Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered and Shafted (2004)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Jim Brown, Rudy Ray Moore, Jim Kelly, Larry Cohen, Jamaa Fanaka, Robert Hooks, William Marshall, Ron O'Neal, Rosanne Katon and Fred Williamson are just a few of the black actors who are in this documentary that covers the blaxploitation movies of the 70s.
This is very much a political documentary that takes a serious look at the subject and gives us various view points on the highs and lows of the genre. One of the biggest debates is the term "blaxploitation" and who exactly was being exploited. This discussion was quite interesting to say the least and it's fascinating getting to hear some history on the genre, the controversy it caused and how it pretty much ended as quit as it began.
What makes this documentary so good is that we've got so many of the people who were actually involved with them. We also get interviews from current black filmmakers who discuss these films but there's no question that the highlight is getting to hear from those who actually made them. They discuss stuff like budgets, the type of money they were making and we also hear about various controversies. There's also some great discussions on what didn't happen after the genre ended. This includes how more serious pictures never came from any of the money that was made during the blaxploitation era.
If you're a fan of the genre or are just starting to be curious about it, this documentary does a very good job at many hot topic subjects aimed at it.
