The Final Comedown

"The Final Comedown" wants to "say something" about racism and inner-city violence; unfortunately, the message is invalidated by the nonsensical script, the amateurish production, and the heavy-handed polemics. How heavy-handed, you ask? To give you just one example, a black doctor comes out of his hiding place, unarmed, with his hands up in the air, ready to surrender to the police: one of the (all-white) cops says "Don't shoot him, he's a doctor", to which another cop replies: "So what? He's still a n****r", and proceeds to shoot him in cold blood. The cops are portrayed as ignorant, racist killers, even though at the end there are just as many dead people among them as there are among the black people who staged the riot. And this whole event was meant somehow to "sensitize" the white folks to the demeaning treatment of the black folks, when in fact something like this can only breed more hate and violence on both sides. Pamela Jones, as Williams' girlfriend, briefly lights up the screen with her smile and body, particularly in a tender sex scene, and elevates the rating of this movie from 1 to 2 out of 10.

This is a very angry blaxploitation. The scene is a siege between an unnamed black militant group which resembles the Black Panthers and hordes of cops who are intent on killing them. From here the story flashes back regularly to fill us in on what led the central character to where he is now. The rage is very blunt and direct and it does show that not much has changed over the course of the last 49 years! This is a blaxploitation film which is very serious-minded with a political message but it also incorporates some splendid action too, with a really great extended shootout with the cops. Overall, a very good blaxploitation offering!

THE FINAL COMEDOWN is a cheap blaxploitation vehicle for actor Billy Dee Williams, later to achieve worldwide fame and recognition for his role in the STAR WARS films. His appearance here is something of a star-making turn for the actor, who burns up the screen as the black revolutionary determined to stand up to the racist white cops who are making his life a nightmare.

This is an undeniably cheap film that's plenty rough around the edges, although it's an interesting picture for sure. It avoids the usual stereotypes of sex and violence that often prop up this genre, even though both are present throughout the running time, most noticeably during a lengthy and gratuitous sex scene. Instead it provides a kind of social commentary exploring the issues of the times, and the racism inherent in 1970s society.

The grungy vibe of THE FINAL COMEDOWN gives it a realistic appearance even though it isn't particularly satisfying on a visceral or emotional level. The supporting cast is a well-judged one and I was amused to see a younger R.G. Armstrong, still looking old even at this stage of his career. This isn't the kind of film that's going to set anyone's world on fire - it's obscure for a reason - but fans of the stars or genre will find themselves intrigued by it.

This is a serious film about black revolutionaries and not really an action film. Billy Dee plays a young man fed up with racism who decides to take things into his own hands. It's fairly gritty and realistic without exploiting the characters but still it's not that interesting either and Billy Dee's character, though maltreated by white authority figures, doesn't really come off as sympathetic. It's also hurt by it's extremely low budget. Still, it's interesting to look at as it's a good depicttion of 1970s social issues.

Though labeled as a blaxploitation film, this is essentially a preachy character study about a young man from the slums, who is pressured into becoming a militant gang member, but is fatally wounded during a police shootout. The rest of the movie is mostly told in flashbacks, leading up to the showdown between the cops and the gang members. The movie is just sluggish with its pace. Because New World Pictures lost money when they picked it up for distribution, the movie was re-shot in 1976 with new footage and released under its new title Blast!, with new footage directed by Allan Arkush.