In this hoped for "revival" of the Blaxploitation genre, you have the superstars of Black '70s cinema: Jim Brown (always with the biggest gun with the longest barrel), Jim Kelly (who I always thought was a posturing joke), Richard Roundtree (still looking good post-Shaft), and Fred "Da Hammer" Williamson (so cool, he has ice dripping down his back!).
Only Roundtree has kept his actor's dignity of the four. Fred still cranks out his Po Boy Productions straight to video flicks, but I will say he still does well in Europe. These low budget films actually are profitable there. I'll give him that. Brown has had his own share of woes in the press in recent years and just walks through this one. Jim Kelly has to be thee WORST actor of the group. GI Joe (with the Kung-Fu grip) could whoop him easily. (In one scene, his woman is getting gang-banged, and he's getting his KF stance on against one bad guy). And Roundtree didn't embarass himself, and has at least has maintained a long list of character roles, most notably the "Shaft" update with Samual L. Jackson in 2000.
This is one turd of a movie, lovingly directed by Williamson. Bland direction, hokey lines, low budget hoettas, you name it. Yet it's considered a cult favorite, by whom I don't know. I'll skip the plot. It's so banal it doesn't bear repeating. On the level of a Cynthia Rothrock film. But the best scene is at the end when Fred "Hammer" sticks one of his trademark cigars into a pooch's mouth.
So there you have it. Gets a 2 out of 5 from me.
And most of the soundtrack was "moonlighted" by Jazz Fusion keyboardist Rodney Franklin, but credited to others.
Only Roundtree has kept his actor's dignity of the four. Fred still cranks out his Po Boy Productions straight to video flicks, but I will say he still does well in Europe. These low budget films actually are profitable there. I'll give him that. Brown has had his own share of woes in the press in recent years and just walks through this one. Jim Kelly has to be thee WORST actor of the group. GI Joe (with the Kung-Fu grip) could whoop him easily. (In one scene, his woman is getting gang-banged, and he's getting his KF stance on against one bad guy). And Roundtree didn't embarass himself, and has at least has maintained a long list of character roles, most notably the "Shaft" update with Samual L. Jackson in 2000.
This is one turd of a movie, lovingly directed by Williamson. Bland direction, hokey lines, low budget hoettas, you name it. Yet it's considered a cult favorite, by whom I don't know. I'll skip the plot. It's so banal it doesn't bear repeating. On the level of a Cynthia Rothrock film. But the best scene is at the end when Fred "Hammer" sticks one of his trademark cigars into a pooch's mouth.
So there you have it. Gets a 2 out of 5 from me.
And most of the soundtrack was "moonlighted" by Jazz Fusion keyboardist Rodney Franklin, but credited to others.