1996 - Directed by Larry Cohen
 Starring Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Christopher B. Duncan, Eddie Bo Smith Jr., Richard Roundtree, Oscar Brown Jr., Paul Winfield and Robert Forster

 Okay, first of all, I have to say that I had no idea whatsoever that Gary, Indiana was a borderline apocalyptic wasteland ruled by gangs lording over a small handful of citizens who are too poor or simply unwilling to move to a better area.  Secondly, I was kinda saddened to see that a film so frontloaded to be something I would love is actually so blah when I finally get around to checking it out.

 The film opens with narration describing the declining local economy in Gary, where steel mill closures and the rise of local gangs keep pace with one another, as well as introducing the two main factions, the Diablos and the Rebels.  A young man named Kenny runs a scam on the Rebels, who’ve got a betting ring going around their basketball goal, taking them for $300 before quietly excusing himself to go and gloat over his winnings with his pal Marvin Bookman (Brown Jr.).  The Rebels don’t take their loss lightly, gunning Kenny down in front of Marvin’s parent’s grocery store.

 Marvin’s father breaks the cardinal rule when dealing with these gangs and actually tells the cops who he saw kill the boy, giving a license plate and description of the car to Detective Slatten (Forster).  A local boy calling himself The Word Man (rapper Shyheim) proceeds to rat out Marvin’s father to the Rebels, who dispose of the car & evidence, then turn their vengeance on Mr. Bookman in a move meant to kill him, though the kid who’s meant to deliver the fatal blow as his gang initiation merely wounds him.

 Bookman’s eldest son John (Williamson) arrives by private plane, indicating his level of success against the local depression.  He visits the hospital and then his father’s store, where he interrupts the gang looting, beating them down with the help of Laurie (Grier), who owns the nearby beauty shop, and who happens to be drive-by victim Kenny’s mother. John appears on the local news, blatantly challenging the Mayor to do something about the crime rate, and throwing down a gauntlet with the gangs themselves.  The Mayor schedules a meeting with John for the next day, throwing the fact that he was one of the founding members of the Rebels in his face and then arranges to have John meet with the Reverend Dorsey (Winfield), who is the one community figure who has success mediating between the actual law enforcement and the gangs.  Why you have someone negotiating with criminals rather than arresting them is a fuzzy area I’m not qualified to speak on, but it seems like an odd turn of events to me.

 There’s some more posturing between John and the Rebels, this time he’s saved from overwhelming numbers by Jake (Brown), another co-founder of the Rebels and the father of the deceased Kenny.  The two go for a drink, reconnect with Slick (Roundtree, who only appears to be passing through the film, he’s in about 2 scenes), who outlines the Rebels hierarchy of Damien (Smith) and Spyro (Duncan).  Jake is appalled to hear that John is in the process of negotiating a truce with the people who murdered his son, he makes a scene at the reception following the funeral and storms away, but it’s a moot point as the meeting goes badly anyway and the Rebels turn their anger at the Bookman family on the rest of the community, burning down several blocks worth of homes.  The idea is to turn the community against the Bookman family and have the citizens run them out of town, but John, Jake and Laurie step up to rally the locals against their common enemy.

 I was a bit disappointed by the film, to be perfectly honest, as the sly humor that you used to get in the Blaxploitation films of the 70’s (most of which dealt with equally depressing subject matter) is completely gone here.  That vibe is replaced with a heavy handed message of how bad gangs are, how society passes lays blame when a lot of these kids really have little chance outside of joining a gang, etc., etc.  I understand what they’re trying to convey, but the film really beats you over the head with things, it’s a bit annoying after awhile.

 This is worth a look just to see a lot of your favorite faces sharing the screen again, but it’s sure as hell won’t be replacing any of the films that made them famous in the first place.

 Rental?

5/10