"Biggie & Tupac" Comes to DVD, Nick Broomfield Takes Fan Questions

At the 2002 Sundance Festival, it was one of the most discussed films, and a good year later Biggie & Tupac arrived on video store shelves. According to AllHipHop, April 29, 2003, was set as the release date for the DVD. For the same evening, Nick Broomfield announced a Q&A session at the Virgin Megastore on Union Square in New York, beginning at 18:00. After completing the film, the director had continued researching the unsolved deaths of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. and, according to AllHipHop, remained in contact with several of his interviewees. Those featured in the film include former LAPD investigator Russell Poole, Suge Knight, and Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace. The making of the film is described in the report from November 2002.

What the disc offers in addition

The film portal Film Freak Central reviewed the DVD from the Razor & Tie label as early as mid-April. In addition to the 107-minute film, it contains a full-length commentary by Broomfield and a 14-minute interview in which he discusses how he protected himself during filming. Added to this are fifteen deleted scenes in four groups, such as “L.A. Gang Story” and “Failed Interviews”, meaning conversations that did not materialize. Short profiles introduce participants such as Kevin Hackie, Billy Garland, and Mopreme. Reviewer Bill Chambers found the picture and sound unremarkable, but praised the bonus material as strong, particularly the commentary and discarded scenes.