Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Rating:
Summary: Among the worst
Review: When I first saw this movie about 30 years ago I thought it was one of the worst I had ever seen. I recently watched a video of it and my opinion was reinforced. I am appalled that Melvin Van Peebles would be considered the "father" of black cinema based upon a film of this poor quality. The dialogue (what little there was as the main character barely says 5 lines) was infantile, the (dare I say)plot was weak to the point of being barely discernible, the (forgive me for using the term)acting was laughable and the gratuitous and explicit sex was extremely offensive particularly since it had no apparent relationship to the (dare I say)plot. The depiction of an approximately 12 yr. old child in one of these scenes was particularly appalling. I'm not surprised that this film marked the beginning of the so called blaxploitation movies of the 1970's because anyone who spent $3.00(price at the time) to see it was exploited. Although many of these '70's films were low budget and poorly made, this one was among the worst.

Rating:
Summary: Essential to understanding African-American cinema
Review: While this movie is, in many ways, distasteful, none of it is without reason. It exposes and redefines the traditional stereotypes of African-Americans in cinema and also explores the issues facing the African American community in the late 60s and early 70s (much of it is also relevant to today). While it may be unsavory, it is nonetheless an important work. If one takes the time to watch and understand the film (and you may need some help from those more knowledgeable about film history) you will be rewarded with a fuller understanding of African American cinema.

Rating:
Summary: ZERO STARS
Review: With a name like Sweetback, I excepted something cool and exciting like Superfly. But this has to be one of the worse films that I have ever seen. I couldn't figure out what was the point of the film until half way through: absolutely nothing. My finger was permanently on the fast forward button because most of the scenes were pointless or were too disgusting to watch. You don't know how appalled I was when the beginning opened up with an 11 year old being raped. I wondered why someone would let their child participate in such an act just to be in a movie. There is no real acting and the characters are all one-dimensional and shallow. Sweetback rarely utters a word. All he does is run, screw, and kill. No shame at all. He runs through the city, through the woods, and through the desert, wearing the same funky smelling outfit. How he managed to convince someone to switch clothes with him for $5, I don't know. On the other hand his afro remained perfectly even and his sideburns and beard were always neatly trimmed. The cinematography was so awful that it made me dizzy. The music was wack and it was played constantly. The nudity and the sex scenes were more than enough and unnecessary. 'Sweetback' was just a weak film attempting to portray itself as something deep and real. This movie was boring and it sucked. Skip this at all costs.