Reviewer's Rating 4 out of 5
Baby Boy DVD (2001)

Director John Singleton returns to explore more tales of life in South Central LA with "Baby Boy", a companion piece to the powerful "Boyz 'n' the Hood". Those eager to gain an insight into Singleton's thoughts will find plenty on this DVD.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture Sunny smoggy LA shines in all its glory on this typically good transfer that you'd expect from Columbia TriStar.

Sound The 5.1 sound mix makes startling use of the subwoofer to turn gunshots into cannon fire, and rap tunes into room-trembling epics.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Director's Commentary John Singleton reveals "Baby Boy" as "a film close to my heart" in a commentary that concentrates on plot explanation and on discussing the work of the actors involved in this movie. Genre-wise he's not sure what he'd call this film but he wanted to get back to the LA locale he examined in "Boyz 'n' the Hood". This time though his focus was to examine the phenomenon of relatively young single mothers who have fully grown sons with little desire to grow up and be responsible for their actions. "Babies having babies", sums up Singleton.

Making of Featurette This 14-minute featurette concentrates on the plot details while also taking a look at John Singleton's previous movies "Boyz 'n' the Hood", and "Poetic Justice".

Additional Special Features Also on the DVD are 14 deleted scenes, a storyboard comparison, a blooper reel, footage shot for The Kiki and Boo talk show, two music videos, seven TV spots, and a trailer gallery.

Region: 2
Chapters: 28
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, animated menus, and multiple languages and subtitles.

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.

End Credits

Director: John Singleton

Writer: John Singleton

Stars: Tyrese Gibson, Ving Rhames, Omar Gooding, Adrienne-Joi Johnson, Snoop Dogg, Taraji P Henson

Genre: Drama

Length: 129 minutes

Cinema: 23 November 2001

DVD: 5 August 2002

Country: USA