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Foxy Brown

Foxy Brown

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Grier does it again
Review: I continue to marvel at the DVD revolution. When I first learned about DVD several years ago, I rightly figured that it would change the way we watch movies. What I didn't figure on was how much. Thanks to the acquisition of a relatively cheap player and a cheaper subscription to a rental service, I can sit in front of the television set EVERY NIGHT and watch cult, exploitation, horror, action, and other films in dozens of genres that were next to impossible to find a few years ago. And if you could find a beat up VHS copy of a low budget classic, for example, you would pay top dollar for the privilege because you had to buy, not rent, the film. Video stores out where I live long ago quit carrying the sorts of films I longed to see. Heck, the last time I considered myself lucky at the local movie store was when I found an uncut version of Joe D'Amato's "Buio Omega," under the name "Buried Alive," at a major retailer well known for not carrying such cinematic treasures. And that was probably fifteen years ago! Yep, DVD is not only here to stay but also keeps growing by leaps and bounds. No film is too outrageous for rerelease on DVD, which is where Jack Hill's blaxploitation epics enter the picture.

First Hill gave us Pam Grier in the over the top "Coffy." The following year he gave us an eyeful of Pam again in "Foxy Brown." The latter film is a real hoot, a film that contains lots of sleazy scenes done with a style that only the 1970s could bring us. Grier stars as, not surprisingly, Foxy Brown, a woman just trying to do the right things in life. When her narcotics agent boyfriend Michael Anderson (Terry Carter) perishes at the hands of thugs in the employ of the notorious drug kingpin Katherine Wall (Kathryn Loder), it's time to kick some serious you know what! Foxy goes on her own undercover mission to bring down Wall and her vicious sidekick Steve Elias (Peter Brown), and she uses every asset she can to accomplish her task. Her job is made more difficult thanks to her no good drug dealing brother Link (Antonio Fargas), whose debts to Wall's operation virtually insure that he will do something that his sister finds morally reprehensible. Her brother initially turns to his sister for help when Wall's heavies turn up the heat, but it's all over when he learns about Foxy's boyfriend and how much his employers want this guy. Foxy must now turn against her own flesh and blood if she wants to seek revenge.

By posing as the voluptuous Misty Cotton, Foxy infiltrates Wall's personal harem in an effort to gather evidence against those responsible for her personal tragedy. What Brown discovers is an operation involved in all sorts of illicit activities, oftentimes activities that prey on the black community. In fact, Foxy will eventually enlist the assistance of a local Black Panther type group dedicated to the eradication of drugs in the community. In the process of righting wrongs, she makes friends with another working girl, discovers that corruption runs high up in the city's power structure, and narrowly survives a dangerous abduction. Foxy punches, stabs, shoots, kicks, and even sets fire to anyone who stands in her way. She's not above stashing weapons in her Afro, either. And she does it all while wearing the funkiest fashions these eyes have seen since Grier donned even more outrageous clothes in "Coffy." The conclusion to "Foxy Brown" ranks as one of the most jaw dropping denouements in cinematic history--at least in B movie history. It's sleazy and seedy, and completely fitting considering the film deals with a strong woman asserting herself.

"Foxy Brown" isn't quite as good as "Coffy," but it's darn close. I missed the excellent cat fighting sequences found in the first film, the razorblades in the Afro trick, and Grier's Jamaican accent. While there is a chick fight in a bar here, it isn't as well choreographed and isn't as much fun. The violence her also doesn't quite live up to Hill and Grier's earlier collaboration. "Coffy" had a nifty exploding head scene and a nasty sequence involving a guy being dragged by a car. "Foxy Brown" can't really compete with these outrageous scenes--aside from it's ending, of course--but it doesn't really matter. The film is still a blast as Grier does what she does best: kill the bad guys and look good doing it. Sid Haig even shows up in a small role as a fast talking pilot who falls under Foxy's charms and soon regrets his decision. There's even an unintentionally hilarious part at the end of the film when we hear a voice over say "Superbaaaaad!" as Grier gets in a car. Oh man, I laughed so hard my sides hurt when I heard that gem. But further reflection proves the veracity of that statement--Foxy is superbad, and in a great way that continues to entertain viewers who weren't even born when this film first arrived on the scene.

The extras on the disc include a very nice transfer of the film, a trailer, and another monotonous commentary from Jack Hill. While the guy made some great exploitation films, both blaxploitation and women in prison flicks, listening to his commentaries is often an excruciating experience. I still recommend giving them a quick pass through, however, since Hill always throws out a few intriguing comments about surviving the low budget filmmaking process. If you're just starting out with the blaxploitation genre, start with "Coffy" and then move on to this one. You'll like it.




Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HEY ,HEY ,FOXY OH MS. FOXY BROWN!!!!
Review: I LIKED THIS MOVIE. PAM GRIER IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ACTRESSES. SHE DOES SOME WONDERFUL ACTION MOVES AND SHE TALKS A LOT OF TRASH. SHE CAN KICK YOUR BUT SO YOU BETTER NOT MESS WITH FOXY BECAUSE SHE IS SUPERBAD AND A WHOLE LOT OF WOMAN.(WELL AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT HER BROTHER SAYS). I ENJOYED THE MOVIE I LIKE THE ACTION AND I ALSO LIKED THE ENDING WAY TO GO PAM. I LIKE THIS MOVIE AND IT IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES PAM GRIER AND BLAXPLOITATION FILMS.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dis movie rox my sox cause dat pam gurl is in it....
Review: i love pam gurl cause she is the hottest black gurl alive and i am black too and i rarley get to see da hot gurls........TARA BANX AND PAM GRIET ARE DA HOTTESTA GURLSA IN DA HOLLA ENTIRA PLANETA! will u marry me kizzol.....i love u gurls......i love da part with dat guy and that part with that other person!!!!..

EAT ROX MAI SOX MAHON!!!1

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: She's Foxy.. but the movie stinks..
Review: I snuck into a theatre to see this movie when it came out.. so when I saw it for sale..I thought I had to have it.. Upon further review.. this is simply is an awful movie! The limited times that Pam takes off her shirt almost makes it worth the price.. but not really. There were good movies made in this time period, but this is not one of them. What a shame that Pam's talents were wasted on this blaxpoitation crap.. she should have been a huge star.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Deceiving!
Review: i thought i was gonna see the famous philipino female rapper! all i got was a lousy movie with bad acting and slow unrehearsed fight scenes. no story what so ever. terrible at best! i would recommend the movie "lil' kim". much better "props" and good behind the scenes bonuses.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Kick in the Head
Review: Ignore all the blather about "blaxploitation" and "camp", this is two-fisted B-action movie with an involving story, a kickass performance (from Ms. Grier) and joltingly brutal scenes of action violence.
Getting a hoot out of the period costumes and attitudes is great, but anyone who enjoys a fierce action film will probably be blown away by this flick, which plays like an episode of 'Starsky & Hutch' directed by Paul Verhoeven. At times it seems that the sleazier and more violent a scene gets, the more craft and skill writer/director Jack Hill brings to it. What audiences thought about it at the time of its original release can only be imagined, but almost any modern viewer is likely to be stunned as Foxy goes up against a degenerate bunch of sleazoids and realistically (and literally) takes them apart.
Still strong to this day, 'Foxy Brown' makes most modern action flicks look like episodes of 'Matlock'.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Kick in the Head
Review: Ignore all the blather about "blaxploitation" and "camp", this is two-fisted B-action movie with an involving story, a kickass performance (from Ms. Grier) and joltingly brutal scenes of action violence.
Getting a hoot out of the period costumes and attitudes is great, but anyone who enjoys a fierce action film will probably be blown away by this flick, which plays like an episode of 'Starsky & Hutch' directed by Paul Verhoeven. At times it seems that the sleazier and more violent a scene gets, the more craft and skill writer/director Jack Hill brings to it. What audiences thought about it at the time of its original release can only be imagined, but almost any modern viewer is likely to be stunned as Foxy goes up against a degenerate bunch of sleazoids and realistically (and literally) takes them apart.
Still strong to this day, 'Foxy Brown' makes most modern action flicks look like episodes of 'Matlock'.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Disappointing......
Review: Jack Hill's Foxy Brown isn't a sly piece of filmmaking. Hill's cartoonish screenplay gives Pam Grier nothing to work with in this cheesy revenge yarn that's more about skin instead of substance. She wants revenge for the murder of her boyfriend by the syndicate and will do anything to get the satisfaction of retribution. Almost every one of the paper-thin characters is just there for her to kill, maim, or injure. The film goes from campy to downright silly when a henchman gets ground up by an airplane propeller and the absurdity reaches a climax when Foxy pulls a pistol out of her Afro. Ugh! To see Pam do this right, get Coffy or the far superior Jackie Brown. And avoid the Halle Berry remake coming up. That's going to be a funky piece of Gorgonzola too.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: cool-ish
Review: Not bad 70's time capsule.Not quite as enjoyable as it should be though as it tends to drag quite a bit in places.15 minutes or so cut from it would have probably made it a sharper film.Needless to say the hairstyles and the wardrobe are hilarious.As is some of the dialogue.Worth a look.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I LOVE PAM, BUT......
Review: Once again, a TERRIBLE DVD!! The movie is A CLASSIC, and like the 'Coffy' DVD, you don't get your money's worth.You DO get 'MONO SOUND' with this DVD, and I was hoping for a 'surround sound' experience when I bought this disc.If I were you, I would AVOID ALL OF THESE 'SOUL CINEMA' DVDS, because they don't give you a full 5.1 Digital transfer, or any 'DVD Bonus Features lke interviews, etc.Save your money, and either buy the VHS tape, or wait for better DVDS.I gave this DVD 2 stars just because Pam was involved, otherwise it would get 1 star!!!


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