Here Are The 12 Finest Blaxploitation Movies You Can Watch Right Now:
Blaxploitation is a word that has themes, styles, and political meanings that are associated with the early 1970s. The history of stereotypes in movies is closely linked to the history of the genre.
If you want to give the genre a broad meaning, it includes movies with anti-establishment themes where African-American main characters fight the law and order while questioning their fate. There was a place just for black directors, and they often poked fun at the mostly white film business with parodies such as Blacula (1972) and Blackenstein (1973).
The blaxploitation films were made for African-American fans who didn’t like how the white male leads always got into trouble, but they were criticized for showing African-American identity in a stereotypical way.
The main complaint was that the African-American main characters were shown to be morally bad people who chose to be violent and commit crimes instead of facing the harsh reality of racial discrimination and abuse.
In spite of this, movies released between 1970 as well as 1979 gave African Americans their own heroes as well as groups to follow, in contrast to the mostly white stories told in Hollywood.
Super Fly:
People know “Super Fly” for Ron O’Neal’s rough drug dealer character, Youngblood Priest, as well as Curtis Mayfield’s upbeat music. Youngblood Priest knows that as an African American drug dealer who mainly sells cocaine, there are only two ways to get out of Harlem: death or jail.
He’s not ready to take either one, though. Instead, Priest makes plans for the biggest deal of his life. It will make him very rich and free him from the drug gang in Harlem in the process.
The crime thriller made $6.2 million; its budget was $500,000. It was a close race at the box office with “The Godfather” by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie has big parts for Carl Lee, Julius W. Harris, Sheila Frazier, as well as Charles McGregor. The movie is directed by Gordon Parks, Jr.
Coffy:
Of course, we have to start with Pam Grier, who was the Godmother of Blaxploitation. Today is the first of many movies about Pam Grier that will be on this list. She was an important part of the movement.
In 1973, Coffy follows a single woman who is out to get even with the people who made her sister addicted to drugs. Nurse Coffy has been on a mission to track down the people who did it, so she has to deal with sellers, pimps, and other bad people while kicking big butt.
The Mack:
The Mack is a famous blaxploitation movie that gets bad reviews but is still considered one of the best in the genre. Even though The Mack was known for being trashy, flawed, as well as illogical, it did better at the box office than The Godfather, which is thought to be the best movie ever made, in the few places it was shown.
Max Julien plays Goldie in The Mack, which was directed by Michael Campus. Goldie goes against his black nationalist brother to turn into Oakland’s biggest pimp. Goldie also has bad friends named Richard Pryor, Juanita Moore, as well as Dick Anthony Williams.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song:
The first Blaxploitation movie, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song,” was a big deal. The movie was paid for, directed, written, produced, and edited by Melvin Van Peebles. He also directed the music and played the lead role in the movie, which was made on a very small budget because most of the big companies turned it down.
Even though the movie wasn’t made very well, it became a gem of cinema thanks to its unique way of telling a story through split screens, double exposure, jump cuts, montage scenes, and a story that doesn’t follow a straight line.
Sweetback is played by Melvin Van Peebles. He works as a sex show artist in a brothel. Mario Van Peebles, Rhetta Hughes, as well as John Amos are in the other group.
Variety said that the movie showed that African-American macho heroes who are also very violent can also make big money at the box office and make a lot of movies. Fans of the movie genre praised Van Peebles as the creator of the style after “Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song” became a big hit.
Dolemite:
Black artists and directors had to do a lot of different jobs during the Blaxploitation era. The movie Dolemite shows this. D’Urville Martin not only directed this movie, but he also starred in it.
And Rudy Ray Moore not only starred in this movie, he also made it. Once an actress reaches a certain level, it’s usual for them to direct and play in their own movies. Back then, though, it was necessary to get the job done.
Dolemite is a funny crime comedy movie about a pimp, actor, and bar owner called Dolemite who is put in jail for 20 years after being framed. Once Dolemite got out of jail, he was determined to get back at the people who put him there.
Jackie Brown:
A lot of people have said bad things about Quentin Tarantino over the years because he is white and makes current blaxploitation movies, or at least movies that are partly blaxploitation.
Spike Lee has a long-standing grudge against the auteur director and won’t watch any of his movies because he thinks it would be “disrespectful to my ancestors.” Lee has a good point, yet that doesn’t mean Jackie Brown isn’t a great movie.
The movie Jackie Brown is based on Elmore Leonard’s 1992 book Rum Punch. It’s about a flight attendant who tries to bring money from Mexico into the US illegally. The title seems to be a clear reference to Foxy Brown, an old blaxploitation movie that Tarantino likes.
Trick Baby:
The crime thriller “Trick Baby” is based on Iceberg Slim’s 1967 book of the same name. The story is about Blue Howard and White Folks, two gangsters in Philadelphia. The race tensions between white people and African Americans are used by Blue and White to steal people’s money. The mother of White Folks is black, and the father is white.
He does a lot of illegal things with his mixed-race identity. The two worked well together till one of their past scams went wrong. They soon find themselves being chased by thugs and a bad cop. “Trick Baby,” directed through Larry Yust, is known for its shocking and spooky ending.
Cooley High:
Cooley High is set in Chicago in the 1960s and is about two best friends who are going through the tough parts of growing up in the projects. Like each other, they like to hang out with friends, chase pretty girls, and listen to Motown music. They additionally have big dreams.
As they work toward their goals, they learn the hard way that not everyone has the greatest interests at heart. It made $13 million at the box office as well as was praised by critics and audiences alike. It also served as a model for later movies like Boyz in the Hood.
Cotton Comes To Harlem:
Cotton Comes to Harlem, which was based on Chester Himes’s 1965 book of the same name, was pretty much the first blaxploitation movie. With the Great Migration as well as the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1900s, Harlem is a very important place in African American history.
The director took a simple crime story and added “balloons, fans, as well as feathers” to make it a stylish overnight hit. The neo-noir movie from 1970 is packed with fights, laughs, as well as thrills. A sequel came out in 1972 and had the same race, humor, and sense of self-determination as Cotton Comes to Harlem.
Blacula:
“Blacula” mixed horror and Blaxploitation elements to make a story that was different from Bram Stoker’s original book. The story is about an African prince called Mamuwalde who lived in the 18th century.
He goes to Count Dracula’s house in Transylvania and asks for help ending the dirty practice of slavery. Dracula, on the other hand, won’t help Mamuwalde.
Mamuwalde turns into a vampire after a fight with Dracula’s vampire guests. It was by chance that two American interior designers found Mamuwalde’s coffin at Castle Dracula within Transylvania in 1972. The body is sent to their home city of Los Angeles.
Mamuwalde, on the other hand, makes them into vampires immediately as they open the grave. Mamuwalde and his army of vampires go on a bloody rage through the city after changing their name to Blacula. The movie is directed by William Crain.
Friday Foster:
Having Pam Grier in it, The story of Friday Foster revolves around a photographer called Friday Foster who is sent by her boss to take pictures of the richest black guy within the United States.
But the story takes a big turn when she finds out she’s not the only one taking pictures of the subject while she watches an attempt on her life. And now that Foster has pictures of the crime scene, she sets out to discover the truth.
Black Dynamite:
It looks like Black Dynamite makes fun of the blaxploitation genre, yet it’s really a smart and emotional tribute to the whole movement. Scott Sanders is a filmmaker who clearly loves the over-the-top 1970s style of movies by using their tricks in a very self-aware way.
Scott Sanders casts Michael Jai White as a former CIA agent who wants to get even. In honor of the low-budget movies that came before it, Scott Sanders filmed Black Dynamite in Los Angeles upon a Super 16mm camera in just 20 days, without even writing a plot! It was a risk that paid off.
