Baadasssss!

Starring:Joy Bryant, T.K. Carter, Terry Crews, Ossie Davis, David Alan Grier, Len Lesser, Jazsmin Lewis, Nia Long, Ralph Martin, Robert Peters, Glenn Plummer, Paul Rodriguez, Saul Rubinek, Vincent Schiavelli, Sally Struthers, Khleo Thomas, Adam West, Karimah Westbrook, Rainn Wilson
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Raw, jagged, and explosively angry, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a landmark in American independent cinema. Melvin Van Peebles directed, wrote, produced, edited, scored, and stars as Sweetback, a passive bouncer raised in a brothel. Shot guerrilla style on a starvation budget on the streets of Los Angeles, it's a violent tale of Sweetback's journey from passive acceptance to political awareness and active defiance. He becomes the target of a manhunt when he kills two cops who beat up a young black activist, and he bounces from hideout to hideout before running for the border, all the while getting more booty than Shaft and Superfly put together. The movie was so inflammatory by conservative industry standards that it was "Rated X by an All White Jury," which the ads proudly touted. The unusual mix of agitprop and exploitation is directed in a jagged style that recalls Godard and set to a funky score performed by Earth, Wind & Fire, which Van Peebles intercuts with chanting Greek chorus-like slogans. Released independently, it was a huge hit and effectively spawned the blaxploitation genre, but none of the films that followed ever recaptured the energy, the anger, and the social politics of this breakthrough in independent cinema. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

And so it begins............2007-04-21

This movie might be unreal for some but blaxploitation was born due to the help of "the Black Community" who were all tired of the "Man" holding them down.I sat down to watch "Sweet Sweetback" for the first time last night and was almost lost for a moment. The opening sequence, bordering on child pornography, would never slip by the protestors of today. Yet, in 1971, this movie made its debut in (according to the box) two theatres and endured a torrent of negative reviews before going on to gross $10,000,000. Go figure.

The movie breaks down like this -- Sweet Sweetback is a lover-extraordinaire (he nails just about every female in the film) that rises up against two white cops and beats them down while they are picking on a local militant leader. From here we watch Sweetback run... and run... and run... and run... and run... and run... and run, trying to make his way to Mexico before he gets caught. Along the way, Sweetback encounters various people that matter little to the story but are just there for the hell of it, it seems. Dialogue is sparse throughout most of the film -- how much time is there to talk when you're setting the world's record for the most profitable cross-country video on the market? -- making the story hard to follow unless you've merely dismissed it as a dude running from the long-arm of the law.

I rate this film 5 stars without even a second thought on the matter. "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," although giving birth to the blaxploitation genre, has to be one of the most horrible films to endure by any one person. This movie is politically motivated, but is not political. The oppressive whites in the film are caricatures (and most, incidentally, are in the police); they torture Sweetback's allies for clues, threaten with guns, and are racially motivated. Sweetback's incriminating action -- murder -- is justified in this haughty racial context. Finally, it is style, glamour, and even virtuosic direction (in the inclusive use of so many familiar techniques) that paves Sweetback's value as a timepiece -- its lasting, testimonial contribution is its position as the first of its kind.

One Man's Unvarnished Truth as he Sees it.......2007-02-18

Shoddy amatuerish moviemaking combined with appalling morals. Unapologetically and even brazenly rascist and misogynist. Pimping his own child is just sleazy, sick and criminal. I'm all for having an open mind but appreciating this movie would require a lobotomy. Van Peebles does deserve a couple of stars for honesty, no matter how misguided he may have been.

The best, most artistic blaxploitation film ever made..........2006-12-21

I've always liked this film. The plot is extremely simple. A black stud gets taken downtown, but they pick up a black activist along the way. Sweetback beats the crap out of the cops, then runs to Mexico. This film is remarkable in that it has a feel of a French New Wave film. Van Peebles had lived in Paris in the 1960's, and the influence of that country's films rubbed off of him here (which is a good thing). With jump cuts, double exposures, and various other visual tricks, Van Peebles made the most artistic blaxploitation film ever made. The fact that it doesn't seem concerned with plot either (many European films don't have as much plotting as American ones do) gives it an even more European feel to it. But the situation is strictly American. I love the soundtrack too. Van Peebles wrote the music, but it's performed by Earth, Wind, and Fire. I do feel that the slogan "rated X by an all white jury" is a bit silly. As another reviewer pointed out, Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, and Scheslinger's Midnight Cowboy all got tagged with an X rating around this time, so it was a tad ridiculous. No doubt the tag line helped sell a lot more tickets. I admit I smiled when I saw that on the cover of the film, but then realised that it's really just a gimmick. Regardless, this is a very good film, provocative, visually exciting, and memorable.

What do you get when The Fugitive meets Dolomite = This Movie .......2006-11-01

If you can't appreciate someone else's extreme views don't watch it and shut up about it. Its not the plague it's a movie. People are all up in arms about it. Shut Up and get over it.

Now if I was to go off about how stupid I thought a movie like The Tenant is then it would be a big uproar against my review. Oh wait I already wrote that and plenty people disagree that it didn't deserve the zero stars I wanted to give it. A matter of fact it needs infinity negative stars. Thats not my type of movie or what I thought it might be. But thats my opinion.

This movie was made and played out the way Mr. Peebles wanted it. Get over it. It's his movie he can do what he wants with it. It is a movie like none other I have seen but certain aspects are similar to the other black explotation genre. Sticking it to the man basically.

I read too many negative reviews for this movie. It was time someone real spoke up and said it's great and you need to check it out if you are into these types of films. If you are not just go watch soemthing else.

LAUGH'N AT CHA!.......2006-10-25

LET ME TELL SOME OF YOU SOMETHING; WHEN YOU'RE ONLY GIVEN POOP TO WORK WITH AND YA' MAKE A BIG POOP SCULPTURE THAT HITS THE BIG TIME....COME ONE COME ALL TO SEE THE NEWEST FUNKIEST POOP SCULPTURE, OH! IT RATED R, OH IT'S A HAPPIN'N, OH IT'S ABOUT ALL THE POOP AROUND US ....NOW WATCH EVERYONE, RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES THIS POOP WILL TURN INTO GOLD AND STAY FUNKY!!!... < > SORRY YOU WEREN'T THERE THAT LONG HOT ANGRY SUMMER THIS WAS THE S*** FOR A MOMENT AND WE ALL HAD A GOOD LAUGH'N AT CHA...HA'

Average customer rating:

BADASS it is!
What Was Bill Cosby Thinking?
Most Entertaining Lesson on Filmmaking: Mario Van Peeble's Tribute to His Father Melvin
MARIO YOU ARE FINE! THE MOVIE IS GREAT!
Excellent Film About A Film

Baadasssss!
Starring: Joy Bryant , T.K. Carter , Terry Crews , Ossie Davis , and David Alan Grier
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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General | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films
Melvin Van Peebles' Classified X
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ASIN: B0002JZT50
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Amazon.com

Baadasssss! is actor-writer-director Mario Van Peebles's best film since 1991's New Jack City; more accurately, it is a mature and often dazzling work beyond previous expectations of Van Peebles' skills as a filmmaker. Certainly he was inspired by the autobiographical subject: The making of his father's 1971, independently produced Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, in which young Mario made his acting debut amidst a frantic, high-pressure operation that paid off when African American audiences embraced the film. Playing his ownhard-nosed dad, Melvin Van Peebles, the younger talent explores--honestly, but not ruthlessly--Melvin's rocky relationship with an ever-disappointed Mario (played by Holes' Khleo Thomas), but he also portrays the elder man as a stubborn idealist against a backdrop of Hollywood cynicism about black entertainment. The film is a whirlwind of action and innovative scenes recreating personal history but without the insistent discursiveness of memory. With Nia Long, Ossie Davis, and Saul Rubinek. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

BADASS it is!.......2007-01-19

This is an interesting and well done film for anyone into the story of the early days of Earth, Wind & Fire and the evolution of black entertainment of the 60s on. Mario and Mandela van Peebles do an amazing job of playing out the story of the older father son combo that started it all.

What Was Bill Cosby Thinking?.......2006-07-16

Mario Van Peebles, Melvin's son, recounts the numerous challenges that had to be overcome before the 1971 black exploitation movie, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, was released. Indeed, it must be conceded that his father is a gutty man. Few would have risked so much to achieve their artistic vision. Unfortunately, Melvin's heroic efforts don't justify the finished product. The senior Van Peebles is the unintentional progeny of D.W. Griffith who some fifty years earlier had glorified the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song exacerbated racial tensions and encouraged rampant sexual promiscuity within the Afro-American community. Did you ever wonder why Detroit is such an economic and social basket case? Why so many of its black residents indulge in self pitying victimization? Well, one should never forget that the black power movement was highly influential during this time period. Detroit's Black Panthers chapter, almost single handily, turned Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song into a financial success. What more do you need to know?

We all make mistakes. Bill Cosby is no exception. He provided a $50,000 loan to Melvin Van Peebles to finish the X-Rated movie. What was he thinking? Who should see Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song? It is highly recommended if you desire to understand what happened to numerous blacks residing in the ghettos of our major cities. The destruction did not occur yesterday. No, it happened over three decades ago when Bill Cosby and other political leftists unwittingly encouraged black radicals to act like fools.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

Most Entertaining Lesson on Filmmaking: Mario Van Peeble's Tribute to His Father Melvin.......2006-06-17

"Baadasssss" is not only a highly entertaining drama about guerrilla filmmaking, but also is a tribute from its director Mario Van Peebles to his father Melvin Van Peebles, star and director of "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" that shook the movie industry in 1971 by becoming a surprise hit. Not just a hit, but a hit that set a new trend.

Greatly supported by black audiences who related to Melvin's titular hero on the run from the cops, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was hugely influential in spawning so-called blaxploitaion films like "Shaft." Mario plays his real-life father Melvin in "Baadasssss," who is fed up with the stereotyped black characters in mainstream Hollywood films, and is determined to make a film that every black can be proud of.

Mario Van Peebles (who was also in "Sweetback's") keeps good pace from the beginning, where we meet oddball characters based on the real people, which to fun to see. Like his father, Mario knows films are made to entertain, and "Baadasssss" does not disappoint us, showing Melvin's tactics like, say, avoiding the interference from the union by pretending that he is making a porno film. The pre-production process is interesting and authentic, and sometimes even funny with the negotiation scenes with investors (including cameo from former Batman Adam West).

As the film goes on, the film gets more serious with the notorious `sex scene' of Mario, then a little boy. You may think Melvin pushes the envelope too far, and the film is honest about his behaviors. Mario is evidently proud of his father and his jobs, but is not sentimental about what happened, showing a balanced view on the darker side of the filmmaking process with semi-documentary touch.

Capable actors are assembles for the production: Joy Bryant, Nia Long, Ossie Davies, David Allan Grier, Paul Rodrigues, Saul Rubinek, and Rain Wilson. But the film virtually belongs to Mario Van Peebles, who embodies the soul of his father.

If you are interested in the 70s or the sub-culture of America, you just cannot miss `Baadasssss.' If not, the film is still worth a look, for it provides incisive look on the cheerful and dark sides of filmmaking.

MARIO YOU ARE FINE! THE MOVIE IS GREAT!.......2006-05-28

I AM 32
YOU ARE VERY FINE AND A GREAT ACTOR AND FILM MAKER!
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!
YOUR FATHER IS GREAT!

I AM SO GLAD TO SEE HIM ALIVE AND WELL!
SORRY ABOUT THE PASSING OF YOUR SISTER!
THIS MOVIE IS A FIVE STAR MOVIE!

*****

Excellent Film About A Film.......2005-09-12

Most cinephiles will tell you that, as a rule, the making of any good film isn't fun, but a lot of pain and hard work. The topic of writer-director Mario Van Peebles' Baadassss! is the making of another film, Melvin Van Peebles 1971 blaxploitation "classic" Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song. If the aforementioned rule meant that a film that was made through hard work was automatically good, then Sweetback would have certainly ranked up on the charts with Citizen Kane. Sweetback was made with so much difficulty that most men would have given up before pre-production was finished, but Melvin Van Peebles, as portrayed by his son Mario, had a fiery, singular determination to get his film made that no price was too much to pay.

At the start of the film, Melvin is a director fresh off of directing the racially charged comedy Watermelon Man. He almost immediately decides to direct an action film, "serious as cancer," about a black man who fights corrupt white cops, and, gasp, gets away in the end! While today it is hard to imagine an action film without a positive black character, in 1971 this was a pretty radical notion. Unable to secure funding from the studio, Melvin is forced to solicit money independently, another taboo at the time. Between having next to no cash, inexperienced actors and crew, and a decidedly hostile reception from investors and theater owners, Melvin is pushed to a physical and mental breaking point, struggling to not only complete the film, but to make sure it is seen. One of the film's most interesting and trying moments is when Melvin discovers only two theaters in the entire country are interested in screening his film.

It is an achievement on Mario Van Peebles part that he is able to play Melvin in such a way that we still root for him to succeed. Melvin stomps around the set, barking orders at his overworked and mismatched crew, deferring any and all complaints with the cringe-inducing line "this is bigger than all of us." When most of the crew gets thrown into jail on bogus charges, Melvin refuses to bail them out, once again citing the film. He bounces a $500.00 check to the band Earth, Wind, and Fire. Worst of all, in a scene that reflects what must still be bitter feelings, Melvin orders his son to act in a sex scene. When the young Mario asks what he'll be wearing, Melvin nonchalantly answers "Nothing, this is a sex scene." Most true artists would go to extreme lengths to finish what they see as their life's work, though when Melvin puts his teenage son in a scene that borders on pornographic, the characters and the audience have to collectively wonder if the man is of sound mind.

Baadasssss! is so poignant because of its willingness to honestly explore the making of a film by a man that refuses to give up. Melvin doesn't take joy in being a bastard, but it may be the only way to finish his dream picture. When he chants the line about the film being bigger than him or his crew, we can tell that he believes every word of it, and Van Peebles suggests that Melvin may have been right. With that fiery, singular determination, Melvin is able to make it work. Sweetback may have been a corny action picture with a now dated message, but with Baadassss!, Van Peebles makes a much better film than his father could have dreamed of.

Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films

Average customer rating:

Personally, I liked it myself
Informative, but 2 short
Good for what it suggested but it missed more
A FASCINATING DOCUMENTARY FILLED WITH GUILTY PLEASURES
Uneven Attempt

Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films
Starring: Jesse Jackson , Elvis Mitchell , Quentin Tarantino , Melvin Van Peebles , and Fred Williamson
Director: Isaac Julien
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00007CVSO
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Amazon.com

What a great treat to find so many beloved icons in Isaac Julien's excellent documentary about blaxploitation cinema: actors Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, and Gloria Hendry, among others, as well as directors Gordon Parks and Melvin Van Peebles. Through their piercing perspectives, plus commentary by the likes of film critic Elvis Mitchell and (of course) cult aficionado and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, Baadasssss Cinema makes a persuasive argument that 1970s blaxploitation was both an American achievement and a temporary fix for Hollywood's then-economic doldrums. Julien gracefully leads viewers on a tour of blaxploitation's aesthetic and social roots, including a desire by African American audiences to see black protagonists stand up to power. Baadasssss Cinema also explains the appeal of warhorse movie genres--gangster films, horror--to the blaxploitation industry, discusses African American ambivalence in the '70s toward the films' new racial stereotypes, and makes sense of blaxploitation's commercial burnout once Hollywood got hold of the formula. --Tom Keogh

Description

In this groundbreaking documentary from the Independent Film Channel, filmmaker Isaac Julien takes us back to the early 70s and the explosion of blaxploitation films, today one of American cinema's most beloved cult genres. Featuring a wealth of footage from such classic films as Superfly and Shaft, and interviews with such key players as Richard Roundtree, Quentin Tarantino, and Pam Grier, BaadAsssss Cinema gets to the bottom of exactly what helped the blaxploitation genre achieve its revered cult status.

DVD Features: Extended interviews with Pam Grier, Quentin Tarantino and others; Letterbox Format; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Customer Reviews:

Personally, I liked it myself.......2007-06-18

Personally, I found no fault with this DVD. I think that all of the major issues about these films were well covered and discussed. Actress Gloria Hendry, director William Cohen, and the no-introdution needed Pam Grier's interviews were quite revealing about how these films affected the careers of those who worked in them. The controversy with the NAACP and Jesse jackson and their opposition to this films is well-handled to give both sides of this issue and it all allows the viewer to make up their own minds. Well done.

Informative, but 2 short.......2004-06-10

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.......2004-06-01

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.

A FASCINATING DOCUMENTARY FILLED WITH GUILTY PLEASURES.......2003-02-09

"BaadAsssss Cinema" is not your usual dry, academic documentary. While the arrangement of material seems pretty random and scattershot, the clips are priceless as historical artifacts of the times and the prevailing social attitudes. The debate as to the potential racist tracts implicit and explicit in the movies is wisely avoided, and the importance of black visibility of any kind supersedes any moral judgment here. The place of blaxploitation films of this period in the overall history of Hollywood is examined very closely, with surprising results. If we are to believe it, these films saved Hollywood studios in the '70s --- only to have the studios themselves turn their back on black artists a decade later. However, political and financial debates about art only get in the way. What we really have here is a delicious compendium of scenes and interviews from one of America's most beloved cult genres. Pam Grier, the greatest Black Mamma of them all, is fascinating as she discusses the beginnings of her prodigious career. Melvin Van Peebles, one of the few black artists to retain complete control of his films, discusses his seminal "Sweet Sweetback's BaadAsssss Song," arguably the first film in the genre. Isaac Hayes, composer and actor and "South Park" scion, talks about the groovy music essential for these movies. Richard Roundtree, Gloria Hendry and Fred Williamson all discuss the trials and triumphs of black performers creating, for the first time, a complete black identity on film. Quentin Tarantino,looking strangely pale, displays his goofy charm as he waxes rhapsodic about his first experience as a child attending his first black exploit film. These movies have been called the original guilty pleasure, and they are all enormously fun. This documentary shows a great cross-section of the movies and the artists, retaining all of the energy, action, comedy and sex we associate with these movies. Although it may be less fun yelling back at your television set alone than being part of a crowd on a Saturday night, Superfly, Shaft and all them guys (and their gals) still pack a wallop. (Submitted by staff member Stephen J. Finn)

Uneven Attempt.......2003-02-01

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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