Good concept, poorly executed.

As Good As It Gets

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I will consider it a blood sequel to Black Caesar and Hell Up In Harlem always been a big fan of Larry Cohen the stuff wicked stepmother the ambulance Q Bone and the private files of J. Edgar hoover but having an ensemble cast from 70s blaxploitation films makes this film brilliant

On the surface Original GANGSTAS insinuates it's going to be a tough , gritty vigilante thriller set in the ghetto with a bunch of law abiding citizens taking on some nasty gang bangers . At it's most vague and basic this is exactly what it is . But remember one thing - the cast list . Who's appearing . We've got Richard Roundtree , Jim Brown , Ron O' Neal , Pam Grier and Fred Williamson basically every mainstay from the blaxploitation movies from the 1970s . And this is how the movie plays out . In effect you're watching a sequel to all these funky movies from the 1970s , produced for white people for black people . Even the title of the movie has undertones of a follow up to these 70s movies The problem is that by the 1990s had come along Tarantino was the pin up boy of American cinema . We were now in the era of post modernism - some might claim post , post modernism - and watching OG you're struck by the lack of self referential concepts behind the proceedings . It also goes against the grain of other movies such as MENACE 2 SOCIETY in that there's a lack of anti-gangsta subtext and any social commentary is loosely touched upon and shallow . In effect it's straight forward vigilante wish fulfillment while being enjoyable to a degree certainly belongs in another era

John Bookman (Fred Williamson) returns to his home town which is now over run by gangs. His father is attacked and John wants to clean up the city. He enlists two old friends to help--Laurie (Pam Grier) and Jake (Jim Brown). But the gang leader is a borderline psycho and won't let go of the city. Bookman realizes they're going to have to fight to win.This was just made to get some of the best stars from the 1970s blaxploitation films together to kick a** like they did back then! Aside from Williamson, Grier and Brown we also get Ron O'Neal and Richard Roundtree popping up in small roles. And it's always good to see Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford and Robert Forster (before his big comeback in 1997's "Jackie Brown"--with Grier). The basic plot is OK but there are some serious mistakes made. As the movie goes on the plot gets increasingly stupid (Williamson's "plan" to pit the gangs against each other causes killings and huge property destruction) and there are plenty of loopholes. There's some great action sequences but (even for this type of movie) it's far too violent. Seeing old people and children attacked or killed is just going too far. Still it's great to see these actors in action again. Grier easily gives the best performance--but I was surprised at how really good Williamson and Brown were. This gets a 7 just for the cast. Worth catching...just don't think about it too much.

A veteran cast make this update of the blaxploitation genre worth watching. Fred Williamson (Black Caesar), Jim Brown (Slaughter), Pam Grier (Coffy/Foxy Brown), Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Ron O'Neal (Superfly) join forces to combat the newer, younger version of the same gang they formed some twenty years prior. Not enough Roundtree or O'Neal and barely enough action but a decent enough entry. For fans of the genre.