BobJenkinsPhD From the swaggy gentlemen at Po' Boy Productions, comes "Original Gangstas", a film that is as engrossing as it is hilarious. This painfully average film almost manages to keep the viewers glued to their seats for decent portions of the movie.Fred "The Hammer" Williamson headlines what could be described as a surprisingly good cast, at least in terms of blaxploitation standards. At the ripe age of 58, Fred has shown no signs of slowing down, and I was extremely impressed at the old man's youthfulness and his flair for kicking ass. Fred is joined by industry mediumweights Pam Grier, Jim Brown, & Richard Roundtree.The movie takes place in the Hammer's hometown of Gary, Indiana. When a bunch of young, ignorant pranksters initiate a crime wave within the city, the Hammer decides to take matters into his own hands. The storyline is pretty solid, and the veteran actors turn in decent performances.On the other hand, the younger guys in this movie didn't seem to know how to act at all. They weren't very believable, and "Dru Down" deserves a special mention, as he may be one of the worst actors I've ever seen. This ignoramus couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. A department store mannequin would have sufficed. With that said, the dialogue is above average. This film is full of great one-liners you can playfully recite with your friends while conversing at Chuck-E-Cheese. The action scenes were rough but entertaining. There is a scene where the Hammer round-house kicks a guy to the face, which causes the victim to conveniently land on a randomly placed mattress.At times, this movie comes off like it was produced by some Mickey Mouse operation based out of the Cayman Islands. We're not dealing with a cinematic masterpiece here, folks. Nevertheless, this film will suffice for a day in order to cure boredom. However, if you're a fan of the Hammer, or blaxploitation films, or hilarious fight scenes, then you'll enjoy this movie.

utgard14 Somewhat disappointing homage to 70's blaxploitation films. Has a lot going for it with a cast full of great actors from that genre and a director who did some solid work there too. But ultimately it doesn't work well. Despite the violence and language, it's nowhere near as gritty, tough, and sexy as those 70's films. Also, and this sounds like a cheap shot, the fight scenes are comically bad. One could argue that perhaps this was an intentional part of the film paying tribute to the likes of Rudy Ray Moore but that would be a huge stretch. The fights don't appear to be choreographed so the actors just move each other around and throw professional wrestling punches instead. Still, the cast and director are worth recommending you check it out.

wackadoo 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.

ReelCheese I found the concept of this film irresistible. Who wouldn't want to see Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Pam Grier -- they of '70s blaxploitation action fame -- back kickin' some butt again. Unfortunately, ORIGINAL GANGSTAS doesn't live up expectations. The plot sees cigar-chompin' Williamson returning home after his elderly father is nearly killed by thugs for giving police information on a deadly drive-by. Freddy soon teams up with Brown and Grier for some vigilante justice that comes far too little, too late for the viewer. After a reasonably strong start, the film unravels in a myriad of awful dialog, uninteresting subplots and a lack of action. If you're looking for a better film about an aging vigilante, try the later DEATH WISH entries.