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(More customer reviews)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.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films (2002)
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
