Rock, and other gang-infested towns, but you can never leave them behind. Even if you stop “gang-banging”, you will always be associated with being in a gang. It follows you everywhere you go. It’s “for-life” whether you like it or not. “The whole world is going to end in one big gang war” is the quote that starts off this set and the scary thing is that it’s probably going to be true, in some form.

Score: 9.5/10

The Video:

The video is given in fullscreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Transfer is decent with minimal distortion. This is a great documentary and the video is one of the best things about it. The footage is real, but it’s quality as it comes from HBO. They know how to film documentaries.

The Audio:

The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo or in Spanish. The audio is in your face. This is for mature audiences only as you deal with gangs and their language, which include a lot of profanity. You might be afraid that you don’t know what the gangs are talking about, but lucky for us every word is defined on the screen.

The Extras:

Audio Commentary –
This is with producer/director, Marc Levin, and producer, Daphne Pinkerson. This provides a lot of information and answers a lot of questions that you may have had while watching these documentaries. You have to watch this, if you want to know more about these documentaries.

“One Decade Later”
We get interviews with Kool-Aid, Taz, and Misty ten years later. We learn that some have not changed. Some have changed their lives for the better, but they will always be considered a gang member. They are “out” of the gang, but they won’t be completely “out” until they die. Interesting to see. By the way, Misty is the KK’s ex-wife. She said that KK hasn’t changed at all.

“Notes from the Coroner”
An interview with Steve Nawojczyk, the former county coroner. He retired soon after the making of the first documentary, because he was tired of seeing young kids dying.

Russell Simmons Interview –
An interview with Hip-Hop producer, Russell Simmons. He tells you how the culture of hip-hop is related gangs and his comments on the documentaries as well.

Score: 6/10

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Gang Wars
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE SHOW

9.5
THE EXTRAS

6
REPLAY VALUE

10
OVERALL
8.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!