Bucktown

Starring:Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Thalmus Rasulala, Tony King, Bernie Hamilton, Art Lund, Tierre Turner, Morgan Upton, Carl Weathers, Jim Bohan, Robert Burton (III), Gene Simms, Bruce Watson, Nicole English, Jody Maxwell
Director: Arthur Marks
Studio: MGM/Ua Studios
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This middling but entirely watchable blaxploitation thriller from 1975 stars football-legend-turned-actor Fred Williamson as the brother of a murdered bar owner in a racially divided town. After bringing in a gaggle of tough street buddies from the old neighborhood to help break up a corrupt police force, Williamson's character figures he can settle into domestic bliss with Pam Grier. But there's a snag: the hero's restless posse decides to take over the white cops' graft operation, forcing a bloody finale of retribution. In the '70s genre of reactionary revenge movies, Bucktown is a minor entry, and Grier's rather passive performance is certainly anomalous in the blaxploitation vein. But it is worth a visit, especially for cult film completists. --Tom Keogh

BUCKTOWN (DVD/16X9 WS/1.85:1/1975/THEATRICAL TRAILER/SOUL CINEMA)
Average customer rating:
BUCKTOWN (DVD/16X9 WS/1.85:1/1975/THEATRICAL TRAILER/SOUL CINEMA)

Manufacturer: ANTOnline
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005N7Z3

Amazon.com

This middling but entirely watchable blaxploitation thriller from 1975 stars football-legend-turned-actor Fred Williamson as the brother of a murdered bar owner in a racially divided town. After bringing in a gaggle of tough street buddies from the old neighborhood to help break up a corrupt police force, Williamson's character figures he can settle into domestic bliss with Pam Grier. But there's a snag: the hero's restless posse decides to take over the white cops' graft operation, forcing a bloody finale of retribution. In the '70s genre of reactionary revenge movies, Bucktown is a minor entry, and Grier's rather passive performance is certainly anomalous in the blaxploitation vein. But it is worth a visit, especially for cult film completists. --Tom Keogh

Description

Fred Williamson (Black Caesar) proves once again he's the ultimate soul brotherdark, daring and ready for surprises. He and sexy co-star Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) heat up the sheets and the streets in this scintillating soul flick about a city ripped apart by prejudice, greed and plenty of gangsta action. Bucktown explodes like sparks and gasolinesetting small-town America on fire! Dean Johnson (Williamson) arrives in Bucktown to bury his murdered brother. He then takes over his brother's bar and everything that comes with it: the goodwhich includes a foxy localgal (Grier)and the bada sleazy police force that shakes him down for protection money. Proving he can't be pushed, Johnson calls in his big-city brothers who move into town with the necessary firepower to set things straight. But when the smoke clears, Johnson finds that his victorious cohorts are just as bad as the bigoted cops they've just destroyed, and now he has to rid the city of his violent friendsby any means necessary!

Average customer rating:

Pam Grier and Fred Williamson are a great pair.
And I was there....
Williamson Takes Over the Town, and the Film, Too
cool film
Excellent Revenge Movie!

Bucktown
Starring: Fred Williamson , Pam Grier , Thalmus Rasulala , Tony King , and Bernie Hamilton
Director: Arthur Marks
Manufacturer: MGM/Ua Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Friday Foster
Hell Up In Harlem
Black Caesar
Sheba, Baby
Coffy

ASIN: B00005J6UX
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Pam Grier and Fred Williamson are a great pair........2006-10-21

`Bucktown' is fill with some exciting drama. The plot is relatively original, Duke (played by Fred Williamson) comes to a town to bury his brother who died. His brother owned a bar called The Alabama. This particular town is a mini, sleazy, version of Vegas (the actual city used for the filming seems to be Kansas City, Mossouri,) a town that attracts low rent tourists because of its gambling and prostitution. It's going to take a while for Duke to settle his brother's estate, so he hangs around town and reopens his brother's bar. After two of the town's cops come in and expect a percentage of the proceeds from the bar's receipts, he realizes that the entire town is run by a corrupt, white, police force. He won't stand for it, so he calls in his big city friend Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) to come to town with some thugs to kick some ***. The crew comes to town and they make short work of the brutal white police force. Duke is quite grateful for the help but things take a different turn once Dukes friends takes over and become the new law enforcers and are worse than the rednecks ever were. Williamson must stand up to the group, which includes his childhood best friend (their final one-on-one confrontation is pretty vividly brutal).

Pam Grier does play a supporting role in here and it's some of her best acting. She really does appears more classy and tasteful in this film. I know you guys want - and are accustomed to - seeing her breasts every 10 minutes, but I found it a nice change of pace to see her in a more graceful light. Carl Weathers does play a small part as one of the enforcers convincely and Thalmus Rasulala also did a terrific job in his role but Fred Williamson owns the film and he's pretty effective.

`Bucktown' is recommended to all blaxploitation fans and for those who are looking for action, integrity, and grittiness.

And I was there...........2003-06-10

What can I say, I'm bias, why... not because this was another of those "black" films everyone thought should be made but because I actually had a small bit part in it. Yep, stood out there in the cold of Platte City (MO), with about 16 other extras. Saw the open call for extras on the bulletin board at school and answered the call. Hey, no money, no true fame, but at least my segment didn't get tossed to the cutting room floor and it was fun "being in a movie"

Williamson Takes Over the Town, and the Film, Too.......2002-04-07

As a soul cinema fan, it is hard for me to criticize this film, which unites two Afro-American icons, Pam Grier and Fred Williamson. Still, I must confess my disappointed feelings after watching "Bucktown," a rather mediocre film, considering those two fantastic leads.

"Bucktown" is a corrupt town where the corrupt cops donimate. Now Duke (Williamson), after his brother's suspicious death, comes back to this hometown (in a "Ger Carter" way), only to find himself trapped in between the hostile police and beautiful Aretha (Grier). Reluctantly he decides to stay there because of legal problems, and to manage the local bar. As (expectedly) the love between Aretha and Duke develops, the local police begin (expectedly) to show their true colors.

The film is given a unique twist here; Duke calls in his old buddy Roy (Thalmus Rasulala, regular of blaxploitation genre) to wage a war against the cops, but the result turns out worse than he hoped. The film tries to provide a new point of view on this genre, giving a picture of a conflict between blacks, but it seems the film doesn't know how to end this awkward situation.

Though the film is far from perfect, it keeps on going with a good pace, and Williamson as always shows his charismatic presense effectively though Pam Grier as a result is pushed aside to a minor role despite of her previous successful roles in "Coffy." My verdict is, "Bucktown" is not a terrible film as some critics label it, but it is, I must say, strictly for fans of this genre.

cool film.......2001-09-27

this film worked really well.Both The "Hammer"&Pam Grier get down to Business here.it's so sad at how they didn't get there Props back in the day because films like this Showcase how tight they were on screen&they always had alot of Great Action in the films.Pam Grier still Blows My Mind She is SuperBaddd!!

Excellent Revenge Movie!.......2001-05-06

Fred Williamson is cool as ever-- though the character he plays, Duke, is an ex-football player-- okay, not much of a stretch..

Still, you can't front on the action that takes place when Duke takes on the corrupt police force in his old hometown--

The cast includes several blaxploitation regulars: The sheriff, played by Art Lund, also menaced Williamson as a crooked cop in BLACK CAESAR.

Bernie Hamilton went on to play STARSKY & HUTCH's police boss Captain Dobey, and he shows up here as a longtime Bucktown resident who spends too much time at the local bar that Duke's brother owned before his death..

Pam Grier is more subdued in this piece, not the "kick-behind-chick" of most of her roles.. But golly, is she fine as ever..

Thalmus Rasulala (Blacula, What's Happening) is Duke's big-city hustling pal Roy, who recruits a gang of cronies to give some payback to the redneck cops who terrorize the black residents of Bucktown. Among the cronies is "Hambone", played by future ROCKY star Carl Weathers.

After Duke, Roy and the gang send the crooked cops running (and violently so), they unofficially take the place of the cops in running the protection scam-- Duke is reluctant, but Roy revels in his newfound power. For the moment, Roy and Duke come to a compromise, as Roy promises not to "lean" on the townsfolk like the cops did..

But Roy's over-zealous henchmen could care less about being civil, as they roughhouse everyone who crosses their path, including Grier and Hamilton, the latter of whom is brutally beaten-- Next on their hit list is Duke, as he and Grier are assaulted in his home.. That sets the stage for Duke to get some long-coming revenge, assisted by a local boy who becomes his sidekick..

The showdown between Duke and Roy is long and bloody-- and satisfying...

Amidst all the mayhem in this film, some sly social commentaries are made: The kid who befriends Duke is a hustler wannabe, and has a precocious knowledge of all the nightlife vices in Bucktown-- "Girls, gambling, we got it all!"

Also, the audience is introduced to the cold reality that Black political corruption and criminality is just as dastardly as when it is done by Whites-- turning the tables on the traditional source of inner-city social ills in post-civil-rights-era America.

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