Belly (1998)

I find this movie great because I like the performances of Nas, DMX, Taral Hicks, Method Man, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and I like how Hype Williams directed this film, it's so urban-like and realistic as possible. I watched this film thinking I feel sorry for these guys in the film that it makes you want to understand about the difficult times they have been through. I never took hip-hop and realistic urban views seriously until I watched this film, now I understand why it's a struggle on the streets instead of urban fairy tales for profit.

Fmovies: when I read the reviews,I thought that maybe I should'nt see the movie,but I was desperate to rent it since DMX was in it.When I finished watching the movie,I thought that the people were full of crap.This movie was a great example of real life and it had a very good and touching ending.10/10

I've seen questions as to why 'ox' has so much dialogue; why not? If one looks at this films as some sort of nouveau-blaxploitation, as an affirmation of `blackness' and a new assertion of black art, then it is sensible to have a `black' drug lord who is Jamaican. Think `Scarface' for black folk. This guy is living the American dream, he comes from the Caribbean and ascends to power, and he did it by doing what the other characters are trying to do, just like Al Pacino's did.

`The character Nas portrays is supposed to have a sort of pseudo-street urbane sensibility. his character is a mere rehash of about a thousand other characters in gangster movies that wish for a better life.' Exactly, only this time the lamentation is by a gangster w/ black skin. He wants to do the right thing, or at least wants it all to turn out as best it can. In that way he's human. Hm, a film that portrays a black gangster as human, that IS a stretch, and maybe ultimately what leads critics to be so hard on this movie.

There are also charges that this movie is poorly acted. I'm not sure that it's any worse than say, `Reservoir Dogs', a movie I love, but really wouldn't be considered as good as it is if it weren't Tarantino's. I think in that way `Belly' is similar to `RD': they were both made with tremendous vision, and the directors/writers didn't seem like they could trust their `vision' (good or bad) to other people to make. There are other actors that could've played the characters in `Belly', but there are lots of factors involved in casting, and I'm sure that having these hip-hop starts was as much marketing as it was about the `art'. Besides, most of us on here cannot say what a `real' gangster acts like. It's my guess that besides what they do for a living, inside they're humans like we are.

The comment that I always use when discussing this movie is that if it had been written/directed by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, starred Leonardo DiCaprio (if not Damon and Affleck),and had been set in SoCal or New England, it would've won awards, but it was made by Hip-Hop artists with their OWN vision, so it languishes to lame critics that don't realize that the pain in their `Belly' is not from watching this film, but is a result of their lack of desire to change prescriptions for their near-sightedness.

Belly fmovies. I WARN YOU THAT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT SPOIL THE MOVIE SO IF YOUR GONNA WATCH THIS MOVIE, DONT READ THIS REVIEW FIRST i look on this website and see that you people dont appreciate a good movie when you see one. Belly makes more sense everytime i see it. everytime im in a bad mood i watch Belly and dont care about a thing in the world. i heard they're making a Belly 2 and if this is the case then i would be the first to go see it. the way they use everything in this movie wants me to watch it over and over again so i can understand the movie better. everything in this movie is great. very stylish, heart touching moments, and that memorable part where DMX is sooo drunk and high he just sits there that part is awesome. not to mention an awesome soundtrack and a movie that really does make sense if you know what your looking at...you guys just listen to critic assholes that assume a movies bad just cause it has rappers in it. Props to DMX and Nas for great acting and Hype Williams or anyone who can contact the authorities about this..if you see this message, please tell them: MAKE A BELLY 2, MAKE SURE OF A GOOD PLOT IN WHICH SOMEHOW THEY GET NAS OUT OF AFRICA AND BACK INTO THE STATES BY CUTTING A DEAL THAT WILL GET TOMMY OUTTA JAIL (HE DIDNT KILL THE MINISTER) PLEASE IF YOU GET THIS MESSAGE, MAKE A BELLY 2. PLEASE EVERYONE IN MY TOWN POP. 66,000 WILL WATCH THIS. PLEASE MAKE BELLY 2!! 5 OUT OF 5!

Many will say that this film is "Too much like a music video" and in many regards it is. However this movie has many strong points, mainly it's beautiful visuals, the heart-pumping soundtrack, and it's overall lasting power. Visually this movie is amazing, the deep colors and reflective surfaces give it a fairy tale appearance. Although this style has been done since (i.e;Traffic), in Belly it works well.

This visual presentation does not carry the whole movie though. The story line is decent (Think Scarface, or Blow) it is nothing that has not been done before. Although with belly you don't have any remorse for the main character as you do with tony montanya.

This film is great on a big plasma TV with surround sound. on a tiny TV with built in speakers...it is lame.

First off this is one of those movie where you either hate it or love it. I loved the movie. I found it to be one of the better urban movies to come out in the 90's not better then boyz n da hood or menace II society. But It was the best one that centered around life in New York's crime underworld. I also think it's DMX's best movie so far. The movie is stylishly filmed by Director Hype WIlliams and the characters are extremely realistic. The dialog is also realistic. The movie might fall short when it comes to how the plot is set up and the overall development of the characters. That is not to say that the movie doesn't have an overall significant meaning because it does. It addresses some of the problems that face inner city youth today. Most people that don't like this movie fail to realize this fact. The minister character in the movie is not important but rather what he is saying is. With that said I feel that the movie takes bold steps to show how certain ways of life are wrong and why they should be changed. The movie is also not your typical crime/drug movie however it does have some of those moments that could have been rethought to be a bit more interesting. With all that said I recommend the movie to be at least watched once because if nothing else the movie does have a great soundtrack and decent plot.