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Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 4 Reviews)

Informative, but 2 short FULL SKULL BABY!

At one point in this documentary, Fred(Hammer)Williamson makes a great point about the term "Blaxploitation". "Who was being exploited?", he asks. The black actors were getting paid and finally getting starring roles in movies and the black audiences were finally getting their own action heroes. He also points out that the term "Blaxploitation" came surprisingly not from the white media but rather from black journalists and organizations like the NAACP who accused these movies of glamorising pimps and drug dealers(which some of them did) and reinforcing negative stereotypes of the black community. There are plenty of film clips and some nice interviews but some major ommissions. Where's Ron (Superfly) O'Neal, where's Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes,Max(The Mack) Julien? Did they refuse to be interviewed? Also, the only people interviewed about the impact and influence of this genre are filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and film critic Elvis Mitchell. Where's John Singleton, the Hughes Brothers or some rappers like Ice-T? This documentary is too short(about an hour long) and just skimmed the surface of this beloved genre and left me wanting a lot more. Thank God I only rented it and didn't actually purchase it. I give it three stars because it is informative, entertaining and because at least someone actually made a documentary about these cool, funky, baaadasssss classics!

Good for what it suggested but it missed more FULL SKULL BABY!

this is the kind of Dvd I was excited about because I love the films during that time period alot.there was so much going on that isn't fully told on this disc.you need 2-3 discs to tell the whole story&even then you are bound to leave something out because there was so many other details that came into play.these Films saved Hollywood back then until the BlockBuster films like Jaws,Star wars,etc... came along.Many actors&actress's from these films didn't get a fair shot in other films.the Cosmetic 80's downplayed this era as well.but thanks to the Hip-Hop Movement these films&Creative forces got a Bigger lift than ever.so many Great Talents that haven't gotten there full due to this day.

Uneven Attempt FULL SKULL BABY!

Being a fan of the blaxploitation genre, I was excited to hear about the DVD release of BaadAssss Cinema. However, upon viewing it, I became very disappointed. First, let me start off by saying that the 56-minute running time does not justify the price being charged for this DVD. Second, this title is anything but a bold look at 70's blaxploitation films. The documentary is organized by years, which doesn't work well. It would have been more interesting and flowed better if it were organized by different styles of blaxploitation films, such as gangster films or horror films, or films featuring strong female leads. The documentary focuses almost exclusively on films starring people who were interviewed, such as Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Quentin Tarantino, and Melvin Van Peebles. A lot of time is devoted to Sweet Sweetback's BaadAsssss Song, Shaft, and Pam Grier's Foxy Brown and Coffy. There's no denying that these films played a pivotal role in the blaxploitation movement, but why isn't Dolemite included? Is it because Rudy Ray Moore wasn't interviewed? The documentary is astonishingly shortsighted. No mention is made of movies like Abby, the black rip-off of The Exorcist, or Darktown Strutters, or even the Shaft sequels for that matter. Were they left out because the filmmaker thought they were an embarrassment to the genre, or because they are too obscure for the target audience? Lastly, most people interviewed feel that the blaxploitation movement died out around 1976, so the remaining years of the 70's are left out. The only two post 1976 films featured are Original Gangstas and Jackie Brown, both made in the 90's. There is so much missing from this documentary, and the only people who will benefit from it are blaxploitation completists and people new to the genre. If you're looking for information on black cinema of the 1970's, I suggest the book "What It Is...What It Was!The Black Film Explosion of the '70s in Words and Pictures." Unlike BaadAssss Cinema, it features articles with insight and interviews that matter (ironically with many of the same people interviewed in BaadAsssss Cinema). Overall, BaadAssss Cinema fails to make the blaxploitation movement seem important.

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