Directed by: Larry Cohen
Starring: Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Ron O'Neal, Oscar Brown Jr., Shyheim Franklin, Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, Charles Napier, Wings Hauser, and Robert Forster
The town of Gary, Indiana is in dire straits. The old mill
shut down, businesses and industries left, the Jackson family vacated, and the
good people that remain are under the thumb of the rampant crime that
proliferated in the wake of the economy collapsing. And this isn't even a
post-apocalyptic thriller. When local grocery store owner Marvin Bookman (Brown
Jr.) is assaulted and shot by local punks, his son John (The Hammer), a former football
player, flies in from L.A. to try and help. After seeing just how bad the
situation has gotten in Gary, he reunites with his old friends Jake Trevor (Jim
Brown), Laurie Thompson (Grier), Slick (Roundtree) and Bubba (O’Neal). The
thing is, back in the old days they were in sort of a “mark 1” version of a
gang, the Rebels. They would get involved in essentially harmless no-goodery.
Now gang violence involves drive-by shootings and near-constant brutality.
Hence, the ORIGINAL GANGSTAS re-form to save the day. What with the new Rebels,
as well as rival gang the Diablos, causing mayhem all around, the OG’s
certainly have their hands full…but will they triumph over the young punks?
Find out today…
If we’re fans of any two things, it’s these two things: young
punks getting their comeuppance from the older generation, and Fred Williamson.
Regular readers of this site will note that both have been prevailing themes
for us for years. To our delight, a movie finally came along that ties both of
them together: Original Gangstas. Sure, it may have its flaws, but it also
combines two other genre mainstays we all love and enjoy: the ‘cleaning up the
town’ movie and the ‘assembling a team’ movie. Add to all that an outstanding
B-movie cast, and you have an entertaining romp.
The cast truly is one of a kind, and the concept pre-dates
The Expendables (2010) by a good 14 years. We didn’t even mention Isabel
Sanford, Weezy herself, as Marvin Bookman’s wife, and she gives a spirited
performance. Also on board is Paul Winfield as Reverend Dorsey, a man caught in
all the crossfire. All of what’s going on around him might seem awfully
familiar, as Winfield was in Gordon’s War (1973), as Gordon himself. Could this
be where Gordon ended up? Fan favorites Charles Napier, Wings Hauser, and
Robert Forster - enough to support their own movie right there - are also on
board, but in glorified (or not so glorified) cameos.
All of these familiar names are appreciated, and add to the
fun and the texture of the overall movie, but, as often happens, when there’s
TOO many people, roles have to be necessarily small and characters get lost in
the shuffle. Even the great Roundtree and O’Neal are essentially second fiddle.
We noted the young Shyheim Franklin (credited as solely “Shyheim” in the
opening credits, but with the full name for the end credits) as Dink. He stood
out, of all people, amongst the pack.
There are a few things you can always count on with a Fred
Williamson flick - his cool, his charisma, he’ll be chomping a cigar, and there
will be a live performance in a club or bar. In this case, he got the
Chi-Lites, which was a good get. Like a lot of other modern-day Freds like Down N’ Dirty and On The Edge when the older actors are on the screen, classic soul music
plays. When the young punks are on (and they actually get called punks by their
elders), rap plays. So, to counter the Chi-Lites, in a party scene we can see
Bushwick Bill and Scarface, though they don’t perform. That symmetry could only
come from the mind of the great director Larry Cohen. Even we don’t know if
that last sentence was sarcastic or not, but Fred is credited as co-director of
OG’s.
Other things we learned: Jim Brown looks badass in a British
Knights jacket, there is an actual place called East Chicago, Indiana (where
some of the movie was shot), and if you don’t like Fred Williamson, you
probably have mental problems. While OG’s would never come near the movie
theater today, it certainly did back then, which must have been nice for
everyone involved. I (Brett) even remember seeing commercials for it on TV when
I was 15 or 16. It could certainly be said that this movie set the stage for
the DTV Freds that came in its wake, as stylistically it is very similar.
Though OG’s predates the show South Park (only by one year,
however), there are dramatic and tear-filled readings of the line “they killed
Kenny!” - other mentions of people killing Kenny are said throughout the film. We know it’s just a coincidence (or IS it?) but it did kind of
help to keep the movie in the goofy zone. There are people out there that are
disappointed that OG’s wasn’t some sort of serious treatise on the issue of
gang violence. We think the filmmakers should have gone more in the other
direction: how awesome would it have been to have seen Weezy mowing down gang
members with a machine gun? Or even doing Martial Arts…dare we suggest we
missed an opportunity to see Weezy-Fu? Well, we should be happy with what we
have.
For true OLD school Blaxploitation - though all involved
probably hate that term - in the mid-90’s, pretty much the only place to turn
is Original Gangstas. It provides enough entertainment to sustain its running
time (the cast alone could propel pretty much anything), and DTV/action
die-hards should enjoy it, or at least appreciate it.
