The success of blaxploitation movies in the 70’s, I feel falls on the shoulders of the actors that played the lead roles. While Jack Hill may have made some great entrees in the genre and was a good director, without Pam Grier, COFFY and FOXY BROWN would not have been as good as they were. There were a lot of fly-by-night directors that dipped their toes in the genre, some dabbled then went on to better/different things, and some just made a few flicks, and spilt the scene. Arthur Marks left a indelible mark on the genre with DETROIT 9000, J.D.’s REVENGE, FRIDAY FOSTER, THE MONKEY HU$TLE, and the movie I’m reviewing today which may be one of his best, if not thee best.
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BUCKTOWN stars Fred Williamson and Pam Grier—already we’re cooking with gas, throw in Thalmus Rasulala (FRIDAY FOSTER) and Carl Weathers (ROCKY/PREDATOR), and we’re golden. Williamson plays Duke, a big city high roller who comes to Bucktown to bury his brother that recently past away. He just wants to settle all his brother’s loose ends, and then split. Immediately after arriving in town, Duke is begged by his brother’s friends to stay, and reopen the local bar that his brother owned, which has been shut down. His brother’s friends include a washed-up football player named Harley (played the loveable, Bernie Hamilton), a street kid hustler, and his brother’s old flame, Aretha, played by Pam Grier. Aretha wants nothing to do with Duke at first, as she’s angry with him for not being there for his brother before he died. Duke decides to reopen the bar, and try and sell it, but he soon discovers how crooked the town’s law enforcement is when he’s told that he’ll have to share a percentage of his earnings with the local police or face the consequences.
Although he’s angry that Harley and Aretha didn’t warn him about the crooked cops, Duke decides to stay and fight after the cops attack him at the bar one night for refusing to pay up. Duke decides to call in some muscle in the shape of his friend, Roy (Rasulala) and 3 of Roy’s buddies. The four men roll into town looking like The Four Tops on steroids, all of them big city high rollers, like Duke. Duke and Roy’s gang immediately rub out all the cops, and then take over the town themselves. Duke wants nothing to do with taking over the law enforcement, and isn’t too keen about Roy starting where the old police chief left off—squeezing the local establishments for their money. Soon things are even worse than before because Roy and his boys are even more ruthless then their predecessors.
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Duke soon realizes he’s responsible for bringing Roy into town and if he’s going to make things right he’ll have to be the one to drive them out. With some help from the locals and a stolen military vehicle he attempts to do just that. If this all sounds kind of familiar, that’s because the plot has been done several times in westerns over the years. A stranger comes into town and has to rub out some ruthless lawmen has been repackaged and re-imagined several times, but putting that plot in a modern setting is kind of cool.
While BUCKTOWN is no masterpiece, it’s an entertaining movie. It has some serious rough edges in the directing and some hammy performances and worst of all, a bland score, which is usually a highlight of most blaxploitation movies. The main theme is cool, but the music between the opening and ending credits leaves a lot to be desired. That’s about all there is to complain about really. Williamson does his thing like only he can do, and he does it well. Pam Grier is used well enough, although it’s not a big role. She brings the sexy--she even gets topless, and that’s all I’d ask for. Rasulala does very well as the heavy and he brings some class to the film. Carl Weathers’ star had not risen yet so his role here is minor, he only has a few lines, but I’m not surprised he went on to better things.
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The best part of this movie (besides Pam Grier’s gorgeous rack) is the final fight scene between Duke and Roy. This is one for ages in the same vein as Roddy Piper and Keith David’s fight in THEY LIVE. I should add that this is not a spoiler because if you thought there wasn’t going to be a final showdown with the hero and the villain you’re not much of a movie fan. Of course they fight in the end, but it’s the fight itself that steals the show—this is not a gloveless boxing match with precision punches, this a brawl and if you’ve ever been in a real fight, you can appreciate how great a job the two actors do to make it seem like a realistic fight. It’s sloppy, they throw objects, they roll around on the floor, they use knees and elbows and going below the belt is not out of the question. In a real fight the object in not just to win, but also to just stop the other guy from being able to attack you more. I’ve been in some scraps in my younger days, and I can say from experience that this fight scene is legit as you can get, it’s not pretty, but it’s realistic. For having the balls to not end the film with a glamorous looking street fight, but with a real brawl, I give the film a ton of respect.
Another thing I appreciate about the film is how it points out that money brings power, and power can breed corruption, it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black or whatever, money and power can corrupt anyone. Although that’s a negative thing, it’s also something that shows that we’re all the same no matter our skin color. We all have the ability to be good or bad and that’s not a race thing, it’s a human thing. Wow, I never thought a movie like BUCKTOWN could have a deep message.
If you’re a fan of blaxploitation and you haven’t checked this one out yet, I do recommend it, but also if you just like good old fashioned entertainment the way you could only get it in the seventies.
BUCKTOWN trailer