Baadasssss!

Man this one was awesome,the movie just blew me away!As a black man and a movie buff i always knew about melvin van peebles and his great contribution, not just to ethnic filmmakers but to all entertainment as a whole.This man was 1 of the pioneer who truly changed entertainment as we know it.Filmmakers of less talent and courage get credit and attention while a man of true importance gets ignored.This was one of the most inspirational movies i have ever seen(view from the top was another)if you have a dream,i don't care what it is, this movie will make you want to push to the max to achieve it!great movie check it french

Aw, damn. We can't make fun of Mario Van Peebles anymore. Always something of a laughing stock (despite a few good contributions, like a good performance in "Ali" and directing "New Jack City"), Mario Van Peebles has made himself instantly much cooler by making this fun and suitably chaotic film, which chronicles the making of his father Melvin's landmark film "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song".

I've never seen that film, but from what I understand it's not exactly great, but was revolutionary for existing at all. It's about a black man "taking it to the man" and actually getting away with it, which was unheard of at the time.

Mario plays his own father, and "Baadasssss!" certainly doesn't candy-coat it. Melvin was essentially a good man, but could be incredibly cold and mean, and to his own family, and the film shows that. It also takes us back to the notorious scene in "Sweetback" where Melvin used his own 13 year-old son in the scene where the the titular character loses his virginity. This scene was difficult and uncomfortable for everyone involved, EXCEPT Melvin, which is telling.

The movie is swiftly paced and stylish, but I couldn't help feeling that it could be a little better. It feels a little messy and disorganized at times. Still, good stuff.

"Baadasssss!" beats out Truffaut's "Day For Night" as the greatest movie ever made about the movie business. What Mario Van Peebles does here is nothing short of extraordinary: he manages to inform the viewer about independent film-making while also incorporating an enthralling portrayal of a man obsessed by his unique version of the American dream.

Like "Adaptation", the film is a dizzying array of comedy, satire, family drama, and a little bit of Freudian psychology. Van Peebles, casting himself as his father, obviously doesn't glorify the production, but tells the story of the making of "Sweetback" in a low-key and understandable manner. He doesn't make his father a hero or a villain but rather a man pushed to his limits. The backstage antics are sometimes funny, but more often are simply incredible to believe. Van Peebles' daring use of "American Splendor"-like documentary transitions are also wonderfully effective.

It must be said that I have not seen "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" and it's hard to fathom that this film would actually be better upon after viewing it (I'm not suggesting that I won't look for the film next time I'm at the video store). Like its subject, "Baadasssss!" is a revolutionary film, and should not be limited to film buffs or fans of Mario Van Peebles; this is a movie any casual film-goer would thoroughly enjoy.

Mario Van Peebles gives us a biopic unlike any other bc unlike others he was there when his father written, acted, and directed his film 'Sweet Sweetback Badass song' and this film gives us a movie history lesson bout how that movie broke grounds cinematically. This is one of my favorite films by far bc how good Mario made this film and it is such an awesome and honest movie. This movie came out in 2003 and I'm surprised this film didn't get a Oscar nod at all. If the academy couldnt recognize this film, we are still in trouble today. If you love movies and black history, watch this film bc as a white man I'm happy to see a glimpse of a man who against all odds and traditional Hollywood, made his vision of a successful film and made history.

I had been putting off seeing this, and then was pleasantly surprised.

I didn't know much about Mario Van Peebles, nor of his father ("Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song" came out 2 years before I was born) but after seeing this homage to Mr. Van Peebles and seeing how much he risked - everything from finances to his family and his own health, for his dream of "the world" to really see life from the African American point of view, the way it really is, is well impressive to say the least.

The unimaginable struggle, the pressure and the sheer will that Mario portrays in his father is a touching tribute. Mario reveals his father's motives for making "Sweetback" in a moving and heartfelt way, documenting how Hollywood portrayed races other than white - if you are not white, then you are the white man's servant - how at that time - no one and no other film had film portrayed a Black Man as a hero or the struggles that he or any other race faces. It is a tale that is bigger than him and despite the risk and struggle, he fights to tell it. This is a fitting homage to a pioneer of a Genre and a Father.

"Baadasssss!" It also depicts the rugged world of guerrilla film-making and the rabid fight involved in making an indie film from inception to distribution. After seeing this I take a much greater heed of the Van Peebles Name, "Baadasssss!" is worthy film as a Drama in its own right, an Homage to a Pioneer and Father and as a Documenty Tribute to a Piece of Film History.