Original Gangstas

1996
R
1h 39m

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Fred Williamson in Original Gangstas (1996)

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99+ Photos

Action Crime Drama Thriller

When a gang shoots his father, Bookman (Fred Williamson) returns to his hometown, rounds up some of his own people and begins an all-out war to restore the neighborhood to its rightful sense... Read allWhen a gang shoots his father, Bookman (Fred Williamson) returns to his hometown, rounds up some of his own people and begins an all-out war to restore the neighborhood to its rightful sense of justice.When a gang shoots his father, Bookman (Fred Williamson) returns to his hometown, rounds up some of his own people and begins an all-out war to restore the neighborhood to its rightful sense of justice.

Directors
- Larry Cohen
- Fred Williamson
Writer
- Aubrey K. Rattan
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Larry Cohen
- Fred Williamson
Writer
- Aubrey K. Rattan
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Larry Cohen stated how he enjoyed filming and how cooperative the real gang members in the film were "who came every day to work. They were always on time. They did everything they were asked to do. You know, if you wanted to shoot them and have them fall down, they did falls. They did anything you asked, and they were very friendly to me. They used to come to my trailer and bring me Famous Amos cookies, things like that. They did their best to ingratiate themselves. I was not concerned with the ones we hired, but with the ones that didn't get hired. I thought, "Well, now one of the ones that didn't get hired might just drive by one day with a machine gun or something, and polish us all off in one afternoon." But it never happened. Everything was fine there for the entire shoot of the picture, and they were all very cooperative and pleasant. And then it was all over, and we left. And it was kind of sad, because while we were there they all had jobs, and they had some place to go every day, and they had some focus and some reason for being. Then when we left, we kind of just abandoned everybody. And there's nothing we could do about it. We couldn't take them back to Hollywood. That's where they lived, so there's nothing we could do".

Goofs
When John and Jake do a drive-by at the steel mill in an attempt to start the gang war, several fires in barrels are burning. When they make their second pass, the smoke and fire can be seen going backwards, back into the barrels.

Quotes
John Bookman: Big talk coming from a faggot who don't even know what sex his mother is.

Connections
Featured in Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

Soundtracks
Hit the Gas
Performed by 3X Krazy
Produced by Tone Capone for Dollars & Spenc Productions
Co-Produced by One Drop Scott
Written by Tone Capone (as Anthony Gilmour), Lamore Jacks, Charles Williams, Ramone Curtis, One Drop Scott (as Scott Roberts)
Publishing: True Science Publishing (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Str8 Game Records

User reviews28

Review

Featured review

Why is this film so disappointing?

This film does not work.

It has great potential and the theme of abandoning your roots frequently pops up -- giving potential for further plot development which most action films do not even approach. However, this all-star cast of blaxploitation veterans making their first film together rarely jells.

For instance, Fred Williamson, who produced, seems to have forgotten that there were other great actors from that era. 90% of the film is him strutting around, pontificating on how bad the neighborhood has become and why don't the cops/neighbors/politicians/whoever do something about it. He saw fit to put Jim Brown in as co-star, but Brown serves as little more than a bodyguard, punching the whey out of a few people and (in his one big solo scene) threatening a young thug. Richard ("Shaft") Roundtree and Mr. "Superfly" himself -- Ron O'Neal -- are given glorified cameos. In fact, the introductory scene with O'Neal is shown completely in long shot. Why didn't the director do a few closeups? You can hardly tell it's O'Neal. That's just sloppy direction (either that or they didn't have permits to shoot on city streets and shot this on the sly).

Other great character actors -- Robert Forster, Charles Napier, Wings Hauser -- are featured but have little to do but act like cartoon characters. Whoever wrote this film should have given thought to the reasons why the best blaxploitation epics worked.

Not a complete failure but overall a major disappointment considering this is the first and only film these stars have been in together (no chance for a reunion with O'Neal's recent passing).

** out of *****