The Notorious B.I.G., né Christopher Wallace in 1972, is no
doubt on every hip-hop fan’s short list of the greatest rappers of all time.
B.I.G. was respected and revered by his peers in the game; everyone from Jay Z and
Tupac Shakur to Sean “Puffy” Combs became captivated by the Brooklyn
big guy’s velvety flow and unparalleled rhyme style. He left behind a legacy
that reached mythic status.

Biggie and Tupac,
but director Peter Spirer’s superlative Notorious
B.I.G.: Bigger than Life gives a new and different perspective, celebrating
the rap superstar’s life and investigating the East Coast/West Coast beef that
fed into his death without getting bogged down in specific conspiracy theory.

Narrated by Big Daddy Kane, Bigger than Life opens in novel fashion, with a series of answering
machine messages introducing the rapper in tangential fashion, and conveying
the immense love and respect out there for him in the industry. The rest of the
film is powered by interviews with not only rap heavyweights like Method Man,
Common, P-Diddy, Matteo “Matty C” Capoluongo, E-40, Raekwon and many more, but
also plenty of childhood friends, and academicians like USC cinema professor
Todd Boyd and author Cheo Hodari Coker. The firsthand accounts of Biggie’s
youth from his closest friends are fascinating, and Method Man spins some
interesting stories about Biggie’s personality and their collaboration on “The
What.”

Spirer (Tupac Shakur:
Thug Angel) knows his stuff, and gets great material from his interview
subjects, especially Ready to Die
producer Easy Mo Bee and “Unsigned Hype” Source
columnist Capoluongo — seminal figures within the industry that aren’t your
obvious, top-level, go-to interview “gets.” Additional feathers in the title’s
cap include rare home video footage, a never-before-seen interview done with
Biggie shortly before his death and
undisclosed home video footage from the night of his murder outside the Petersen
Automotive Museum
in Los Angeles. In fact, it’s here
that Bigger than Life shines. Without
direct implications, the film paints a gripping, sad portrait of how Shakur’s
paranoia over his first, non-lethal shooting fed unfounded rumors about Biggie’s
involvement, and in turn how Puff Daddy made several miscalculations (including
releasing the single “Who Shot Ya” so close after Shakur’s shooting) that would
create or at least engender the sort of toxic environment preceding Biggie’s
own murder. While somewhat hamstrung by a lack of music rights licenses (when
you’re hearing about the crafting of a track like “Juicy,” well… you want to hear it), Bigger than Life is still a fantastic look at a rap superstar taken too
soon.

The film comes housed in a stylish, gatefold case which
slides into a thin, clear, plasticine slipcase, saving a bit of shelf space and
making for an attractive, tightly packaged title. Bigger than Life is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, with
solid Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound and Dolby 2.0 stereo audio tracks. DVD
bonus features include a seven-minute, music-set photo gallery montage and nine
minutes of classic Bedford Stuyvesant street
jam footage. The latter is definitely a kick, just to see a young Wallace
enjoying life and rocking the mic with his pals. To purchase the title via Amazon, click here.
A- (Movie) B (Disc)