Baadasssss | | Cast : | Mario Van Peebles, Joy Bryant, Ossie Davis, Nia Long | | Director : | Mario Van Peebles | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | February 01, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Van Peebles delivers a true and unforgettable experience | Content
 | Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City) stars as his father Melvin Van Peebles who wanted to make a movie called Sweet Sweetbacks' Badasssss Song and he puts everything on the line. He even has a distant relationship with his son. In the movie, Melvin casts his own son, who was like 12 or 13 in a scene where he loses his virginity to a hooker. There's no joking or kidding around in this movie people, Mario embodies his father and breathes his air all throughout this giving us a performance of no holds barred truth. Mario lived threw all of this and his father had a dream and it worked and it paved the way for other films, like Shaft. Also starring David Alan Grier (In Living Color), Adam West (Batman), Nia Long (Boiler Room), Terry Crewes (Friday After Next), Saul Rubinek (True Romance), Troy Garity (Bandits), Abe Vigoda (Underworld (1996)), Vincent Schivalli (The People Vs. Larry Flynt), Paul Rodriguez (Blood Work), Ossie Davis (Get On The Bus) and Khelo Thomas (Holes) as young Mario Van Peebles. A fascinating story about one man's dream. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 17, 2005 | | Summary | Very Good Film | Content
| Props to Mario Van Peebles for telling His father's Stor through all the Struggles,Racism,Negativity&whatnot that went with Making this Classic Independent Film.nowadays Indy films are cool&Happening but back in the day it was a true risk&especially for a Black Man trying to call His own Shots.Props to the Whole cast for having patiences&Believing in Melvin Van Peebles Dream&vision. a true team effort.Earth,Wind&Fire getting a Hook up.that is interesting that a then unknown Band would get to make History with this film. the dynamic of Father&Son is truly something else. it truly captures the time period really well. you also get the Complexity of Melvin Van Peebles in this film as well.the extra features were cool.how the film started out &Grossing 15 Million Dollars was incredible.History lesson.Nia Long was on Point as well.the Whole Cast was Good&this should be required viewing for any Indy Film Maker. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 23, 2005 | | Summary | Let's play the violin and cry me a river | Content
| The first fifteen minutes is just a rehash of what we already know, the raw deal that African-Americans got from Hollywood in the bad old days, when there were few African-American actors on screen, and of those, few were realistic. In the background, we hear snippets of Martin Luther King's and Malcolm X's (?) speeches, an unnecessary reminder of the times. This gets old. I didn't see much else going on in the film, so I pressed the Stop button and moved on to the next movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 13, 2005 | | Summary | "Made for the Brother, by the Brother, about the Brother!" | Content
| One of the wonderful attributes of Baadasssss is that you don't have to have seen the original movie to appreciate this riveting docudrama based on Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. I hear it was a terrible movie, but apparently it did the trick in presenting a story of a black radical that went up against a corrupt white society and actually won. The film eventually became an enormous success and was a key influence on the then-emerging blaxsploitation genre.
The terrible struggles that Melvin had to go through to actually get the film made are now documented in this absolutely terrific drama that is directed by, and stars Mario Van Peebles', Melvin's hunky son. Baadasssss is a fabulous film and rumor has it that it is much better than the film that originally inspired it. The film is also notable for the striking resemblance that Mario has to his father, and also for the fact that Mario gives an astounding performance that is certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination.
Baadasssss begins with Melvin struggling to obtain financing for a film that no Hollywood studio would dare touch. He tries to get backing from one producer (a lascivious Adam West), but only as long as Melvin does intimate favors for him. Soon after this, another backer is arrested in a drug bust just as they are about to start shooting. The production is soon plagued with problems: He can't afford a union crew, the Screen Actors Guild ban him from using any of their actors, and the only way he can prevent the filming from being shut down is to convince the white union representatives that he is actually shooting a black porno film.
It doesn't help that his leading lady's boyfriend objects to her doing such controversial material, and that several members of his racially mixed crew are arrested by police who are convinced that they have stolen the film equipment. Melvin is also forced to resort to using his afro-haired, wide-eyed thirteen-year-old son (played by Khleo Thomas) for the love scenes, much to the disgust of his girlfriend.
Baadasssss is not only a complex depiction of underground movie making, but also a sophisticated portrait of a complicated father-and-son relationship, fueled as much by anger and resentment as by mutual love and respect. Mario absolutely fills the screen as Melvin, portraying him as an authoritarian, self-absorbed, dictatorial, and fanatical man, who is often unfeeling towards his family, yet loves them dearly. Melvin constantly parades around shirtless, giving orders, while indiscriminately firing crewmembers that disagree with him. He's frustrated and often discouraged with his own community, but he never lets the setbacks and his disillusionment get in the way of his vision.
The movie effectively uses voice over, clips from the original movie, and also interviews with some of the actors who play the characters in the movie (one of which is Bill Cosby, who helped put up some of the money). Fast, funny, and enormously entertaining, Baadasssss' ultimate legacy is probably to show how important Melvin's work really was. The time had come for the stereotypical portrayal of blacks and other minorities in Hollywood film to be challenged, and this film shows how resoundingly successful his father's film was in tapping into the restlessness, disaffection, and alienation of the African-American audience at the time. Mike Leonard February 05.
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| Rating | | | Date | January 03, 2005 | | Summary | Dawn good film! | Content
| I was very hestitant to pay $9.00 at the movie theatre to see this film after seeing the original movie " Sweet Sweetback Baadass Song" by Melvin Van Peebles. Though I am a hugh fan of African American Cinema of the 70's, that was one movie I just could not get into. Mostly throughout the film, all you see is the Elder Peebles(Melvin Van Peebles) running from the Po-Pos. I was lost entirely after watching that film because the film was to have supposed to be about him finally standing up to the white man, demanding respect and better treatment, not running from him.
Now the remake "Baadasss" by his son Mario Van Peebles was definately a much better film. Mario Van Peebles plays the Elder Peebles (His dad). This film shows how he and his son handled the setbacks in trying to complete and bring his first independent film to the big screen in which started the Blaxplotation Era . After watching the rental copy of "Baadasss" I was really impressed with this film. It was very well written, exciting, and it's definately worth adding to the movie collection. |
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