Coventry This review's title obviously refers to a famous Julius Caesar quote, and personally I think the greatest thing about "Black Caesar" is the subtle title reference towards the great historical leader. I deliberately state "subtle" reference, because the name itself isn't mentioned anywhere throughout the entire film, but the similarities between protagonist Tommy Gibbs and the Roman emperor are clever and relevant. Tommy also builds his own way to the top; in this case the conquering of a mafia empire that quickly becomes as over sized, cluttered and unmanageable as the Roman Empire. His methods are also merciless and strategic, but he also gradually transforms into a dictator feared by his loved ones as well as the target of conspiracies and assassination attempts. I don't know about you, but I think it's quite an ambitious and intelligent concept for a supposedly simple and low-budgeted piece of 70's exploitation trash! That being said, I have to admit that I nevertheless expected even more from this blaxploitation classic. I'm certainly not an expert in this domain, but I've seen the most important ones ("Across 110th Street", "Ganja & Hess"), the most outrageously entertaining ones ("Foxy Brown", "Truck Turner") and the passable ones ("JD's Revenge", "Blackenstein"). "Black Caesar" somewhat balances between the first two categories, as the script isn't solid enough to be important and not cool enough to be outrageously entertaining. Basically it's just Fred Williamson looking mean and shooting white mobsters in the chest so that he can take their place in the New York gangster hierarchy. During this process he abuses and scares off the people he initially wanted to protect, like his mother and childhood friend. The film features too many dull parts and repetitive sequences. Every conflict is solved with a bullet and end with a close up of a dead body covered in thick and bright red blood syrup. The most memorable sequences include the intro, with a teenage Tommy enrolling the criminal life, a virulent taxi/on foot chase in busy NY streets and a sadist final confrontation between Tommy and his nemesis. Other terrific elements for exploitation fanatics to enjoy are the swinging soundtrack (with James Brown's unique voice) and authentically raw and gritty set pieces. Williamson is excellent, of course, but Art Lund gives an even more impressive performance as the disgustingly corrupt cop McKinney. Larry Cohen's direction is uneven, but it was one of the first ventures of this multi-talented and versatile cult genius. There's a sequel entitled "Hell Up in Harlem".

gavin6942 Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) is a tough kid, raised in the ghetto, who aspires to be a kingpin criminal. As a young boy, his leg is broken by a bad cop on the take, during a payoff gone bad. Nursing his vengeance, he rises to power in Harlem, New York. Angry at the racist society around him, both criminal and straight, he sees the acquisition of power as the solution to his rage.Whether you want to call this a blaxploitation film or not is up to you. Fred Williamson was the master of the genre and the master of the 1970s, and he dominates this picture as Caesar. The action never stops for this smooth pimp.I especially love that Larry Cohen was the writer, producer and director. First of all, because Cohen is one of the greatest creators of quirky films in cult history. But also because Cohen is pretty much the whitest guy you will ever meet.

tomgillespie2002 Not one to miss on an opportunity, Larry Cohen's second feature film utilised the explosion of blaxploitation cinema after the successes of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Shaft (1971), and crafted his own "black" action film, modelled on the 1931 film Little Caesar. Fred Williamson plays the titular role, a boy from the streets, witnessing and being victim of brutality from the white community, and particularly a local police officer, McKinney (Art Lund). As an adult, Caesar's goal is to become kingpin of Harlem, and he won't let anything stand in his way.The narrative is a story told over, which focuses on a person who looses everything in the pursuit of power, including childhood friends, wives, and particularly looses sight of the person that they are. It's always great to watch a Cohen movie from this period. When filming in the streets (in this case New York - of which is his usual setting), his guerilla-style is self evident: clearly in the making of these films, Cohen does not get any kind of permission to film, he simply turns up and does it. In one scene, Williamson has been shot, the camera follows him down the busy street from a roof top, and passers by seem to want to help him. It's these elements of exploitation cinema that I embrace.Whilst this is certainly not one of Cohen's greatest (check out his horror output for some terrifically socio-political subtexts), the film oozes charm. Not only do we have the easy-cool of Fred Williamson, the film also has the ubiquitous Gloria Hendry , although not in her usual kung-fu-influenced fighting mode. Even though this film is less well known than Shaft or Superfly (1972), who's soundtracks were composed by soul giants Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield respectively, Black Caesar's soundtrack is provided by the godfather of soul himself, James Brown: Break it down! Heeyyyyaa!!www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

MartinHafer BLACK CAESAR is one of the better so-called blaxploitation films I have seen. Compared to most films in this genre, the production values are much better--with a decent performance by Fred Williamson and a very good, but violent, script to assist him.The film begins with a kid taking a bribe to a corrupt cop. The amount is short and the sadistic White cop beats the Black child severely--sending him to the hospital and filling the kid with a desire for revenge. Years pass and this kid turns out to be Fred Williamson--a tough ex-con who has visions of being a mob boss. Through mob contracts, he's able to ingratiate himself to the prejudiced Italian boss. With so many racial slurs going his way, you just know that eventually Williamson is going to give this man and the rest of his White friends their "comeuppance"--though in the meantime, he carves out a little piece of the mob pie for himself.Eventually, of course, Williamson is the leader of the mob and now he has to work with the same cop who beat him years earlier. This is because the cop is now the police captain. You know that Williamson must one day pay him back, but you also know that he might just die in the process! Exciting, well-paced and interesting throughout. The only shortcoming I really see in the film is its frequent nudity, adult content (Williamson rapes his girlfriend) and all the blood. Additionally, the ending of the film doesn't really fit in with the fact that there was a sequel to BLACK CAESAR--a rather unnecessary and contradictory idea indeed.