Original Gangstas

You have to wonder who this movie was aimed at, since it shows a bunch of old dudes killing young gang members, bad mouthing them and telling them to behave. (One half expects Fred "the Hammer" to strap one of the youths over his knee and dole out a spanking!) The young listen to "horrible" rap and the old listen to old soul songs. The old talk more "white" and the young are more into hood culture and talk slang. It may be valuable as an explication of generation gaps in black culture.

The film itself is a pretty silly action film that lacks the inspiration of its 70's genre film forebears. The action takes place mostly in the dark and you cant see much of whats going on. There are some big explosions that look pretty good though. The soundtrack is made up of dated new jack stylings, not as lively or memorable as "Coffy is the color of her skin" or "the Slaughter theme".

Disappointingly, Pam Grier is given second banana status and doesn't kick that much ass, or sexily vamp it up like she did in her 70s classics. She is a dutiful member of the family/crew.

The movie explores issues of race, class, urban decay and gang violence in a ham-fisted, unconvincing way. Worth seeing for the blaxploitation completists out there, but not a priority for anyone with a passing interest in the genre.

The DVD has a disappointing non-anamorphic transfer.