The resurgence in the blaxploitation film craze of the 70s kicked back into full gear with this flawed but authentic 1996 retread. Exploitation legend Larry Cohen (BLACK CAESAR, HELL UP IN HARLEM) is on hand to formulate a comeback/reunion project for Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, and Pam Grier. They play middle-aged parents who team up to clean up the neighborhood from a gang of drive-by shooting scum.
The film takes place in Gary, Indiana, and it is explained in the opening that the crime rate there has gotten out of control. After a young boy is killed in a drive-by shooting over a $300 basketball hustle, an elderly grocery shop owner, Marvin Bookman (Oscar Brown Jr.) recounts what he witnessed to the police. After the gang who committed the crime discovers what Bookman did, they violate his shop and leave him for dead, but the he miraculously survives the gun wound.
Marvin's son John Bookman (Williamson), a well-known football hero, flies back to Gary to visit his father in the hospital. He then decides to take matters into his own hands by appearing on local television and challenging the politicians to do something about these gangs. When that fails, he teams with his old friends, Laurie Thompson (Grier), whose son was the hustler that got shot, and the boy's long lost father, Jake Trevor (Brown), who happens to be an ex-heavyweight champion. They quickly gain the support of the community, who all rebel against the gang, but not before considerable damage is done.
This is OK blaxploitation; a far cry from the vicious, offensive AIP classics of the 70s, but it's worthwhile to see Williamson and Brown (both in great shape) kick some juvenile ass in. Besides, any film that has Pam Grier repeatedly smashing some prick over the head with a garbage can lid is alright in my book. Unfortunately, she's not given much else to do, so we had to wait for the disappointing JACKIE BROWN for a real starring role comeback.
In much more modest roles are Richard (SHAFT) Roundtree and Ron (SUPERFLY) O'Neal as Williamson's and Brown's old gang mates Slick and Bubba. But wait, there's more: Isabel ("Weezie") Sanford, Oscar nominee Robert Forster (ALLIGATOR), Wings Hauser (VICE SQUAD), Charles Napier (SUPERVIXENS), and Paul Winfield (TROUBLE MAN). There's also too much rap music on the soundtrack for my taste, but it serves to characterize the ugly gang members and their despicable behavior.
This is one of the few Orion acquisitions that MGM has decided to release on DVD so far, and the main reason is probably that it's a recent title. The packaging refers to many of the blaxploitation classics of the 70s, but MGM has opted to release titles like COFFY, FOXY BROWN, TRUCK TURNER, BLACULA and others only on VHS at this time. Hopefully MGM is planning on releasing all their AIP blaxploitation titles on DVD; it's hard to tell since they don't tell the consumers anything, but unless they're out of their minds, I think it's inevitable.
The great looking ORIGINAL GANGSTAS DVD is dual layered, with a choice of widescreen (1:85.1 aspect ratio) or standard. Even though the illustrated widescreen clarification on the packaging would lead one to suspect the film is super wide, there is actually extra picture information on the top and bottom of the screen in the standard version. There are no extras except for a brief theatrical trailer and a booklet with some trivial background on the film. (George R. Reis)