Black Dynamite (2009)

Black Dynamite is the greatest African-American action star of the 1970s. When his only brother is killed by The Man, it's up to him to find justice.

Director:

Scott Sanders

Writers:

Michael Jai White (screenplay), Byron Minns (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Jai White, Arsenio Hall, Tommy Davidson

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phyllis Applegate	...	Aunt Billy
Obba Babatundé	...	Osiris (as Obba Babatunde)
William Bassett	...	Captain Yancy
Troy Lindsey Brown	...	Kid #1
Fredella Calloway	...	Waitress
Cheryl Carter	...	Black Dynamite's Mother
Juka Ceesay	...	Valet Girl (as Juka Cesay)
Kevin Chapman	...	O'Leary
Tommy Davidson	...	Cream Corn
Lucky Davis	...	Paperboy
Nicholas Earley	...	Neighborhood Kid
Richard Edson	...	Dino
Jason Jack Edwards	...	Soul Brother (as Jason Jack Edwards)
Jon Kent Ethridge	...	12 year old Black Dynamite
Mary Evans	...	Woman at table

Storyline

This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House..

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Plot Keywords:

outnumbered | man in curlers | license to kill | mob execution | vengeance | 

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Taglines:

He's a powder keg of black fury that's about to explode!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language, some violence and drug content

Details

Official Sites:

film website for promotion Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Black Dynamite - yhden miehen armeija

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$131,862, 18 October 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$228,477, 25 October 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Destination Films, Ars Nova, Goliath Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Phil Morris and Nicole Sullivan provided voices in the animated series The Secret Saturdays (2008).

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Goofs

The area code for Topeka, Kansas didn't become 785 until 1996.

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Quotes

Fiendish Dr. Wu: You should try the Wu family Red Silk kung fu.
[Fiendish Dr. Wu shows off his moves. Black Dynamite responds by showing off moves of his own]
Black Dynamite: Black Dynamite Panther Fist!

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Alternate Versions

The international version of the film contains six minutes of additional footage, consisting of extra dialogue in some scenes and extended fight sequences. In the scene where Black Dynamite and Cream Corn take a helicopter and leave Kung Fu Island, they use it to destroy Fiendish Dr. Wu's complex before heading off to the White House.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cleveland Show: The Men in Me (2012)

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Soundtracks

High Diver
(uncredited)
Music by Brian Bennett and Alan Hawkshaw

User Reviews

Rocky Horror, Look Out

I had the great good pleasure of experiencing the full force of Black Dynamite at a midnight showing (at the Castro...one of The Last Great Movie Palaces). I had high expectations going in (based on the YouTube trailer). They were met, exceeded, and blown the F away. I don't remember betting a gut busted so hard in ages.

BD is an absolutely perfect movie. It somehow manages to be a parody and the thing that it is parodying at the same time. You are watching this alternate universe (a fantasy of the 70s, filtered through the lens of Blaxploitation) and the characters are REAL and they believe in the fantasy. But you are also constantly reminded that you are watching a FILM, an intentionally bad one at that. All the things professional filmmakers try to avoid, they do on purpose: Boom mike hitting actor's head, obvious continuity errors, reusing the same shot to save money (exploding car flying off cliff), replacing a stunt actor in mid-sequence... The effect is delightful and hilarious.

Kudos to the crew and actors for really "getting it" and going for it. (I think the only movie I've seen recently where the actors were having so much fun was Tropic Thunder.)

Oh, and the soundtrack; Man, I need to get me some of dat.