Ebert gave the film three and a half stars.
Ebert quoted Truffaut that an anti-war movie is nearly impossible because war scenes excite the audience, said an anti-drug movie is similarly hard because the dealers' lifestyle and money look like fun until they are killed, and said this movie pulls it off.
Ebert added that Nino, who laughs at the dead body of Scarface, does not get the last laugh.

Casting What-Ifs

Martin Lawrence as Pookie; Oran "Juice" Jones as G Money; Tupac Shakur as G Money; Vivica A. Fox; Michael Wright; Vanessa Williams

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 00:54:46Read transcript

The best what-if was already mentioned: Martin Lawrence was cast as Pookie and had the job; one view says he would have been better than Chris Rock.
According to writer Cooper, Martin Lawrence opted out after his mentor Robin Harris died, and Chris Rock was the backup.
A garbled passage concerns someone turning down Ice T's part; Michael Wright is named and would have killed the part, reuniting later for Sugar Hill.
Vibica A. Fox (transcribed form) auditioned for Selina and Keisha but did a 90210 episode that year instead; she would have been great as Keisha, as Set It Off showed.
The Vanessa Williams married to Rick Fox would have been a great girlfriend for Nino.
Allen Payne was a replacement: Orange Juice Jones was cast as G Money, filmed scenes and was fired, per research; his "Walking in the Rain" is called very 80s.
Tupac Shakur auditioned for G Money but was judged too young-looking to have grown up with Snipes.
Tupac could be both aggressive and vulnerable, as Birdie in Above the Rim; it would have been interesting, though Allen Payne was perfect.
A case that Tupac should have been cast, rewritten as the best friend's younger brother, and would have been better.

Recasting Couch

Tom Sizemore as the Italian mobster

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:08:56Read transcript

Better than Ice T may have been possible, but the easy recast is Tom Seismore (transcribed form) as the Italian mobster with the ponytail, a part that needed a real actor.
Eddie Murphy as Nino is floated because the project began at Paramount as the Nikki Barnes story with Murphy attached; rejected as too beloved to flip to villain, like John Cena or the Rock.
Denzel as Nino is a maybe; he could have pulled it off but is too good and regal, while Snipes fit better.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Botched sequel; Nino Brown name origin; Chris Rock crack-pocket anecdote; Sundance premiere; comic-book visual design

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:09:27Read transcript

Ice T said the sequel was botched by his Cop Killer trouble and by Snipes getting $7 million for Demolition Man.
In the sequel idea Nino survived the shooting, which is doubted, though one participant says he would have been there opening weekend.
Simon Phoenix from Demolition Man is called one of the great movie villains.
The name Nino Brown came from Nino Gabriel, a storefront on Third Avenue where Harlem gangsters bought shoes, per Barry Michael Cooper.
According to Chris Rock on Inside the Actor's Studio in 1994, dealers put crack and cocaine in his pockets for three years afterward, joking they thought it was a documentary.
The film premiered at Sundance in January in only the festival's second year, after Sex Lise and Videotape (transcribed form).
According to Cooper, they intentionally used a comic-book look, making Nino's mansion like Dracula's lair to suggest he was sucking the blood out of the neighborhood.
A question whether Snipes played a vampire in Blade sparks a mock rebuke about asking "King nerd Van Lathan".

Picking Nits

Six-month Pookie rescue; Ice-T undercover; belt camera; withdrawal stunt double; Selina's attraction to Nino; wedding-hit survival; the cop's apartment

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:22:14Read transcript

Would a cop really spend six months, day after day, saving Pookie?
Defense: Scotty is like a cop version of Batman, driven by trauma to obsess over crime and help the kid he shot; consistent with the character if not realistic.
Ice T going undercover is implausible because he is too recognizable, and meeting cops in broad daylight near the Carter before a deal with Nino is a stretch.
Pookie's belt camera produces impossibly good video for 1991; countered that James Bond and Q gadgets get a pass.
Pookie appears to have a stunt double in the withdrawal scene.
Why Selina likes a man who treats her terribly is questioned, answered by Nino's charisma.
Nino survives the wedding hit despite machine guns 15 feet away, while the motorbike drive-by goes 10 for 10; great aim throughout, and a tough movie for Italians.
How does Ice T's character afford a Gordon Gecko-style high-ceiling apartment on a cop salary, around $10,000 a month?

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The Wire's debt to the film; Pookie versus Bubbles; more Ice-T and Judd Nelson movies

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:28:21Read transcript

The Wire's creators were shaped more by their police and newspaper careers than by any movie, but both works draw on the same reality of crews controlling project buildings, like Avon and Stringer. — Van Lathan
The Wire came only 12 years after this movie but feels 20.
Pookie versus Bubbles as the pop-culture crack addict you are most attached to; Erica Christensen in Traffic is added after a mix-up with Amanda Seafreed (transcribed form), and Bubbles had seasons of screen time, so the comparison is unfair.
Why were there no more Ice T and Judd Nelson movies? A spin-off could have escalated the stakes the way the Crocodile sequel did, and a Narcos season is still possible.