Color of Justice VHS

"Color of Justice" is a 1997 Showtime television film, courtroom drama format, arriving on VHS at the tail end of the format's commercial peak. Gregory Hines and Judd Hirsch lead the cast in a racially charged murder trial narrative. The tape in front of us is still shrink-wrapped, which is the best-case condition state for any made-for-cable title from this period.

Showtime original films from the mid-to-late 1990s occupy an interesting shelf. They were not theatrical releases competing for box office, and they were not network procedurals either. They existed in a middle zone where cable prestige was just beginning to assert itself as a real destination for serious dramatic material. By 1997, Showtime and HBO were both producing original films that dealt directly with race, law, and institutional power in ways that broadcast networks were still hedging around. "Color of Justice" fit that wave. Hines was a credible dramatic presence by this point, having moved well past his tap-dance-star phase into character work in film and television. Hirsch brought the courtroom-veteran weight. The tagline "It isn't just Black and White" is printed directly on the sleeve, which tells you everything about how Showtime was positioning this one. Made-for-cable VHS releases from this period had smaller pressings than theatrical home video titles, and they did not get the same retail floor space. Clean copies with intact shrink wrap surface with much less frequency than their studio counterparts.

This copy retains the original shrink wrap with no visible tears or punctures from what we can observe on the exterior. The sleeve shows the cast in a confrontational, red-tinted composition that reads as intentional design for the subject matter, not generic packaging. The tape shell inside should be Showtime-branded or a major duplicator label. Run your finger along the shrink seam at the short edge of the sleeve before you store it, because that edge is where most brittle shrink begins to split on tapes that have been shelved for decades.

OWNER VERIFY: Confirm the 1997 Showtime copyright credit on the spine or cassette label against any variant release or reissue date.