User Reviews

Although it's not quite as much fun as its dynamite star combo (Fred Williamson - Pam Grier) prepares you for, "Bucktown" offers a thoughtful examination of the link between power and corruption. Countering the charges of reverse-racism that have often been made against the blaxploitation genre as a whole, "Bucktown" suggests that corruption is color-blind. But don't worry, the film still has enough violence and jive talk to satisfy the more undemanding fans of the genre. The stunning Pam Grier gives one of her finest performances in an atypical (for the era) non-action role; it's also interesting to see Carl Weathers in a fairly prominent supporting role, just one year before he hit the big time as Apollo Creed in "Rocky". **1/2 out of 4.

This is easily the most disappointing, least gratifying movie of the entire so-called blacksploitation genre, which, by the way, are films we generally enjoy a great deal in our home. Rather than being "exploitation" or demeaning, these films actually provide a priceless insight into an era. Well, not Bucktown.

In this story, Duke returns to Bucktown to operate the night club left to him by his recently deceased brother. He quickly learns that the city is entirely controlled by a corrupt police force, bleeding protection money out of all the local businesses. Duke resists, and determines that he will rescue the city from the corrupt police. Unfortunately, he does so by calling in a posse of his friends (these people are vaguely explained as some former black-militants who have worked with Duke on "jobs" in the past) and they simply murder the entire police department in cold blood. And literally in the presence of hundreds of witnesses who do nothing to stop it. Ignorance is not a justification for murder, and it would have been much more entertaining to see the Cracker Police suffer for their actions as opposed to merely getting whacked in the street. While revenge is a ubiquitous and generally satisfying theme in films of this genre, it is a far cry from seeing Pam Grier track down the thugs who off'ed her family, cuss them out, give them a jujitsu ass-kickin' and set their 'fro on fire. That has art (and a reason for existing) and merits a level of respect that is quite undeserved by simply shooting someone in the back. Of course, in this bizarre tale, she is playing a woman completely under The Man's thumb, afraid of the Crackers who run her town and oppress her people. Indeed, her advice to Duke is, "Run, man, they gonna kill you!"

Following the sickening and gratuitous violence, we are expected to believe that the town's mayor wholeheartedly condones the actions of Duke and his friends, congratulating them and offering to throw a parade in their honor, as opposed to, say, calling the district attorney to press capital murder charges against them and have them taken into custody. Duke's posse declines the parade and instead opts to fill the numerous vacancies on the police force created by their recent killing spree. They immediately prove to be even more corrupt than their Cracker Police predecessors (to quote the mayor, "They are ten times worse than what we had before!"). Now Duke finds he must again rescue the citizens of Bucktown from corrupt, protection-racket law enforcement officials and again make it safe for decent folk to operate a prostitution business in the streets. Unfortunately, Duke has already lost all moral high ground and sympathy due a hero, as he was a willing participant in the murder of the original police force. I wouldn't have cared one way or the other if he had rescued Bucktown or gotten plugged himself at this point. I suppose we are to be entertained by the clever way Duke has to outsmart the new Police Goons, but in reality the film has now just become an opera of gratuitous violence, Duke murders all of his former friends and allies in cold blood with the same absence of compassion he had when gunning down the Cracker Police. Duke is a pig.

Finally, when everyone in town but Duke, Aretha, and the employees of the local brothel are dead and bleedin' in the street, our hero and heroine walk off into the night as though they had some admirable qualities or redeeming values; they don't. Duke is merely a murderous thug and Aretha his enabling misogynist accomplice. If you are interested in this genre of film, by all means, I highly recommend them, see Coffy, Foxy Brown, Truck Turner, Blacula, Sheba Baby…but if in the process you should run across this DVD, throw it as far away as you possibly can! Drop it like it's hot! It should be treated as one would treat a glowing puddle of nuclear waste! There is no single film in the entire Blacksploitation era that is not dramatically more entertaining, satisfying and populated with more sympathetic and admirable characters than this piece of slime, obviously written by and targeted at some hormonally imbalanced high school sophomores.

Blaxploitation superstars Fred Williamson and Pam Grier are the attractions of this mid 70's cult entry, a very violent film that I'll always remember for the cracking sound of the baseball bat on one of the white victim's head. It's not in closeup so you're not going to see blood or splattering brain, but it is certainly disturbing. The setting of Haralson County Georgia is ripe with corruption by the white leaders (sheriff Art Lund in particular), and when activist Jack Crowder goes after everyone who's made the black community miserable, the visiting Williamson, under advice from Grier, realizes that Crowder has equally corrupt plans as well that will favor no one.

Truly a disturbing film, this holds no punches in revealing that when power is given, the black man can be just as sinister as the white man, and the violent takeover is one of the most memorable lengthy montages of violence in films, up there with the "Godfather" movies. In smaller roles are Carl Weathers (pre-"Rocky") and Bernie Hamilton, with Williamson and Lund giving the strongest performances. Tierre Turner steals every scene he's in a a very determined, funny teenage con-artist. A lot of sexuality includes one scene that doesn't end happily for the participants. I'd call this one perhaps the most depressing of the several dozen blaxploitation films I've seen because it reveals that there's no ending to the crisis of injustice that nearly 50 years later is still rampant.

Duke Johnson (superbly played by the almighty Fred Williamson) returns to his Southern home town only to discover that the local corrupt police force rules over the place with an iron fist. Johnson calls on several guys from the big city led by his smooth good buddy Roy (the terrific Thalmus Rasulala) to clean the hamlet up. Unfortunately, Roy and his nasty goons take over the crime racket after they wipe the cops out. Director Arthur Marks, working from a tough, smart and complex script by Bob Ellison, ably creates a hard, starkly amoral tone, maintains a steady pace throughout, and stages the action scenes with considerable brio (a ferocious protracted climactic fight between Duke and Roy rates as a definite exciting highlight). Moreover, the violence is every bit as rough and bloody as it ought to be. The bang-up cast qualifies as another significant asset: Pam Grier as Duke's fiery, sassy old flame Aretha, Tony King as slick sleazeball TJ, Bernie Hamilton as amiable drunk Harley, Art Lund as vice, hateful Chief Patterson, Tierre Turner as brash kid Steve, Morgan Upton as vicious deputy Sam, and Carl Weathers as brutal muscle Hambone. Both Robert Birchall's gritty, yet polished cinematography and Johnny Pate's funky, syncopated score are up to speed. An authentically funky grindhouse nugget.

I feel embarrassed that I slept on this classic and I am just discovering it now. You know what they say,"better late than never". Nonetheless, I really enjoyed and was very impressed with the film. Bucktown was fast paced, action packed, but also told a good story with interesting characters. Fred Williamson is the leading man and he delivers one of his best performances here. Pam Grier is Fred's love interest and is a strong woman, but is not a lady of action like she was in Coffy. This is a different character and Pam's performance was also very good. Fred Williamson comes back to Bucktown to bury his brother and keep his business going. In doing so, he finds out Bucktown is a corrupt place where the racist white police demand protection money. Fred knows he can't handle these guys by himself and calls his friend Thalamus Rasulala and he brings his group of heavies to help out his homie. In doing so by dispatching the redneck sheriff and his deputies, they see an opportunity to make some money and take the place of the corrupt white officers. This becomes a problem as the black cops strongarm the citizens of Bucktown. This builds to a violent climax and showdown between Thalamus Rasulala's gang and Fred Williamson. Thalamus Rasulala is great in his role as well. Carl Weathers gives a nice early showing as a heavy. Overall, I thought this was really well done and I really enjoyed it. I can't find a single complaint about this movie, so Bucktown comes highly recommended.