Original Gangstas (1996)

If you love those 70's blaxploitation films, then you gotta love "Original Gangstas," a silly, badly made, street film from the 90's made enjoyable by the plethora of stars within it's frames. No less than 5 major black stars of the 70's appear in the film, with a few other familiar faces thrown in for good measure. The result is a film that is as much fun to watch as it is to laugh at.

Fred Williamson ("Black Caesar") plays the main character here. His father has been gunned down in his store by a bunch of young thugs. These same gangstas have also offed the son of Pam Grier ("Foxy Brown"). We later learn that the boy's father is Jim Brown ("Slaughter"). Both Brown and Williamson have left their hometown of Gary, Indiana (presented here in the opening voice-over narration as a post-industrial wasteland) to move on to fame. Grier has stayed behind to run a beauty parlor next to Williamson's family grocery store. The group, who were once part of a gang as teens in the 70's, get back together to take on these bad guys of the 90's - but first, some other familiar faces have to be called in.

Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") and Ron O'Neal ("Superfly") both make small appearances here so that they can come in for the confrontational finale. What would the film be without these two 70's icons? Also along for the ride are Isabel Sanford (TV's Weezy Jefferson) and Paul Winfield. Sanford plays Williamson's mom and she gets to deliver a wonderful diatribe against the teen gang in the film's mid-section. Winfield, meanwhile, has the difficult task of portraying a religious leader playing both ends against the middle, the gangs against the law-abiding citizenry - in order to fund his homeless shelter. Good thing this film is just for fun or the inadequacies of the script would kill it! Meanwhile, Wings Hauser plays one of the few Caucasian faces in the piece as a mouthpiece for the town's mayor. He's as bad as he ever was and fits in nicely with this film.

As for the teen gang, they seem to be a bunch of unknowns. The film is stolen, instead, by young Shyheim Franklin as "Dink," a young street urchin who also tries to play both ends against the middle. His open conversation with Williamson midway through the film is almost the most affecting moment in the piece. When we see his demise, late in the film, it is a sad slap of harsh reality. It has to come. The thugs mummify his body in trash bags using duct tape and Williamson, like a lone soldier, carries him off into the burning cityscape. It's actually quite a nice little moment in the film.

Scripter Aubrey Rattan and Director Larry Cohen don't do themselves any favors here. Neither does Williamson in his role as Executive Producer. The film could be a lot more campy and could also have been a lot more of an homage to those wonderful 70's film. Still, the actors in the piece seem to enjoy being in front of the camera again and we sure enjoy seeing them. Grier is as affecting as ever and she joins the males in kicking all the butt in sight during the film's climax. Sure, it takes the film a while to build to this final showdown, but who cares. Watching all these former stars back on the big screen is too much fun! "Original Gangstas" may be for fans of the genre only - but those fans have a real gem here!

Note:

Director of Photography is Carlos Gonzales.

The Chi-Lites have a cameo.

Filmed on location in Gary and East Chicago, Indiana.

Review written in 1996

Report Card

Script: C+

Acting: B+

Cinematography\Lighting: C

Special Effects\Make Up: B+

Music: A+

Final Grade: B-