Baadasssss Cinema

Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Melvin Van Peebles, Fred Williamson and critic Elvis Mitchell are among the people interviewed for this entertaining documentary that takes a look at the blaxploitation movies of the 1970's.

At just under a hour there's no question that this doesn't contain the greatest details but it at least has many of the stars that were in the movies as well as people like Tarantino who has kept the genre alive for new fans to discover. The best thing about this movie is that we get some very good discussions about race relations at the time and how these movies were fresh and original and especially in how these movies helped give black crowds a different type of hero.

The documentary covers not only the popularity of these films but also the controversy that haunted them. Both subjects are discussed in great detail and we also get some wonderful clips from various movies. There's also a great interview with Grier who of course was one of the best actresses from this era and certainly one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the screen.

A very entertaining doc that gives a good overview of a unique side of 70's cinema. It great to see some of the people who worked in this influential genre get a chance to reflect and talk. The collected critics are interesting too. Where this doc is of sort of a disservice is when it tries to explain the end of the genre.

Nobody here is really able to step back and admit that the majority of black action films from the 70's were extremely bad. Even the great ones are poorly made from a technical standpoint but have become classics due to the energy and talent of the main cast. Many of the lesser films were impossible to watch and not feel ripped off. After a sitting thru a bunch of duds, people would naturally stop supporting them. Also by 1975, the neighborhood independent movie theaters were closing and the start of the major chain cinema was beginning to take hold. This killed all independent exploitation film making eventually. No kung-fu films, women in prison films, spaghetti westerns or monster films like in the sixties and early 70's. This has to be taken into account including whatever "racist" conspiracy that squelched the black cinema of the 70's. That's my historical comment.

There was about 5 minutes too much time spent discussing the "Jackie Brown" controversy. But anything that creates more screen time for Pam Grier makes up for it.

With one exception, this film was an exceptional look at a genre of films overlooked today...the so-called 'blacksploitation' film. Using lots of clips from many of the most important movies as well as a lot of interviews, it's a very nice homage to the pictures.

The film begins, well, at the beginning. "Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song" was the first film and the experts talk about it...and completely ignore that the film was among the worst films in Hollywood history...worse than "Plan 9 From Outer Space"!! Its lack of criticism of the film is odd. Sure, it was the first, but it was also the worst and features child pornography and practically no plot.

Fortunately, after this rocky start the film does a much better job and goes from "Shaft" to "Superfly" to the films of Pam Grier and Fred Williamson among others. This is very interesting and worth your time....and is a GREAT introduction for folks who are unfamiliar with the genre and want to know where to start...as well as learning what killed these exciting films. Well worth seeing...just wish they's spent less time on "Sweet Sweetback" and perhaps had mentioned some other great films such as "Truck Turner" and "Bucktown" or, perhaps, a discussion of the horrible blacksploitation films! Still, well made and well worth seeing.

("BaadAssss Cinema" movie-quote) - "Don't jive me, you lousy, black mother-fukker!!"

For the most part - This 60-minute documentary was a pretty entertaining look back at the movie genre known as "Blaxploitation" which came into its own in the USA during the early-to-mid 1970s (and, then, like disco, it faded away into obscurity).

Believe me - It was really quite a hoot looking back at the hilarious, bad-boy/bad-girl fashion trends that prevailed amongst blacks during those turbulent days in pop culture. It was all platform shoes, big "Afro" hairdos, and skintight outfits, non-stop.

Through a continual parade of blaxploitation film clips, along with interviews from actors, film historians, and directors - The viewer gets a golden opportunity to enjoy a real slice of bad-ass cinema at its absolute baddest.

*Final note* - I think that Quentin Tarantino (and his limp-wristed hand contortions) should be christened "The Countess of Flatulence". He really should.

Even I, who have seen Melvin van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baaddasssss Song, loved every minute of this revealing documentary. Richly documented with inserts from the films that are being discussed on camera, or that merely give extra power to the narration; also, a number of newspaper clips with headers that made history, or highlighted the political change trends in the late 1970s. The number of people interviewed, and the important messages they deliver now - is a unique upraisal of their work of a quarter of a century ago. For me at least, it was also marvellous to see how Pam Grier, and Gloria Hendry, have gained weight, but are beautiful, sexy women even now. For the young generation, this documentary is also a good introduction to white/black relationships in the USA in the late 1960s - and a big incentive to discover nice, little action and nudity films of the 1970s now (unfortunately) mostly relegated to video warehouses.