'King of New York' (Special Edition)

King of New York (Special Edition)

"Frank White push the sticks on the Lexus, LX, four and a half. Bulletproof glass tints if I want some ass."– "Hypnotize," Notorious BIG

It ain't hard to tell the effect King of New York has on viewers, as it took the Tony Montana mythos into the Nineties and foreshadowed the crack grit and cocaine sheen of performers like Nas, Biggie, and other east coast bad boys. Out of the penitentiary and into the penthouse, Frank White (Christopher Walken) wastes no time reclaiming NYC's dope game. A man of conflicting principles, he also strives to create a hospital to give back to the boroughs that produced his loyal soldiers, but the guys that put him away have different plans.

Despite the weary setup, as directed by Abel Ferrara, things get spectacularly ugly. In King, Ferrara's nihilistic sensibilities and Catholic iconography are enhanced, shall we say, by late-Eighties excesses: namely, Uzi-wielding female assassins and oil drums of coke. With his first real budget came name talent and new blood (Wesley Snipes and Steve Buscemi). Young "Larry" Fishburne demolishes his role; clad in dookie-gold links, bowler hat, and bomber jacket, he's ferociously confident as Jimmy Jump, White's bad lieutenant.

But apparently, it ain't all good: Over a painfully hilarious commentary, Ferrara veers between cock-waving braggadocio and incessant shit-talking. When not directing our attention to shots of NYC skylines or pantied-asses ("Oh mommy"), he constantly rails at how phony the film feels. As the credits roll, with Ferrara channeling what could be generously described as Eazy-E Unplugged, you can practically hear the historian hired by Lions Gate to keep Ferrara on track bolt for the door. As we see on an accompanying documentary, the guy can be a little demanding.

"This is fetishistic filmmaking," he mutters at one point. BIG said it better: "That Brooklyn bullshit, we on it."