Customer Reviews

Black Dynamite [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Length:: 0:53 Mins

I saw this during its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival - and was lucky enough to run into the director, Scott Sanders and the incredibly talented composer and editor Adrian Younge in line at another screening. This video combines moments from the trailer with bits from my conversation with the filmmakers - all captured on a handy Flip Mino Camcorder.

Back in the day, films like Shaft, Foxy Brown and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song styled funkalicious jazzy soundtracks, tough black heroes and heroines and corrupt white cops and politicians. A new genre was born, both celebrating and exploiting black culture, targeting urban African-American audiences with its style and subject matter. Some of the best of these films have become cult favorites, and have influenced new filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, whose Jackie Brown paid explicit homage to the genre he'd grown up on and loved. Shaft was recently remade in slick Hollywood style by John Singleton; but for the original low budget style and campy flair you had to go to the bargain bin dvd versions, until now.

Created by Scott Sanders and Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite tells the tale of a righteous brother, who's got kung fu skills and knows just how to please the ladies. What he can't do is what he promised his mother on her death bed: protect his brother from the drug lords that are destroying the inner city. Upon hearing that his brother was killed, he swears revenge and sets out on a quest to discover those responsible. It turns out this was no simple hit - his brother's assassination was part of a vast conspiracy to disempower blacks by hitting them where it hurts the worst, and the conspiracy goes all the way to the top: President Richard Nixon himself, who, it turns out, has some sweet kung fu moves all his own.

The film is hilarious, taking all of the absurd, campy, raunchy and cool elements of traditional 70's blaxploitation films like Superfly and Dolemite, and tying them together into an absurdly funny epic revenge and save-the-world flick.

Part of the appeal is that the film mimics the on-the-fly imperfection of the old B-movie style Blaxploitation. Boom mikes occasionally appear in the shot, distracting the actor; obvious continuity problems (a woman whose tear of sadness appears and then disappears and reappears as the camera cuts back and forth between her and the big BD; an actor is suddenly replaced by a stand-in mid-scuffle, after he is obviously injured by a punch) add to the overall lightheartedness of the endeavor.

What impressed me, though, was that the film was not mocking blaxploitation, but rather paying homage. The filmmakers clearly know and love these films. Best of all, though, is Michael Jai White's absolute immersion in character as a tough-as-nails crusader whose soft heart and shy demeanor only occasionally surfaces. I haven't laughed out loud this much during a film in a very long time. Highly recommended, but not for the timid.

Wow. All i can say is Wow. This movie was so damn funny that I started crying in the theater. I had to wipe my eyes of the tears of laughter because I was missing the next scene. If you like the Naked Gun film series, or "I'm gonna git U sucka!" Then Black Dynamite should be right up your alley. So impeccably made to resemble the 1970's Blacksploitation films while incredibly tongue-in-cheek, Black Dynamite is just a non-stop laugh fest of obscure sight gags & goofy dialogue. When the boom mic hits Black in the afro in the 1st 10 minutes I knew we were in for a good time!

It's really a damn shame that this movie fell on deaf ears, after 1 week in the theaters you couldn't even find local showtimes b/c it was bumped out but it is more than worth the little attention it received nationally. I'll be buying copies of this movie on DVD for all my friends for Christmas without a doubt. I predict that Black Dynamite will go down in film history as a great cult classic. Ten years from now every college kid will have Black Dynamite in their Blu-Ray collection. From the opening scene with Black Dynamite's brother Jimmy being found out as a rat, Black Dynamite hits the ground running & the audience hits the floor laughing.

I really can't say enough about Black Dynamite. It is undeniably the most fun I've had in theaters in the last 5 years! "Main Man Black Dynamite!" - "But Black Dynamite, I SELL DRUGS IN THE COMMUNITY!" - Classic comedy gold!

Buy Black Dynamite on DVD without a doubt that you will be entertained. Fans of the Simpsons, Mr. Show, Always Sunny in Philadelphia will all enjoy Black Dynamite.

"Black Dynamite," starring actor, martial artist, and former stuntman Michael Jai White, is a riproaring but affectionate sendup of "blaxploitation" films, action films with black stars that started with "Shaft" in 1971 starring Richard Roundtree, and grew to be the greatest burst of black participation in Hollywood history. Black actors, writers, and directors worked as never before, and created films that drew massive black audiences. These films created heroes out of private eyes, pimps, Vietnam veterans, drug dealers, hustlers, and black revolutionaries. These films were cheaply made, and were often derided by film critics and scholars, but black audiences saw a Hollywood fantasy spin put on character types they knew, frustration they had being voiced, and perhaps most importantly, black people fighting and beating the system.

The plot involves White as Black Dynamite, a neighborhood enforcer whose brother gets killed by a unsavory alliance between drug dealers and the mob. Black Dynamite begins a rampage of vengeance, beating up the bad guys, and loving and charming women as he goes. The movie uses both broad and subtle humor to point out the silliness inherent in these films, but it is all done with love and affection.

Black Dynamite is a very funny film that harkens back to another place and time - when there wasn't huge blockbusters starring Will Smith and Jamie Foxx, and when the best entertainment in town was a film showing black people "sticking it to the man."

This is the FUNNIEST MOVIE I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE. (And I've been around since the ACTUAL 1970's. And, I'm a MOVIE COLLECTOR.) There are a LOT of funny movies out there, and a lot of different kinds of comedy that I like, dating back to classics from the 1930's; but for ME, this is THE BEST OF THE BEST.

Simply put, watch the trailer, which you can find either on youtube, or right here on Amazon, on the main Black Dynamite DVD product page. Just below the product image of the DVD product, is a small video window with a trailer. The movie is JUST LIKE THE TRAILER. If you love the trailer, you'll love the movie. I don't know HOW they made the ENTIRE MOVIE every bit as good as the trailer, but they did! (usually the trailer is always "the best parts of the movie" - not here!).

Most importantly, BOTH the main actor, AND the guy who did the soundtrack, have an obvious un-deniable LOVE for what they were doing. It REALLY COMES THROUGH. You can tell they THOROUGHLY UNDERSTAND, and LOVE, this style of movie, and the classic 1960s-70s style of vintage soul music. This entire movie was actually the brainchild of the lead actor, Michael Jai White, who himself is an avid Blaxploitation movie collector, who would invite friends over for parties where they'd watch old Blaxploitation films - then he started Dressing The Part in '70s suits & the afro wig - and it grew from there.

Black Dynamite is a real LABOR OF LOVE, and it's FROM THE HEART... and it's DY-NO-MITE!! (Once you see the movie, you'll want to pick up the soundtrack album by multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge, too!)

If you have even a smidgen of Blaxploitation film viewing under your belt you will LOVE Black Dynamite. I had the pleasure of seeing this in NYC a month ago with my friends. We were constantly bowled over laughing ourselves silly. From the opening moment to the "sex" scene to the climax, Black Dynamite lovingly parodies the genre while making a film that clearly looked and sounded like it was from the Grindhouse era.

Michael Jai White is absolutely the MAN and his performance is perfect. Purposely stilted (as is everyone else around him), White unleashes Kung Fu and Jive-talking-Fu to his many enemies and friends. The film's payoff is one of the funniest I've seen in years.

I appreciate all the love and stupendous silliness put into the making of Black Dynamite and I, for, one would love to see Mr. White return as the title character.

I hope the dvd has all the Fight Smack in the Orphanage site clips, that "Ding Dong Roar" rip on Sesame Street was almost as funny as the film.

It all began when actor Michael Jai White ("Spawn", "The Dark Knight", "The Underground Bounty Hunter") was listening to "Superbad" by James Brown on his iPod and suddenly he came up with an idea to have a film spoofing '70s blaxpoitation films (1970's exploitation films targeting urban Black audiences). White got together with a few friends and began taking photos of himself in '70s outfits and hooked up with director Scott Sanders ("Thick as Thieves") and their friend and fellow actor Byron Minns ("Undisputed", "South Central") to help craft "Black Dynamite".

The low budget independent film was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by Sony Worldwide Acquisitions for distribution and now is being released on Blu-ray and DVD.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Black Dynamite" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1). What the film does well is capturing the look of a 70's film by shooting via 16mm color reversal which brought in more grain and contrast. Blacks are deep and gave the film an older look. Thus when combining 70's classic footage (such as scenes from "Charlies Angels", "Swat", etc.) from the Sony Library, it works with this film. The grain is intentional and so the colors are definitely not natural but it works for this film as yellows and brown colors definitely stick out and blacks are much deeper. Also, the Blu-ray manages to capture the detail of the clothing, the hair, the hardware, the walls and surfaces. It's a very cool looking film on Blu-ray.

As for the lossless audio presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, again...I was very surprised and impressed by the audio. It helps when they brought in Adrian Younge, a musician who still plays 70's music and brought in that 70's style of feel for the film. Dialogue is clear through the center channels, music and action come on strong as well. There are many action scenes from fighting to car chases, car explosions, gun shots, especially near the end of the film that takes advantage of the surround channels.

I suppose for a low budget independent film, I was not expecting too much from the audio. So, to hear the lossless audio being utilized with crystal clear dialogue, music and special effects, I was very pleased with the film's soundtrack!

Subtitles are in English, English SDH and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Black Dynamite" comes with the following special features in standard and high definition with English stereo. Included are:

*

* Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Scott Sanders, Actor/Co-Writer Michael Jai White and Actor/Co-Writer Byron Minns - A fun and hilarious commentary as the three creators of the film talk about certain scenes and how it came about, what they were trying to achieve and more.
* Deleted and Alternate Scenes - (25:15) Featuring 17 deleted and alternate scenes.
* Lighting the Fuse - (22:48) The making of "Black Dynamite". How the film came to be, the music, the costumes, the look on film and more.
* The 70's Back in Action - (14:13) Michael Jai White, Scott Sanders, cast and crew talk about utilizing styles and lingo from '70s blaxpoitation films in "Black Dynamite" and what they enjoyed about the films and the talents back then.
* The Comic-Con Experience - (18:03) The "Black Dynamite" panel at San Diego Comic Con with Scott Sanders, Byron Minns, Michael Jai White and Salli Richardson Whitifeld.
* Trailers - Trailers for upcoming releases from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
* BD- Live enabled with movieIQ - This BD-Live feature can connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie! Also includes an interactive playlist where you can bookmark your favorite songs featured in the film and email yourself a customized playlist! NOTE: You need a profile 2.0 Blu-ray player (that connect online) to access movieIQ.

JUDGMENT CALL:

At first, I was a bit skeptical about "Black Dynamite" but after watching the film, I can tell you that I absolutely enjoyed this film.

The storyline spoofs '70s blaxpoitation and Kung-Fu films but where a lot of those films back then were cheesy and were being pumped out like crazy because they were what was making money for the film companies during that time, "Black Dynamite" manages to capture the good from those films and make it a hilarious, action/comedy film. What makes this film work is the costume design, the afro's, the slang, the jive talk, utilizing '70s footage, along with finding homes that still have maintained the '70s look (yes, shag carpets and all) and of course, the use of '70s style funk and soul music. For characters, you got the jive-talking pimps, the militants, the crooked cops and politicians, the whores, the drug dealers...all integral to the film with dialogue filled with'70s expletives and ethnic slurs. An obvious nod to "Shaft", "Superfly", "The Mack", "Return of the Dragon" and "Foxy Brown" and other films and the talents of that era.

Just a tremendous job by the filmmakers and performances that worked for this film. The fact that it was done for under $3 million is quite impressive!

From the naked women, to the militant and his men armed with machine guns, the talent made this film quite believable as if it was a '70s film. The choice by director Scott Sanders to use the Super 16 Color Reversal film stock was a perfect choice as the film literally looks and feels like like a '70s film. For a low budget independent film, the Blu-ray manages to enhance the look and feel of this film as you can see a good amount of grain and the colors are just vibrant. Audio quality from the dialogue, music and the special effects are well-done and also a good amount of special features are included as well.

If there was one thing that I felt wasn't impressive was the studio's handling of the distribution for the film for its theatrical release. There have been a lot of small, absolutely dumb comedy films that have received decent screenings across America and for once, we have a creative and enjoyable African American comedy film written and directed by African-Americans with a multi-ethnic cast and a film that has received positive reviews from film critics but yet it received a very limited screening nationwide. Definitely not cool. But fortunately we get a solid Blu-ray release for "Black Dynamite" and if you have any interest in this film, I can easily recommend this film to be included in your collection.

"Black Dynamite" is a film that just makes you laugh from beginning to end. For those with familiarity with blaxpoitation and even old Kung-Fu films, you can't help but be amused and impressed by what the filmmakers were able to accomplish. Even for those who aren't familiar with the films back then, there are enough jokes that viewers can still enjoy. It's a well-crafted, very creative film that is worth checking out and worth owning, especially if you enjoy comedy films. And yes, I am hoping that there is a sequel.

"Black Dynamite" is a solid Blu-ray release and definitely recommended!

I was very skeptical going into this movie. Was it just going to be obnoxious humor that would be targeting a specific demographic? Was this just going to be a cheesy waste of money? Was it going to be jam packed full of the same actors that you see over and over and over again? I did not want to see Beyonce Knowles playing Foxy whatever with Ludacris playing someone else. They are talented, but I am tired of feeling like every movie has to have a rapper just to make it hip. I did not want to see a bunch of "over exposed" guest appearances that we see now a days.
To my surprise, the movie was not overdone with over commercialized pop stars and I could not get over how well it tapped into the classic 70's genre. The humor was clever, intelligent and I was entertained all the way through! I absolutely loved how they would solve the complex riddles to come up with a motive and the plot was too finny! The explanation of the pimp slap had me rolling and the end was classic! What was so brilliant was how Scott Sanders (Director) did not make this goofy and unwatchable like you see movies now a days (Scary movies, Date Movie, Epic Movie etc.). I feel like most directors would have ruined this thing, but the Director did a masterful job! Someone else mentioned how quotable the lines are and I could not agree more! Hilarious! I cannot say enough about Michael Jai White either! This guy was dead on with everything throughout the entire flick! I could not get over it! Please give us more, but please keep it true to the genre and avoid being "goofy" like the movies mentioned above. I have been telling my friends to check this one out and they all love it! If your community has a smack and malt liquor problem that is spilling into the orphanages, call Black Dynamite and he will clean things up with a Kung Fu chop and a fresh can of whoop a$$!

This is by far the funniest movie I have ever seen. I was literally laughing through all but five minutes of this movie it is spot on in its portrayal of old blaxploitaion films and a must see for everyone.

Black Dynamite is one of the best films of 2009. A hilarious send up of the blaxploitation films' of the 1970's, it surpasses the quality of its 1980s contemporary I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and is on par with the Naked Gun and Airplane! parodies from that decade. You'll be talking about this movie for days and reciting the one-liners verbatim. This is one of the most fun movies I've had the pleasure to watch in a long time.
Michael Jai White is Black Dynamite, a former government agent now neighborhood enforcer out for revenge when finds out his brother has been killed by The Man. That's the premise of this movie and that's all you really need to know. On his quest for revenge as he cleans up the streets there are tons of jokes based on the gaffes you'll be talking about for weeks on end. It's a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the White House and the President in a Kung-Fu climax that has to be seen to believed.
Black Dynamite was one of the best movies of 2009. Forget that Avatar nonsense, THIS movie should have been nominated for some Oscars! Everything from the set design to the music is the highest quality. For a film costing about $3 million dollars the set design, costumes and cinematography and production values had the feel of a big-budget period film, and the quality was on the screen in every frame. My only complaint about this fantiastic film is there wasn't enough Salli Richardson in it!
In their portrayal of the bad acting of those 1970s flicks, the entire cast gives a great performance with several standouts. Michael Jai White is awesome as Black Dynamite. This is gonna be his signature role; he takes his craft to the next level in this one. Tommy Davidson is hilarious as Cream Corn. Byron Minns steals scenes as Bullhorn. Minns feels like he was channeling the spirit of the late Rudy Ray Moore, in some frames it was like Dolemite was speaking through him! His rhymes and his one-liners are unforgettable. Kym Whitley is hilarious as Honey Bee; she channels the late Lady Reed in her portrayal of the character. Nicole Ari Parker disappears into her character and Salli Richardson is a delight to watch as Gloria.
Director Scott Sanders crafts a beautiful film that looks like it could have come from the 1970's. Cinematically, there's no distinction between this 2009 film and the classic blaxploitation movies that came from the late Samuel Z Arkoff's American Interantional pictures in the 1970's. Everything here is so period accurate it's not funny! White, Sanders and Minns must have sat down and meticulously studied every blaxploitation film from the 1970's frame-by-frame. I've watched dozens of Blaxploitation films from Dolemite to Foxy Brown to Black Samurai, and all the gags the in-jokes made about the genre and this film are right on the money.
Black Dynamite is a Shawn James Five Star Essential Video. I highly recommend you pick this one up NOW!

I've made around 20 folks swear to go see this out of casual conversations, now that I own the DVD I can host screenings and make sure they see this laugh-till-you-drool film.
I've found myself quoting this movie many times already and I must get the theme song as my ringtone.