ORIGINAL GANGSTAS

"ORIGINAL GANGSTAS"
(1996) (Fred Williamson, Jim Brown) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Moderate	Extreme	*Mild	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	None	None	Extreme	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	Mild	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Middle aged founding members of a gang return to clean up their hometown.

PLOT:: The setting is Gary, Indiana where the Rebs, a local gang, are terrorizing the streets. Their shooting of an elderly store owner brings to town John Bookman (FRED WILLIAMSON), the store owner’s son. John was a founding member of the Rebs years ago and now has made it his mission to bring peace to the town. But the Rebs want no part of that. Added to the volatile mix is another founding member, Jake Trevor (JIM BROWN) whose son was killed by the Rebs. Trevor wants revenge and eventually convinces Bookman to join him as they arm themselves for a bloody battle with the gang members.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Maybe. Anyone less than twenty is too young to remember the older stars in their heyday, but the movie is about gangs and that may be attractive to those interested in such urban life.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For non-stop violence and pervasive strong language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: FRED WILLIAMSON plays a former pro athlete who wants to bring peace to the city, but who eventually resorts to violence and death to bring that about.
JIM BROWN plays a former boxer who returns to town seeking revenge on those who killed his son.; JIM BROWN plays a former boxer who returns to town seeking revenge on those who killed his son.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Teen gang members drink beer at a basketball game on two occasions.
Jake says to John, "It’s not like it used to be -- drinking and screwin’ around."
In a bar, John drinks hard liquor, and Jake has a beer.

BLOOD/GORE: A young man lies on the street covered in blood.
A gang member is hit in the neck with a beer bottle and his neck is bloody.
A store owner bleeds from gang inflicted wounds after they beat him up.
The gang leader shoots another member point blank in the head.
A fourteen-year-old whose neck was broken is found wrapped in garbage bags and duct tape.
John’s hand is bloody after a bullet has passed through it.
Blood squirts from a gang member's body as he’s pummeled by gunfire.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Both are extremely bad all around. The gang members have no respect for life or property or even for themselves. John and Jake resort to violence to fight the gang members.
A gang member tells a store owner right before he shoots him, "You’re old -- you’re gonna die anyway."

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some viewers may find the scenes listed in "Violence" as tense, although for the most part, they aren't designed for that reaction.

GUNS/WEAPONS: The movie is full to the brim with hand guns, shot guns, machine guns, knives, and molotov cocktails used to inflict death and harm to persons and property.
Machine guns: Used in the drive by shooting of a guy who had hustled the gang.
Hand gun: Used by a gang member to shoot an old store owner.
Hand gun: Grabbed by John and used to shoot a looter in the foot.
Knife: Used to stab at John.
Straight razor: Held at John’s throat as a threat.
Hand gun: Used to shoot a gang member point blank in the head.
Machine guns/Hand grenades: Bought by John to be used to fight the gangs.
Machine guns: Used by John and Jake to shoot at a rival gang.
Machine guns/Shot guns: Used in a drive by shooting at a basketball game.
Hand gun: Used by the gange leader to shoot his three gun suppliers dead.
Molotov cocktails: Used to burn down a neighborhood.
Machine guns: Used in a big gun battle between the gang and the neighborhood men.
Machine guns/Hand guns: They're booby trapped and explode in the gang members’ faces.
All guns: Used to kill many people in a big gun battle.
Hand gun: Used to shoot a woman in the leg and then used by the woman to shoot the assailant dead.
Switchblade: Used by a gang member to slash at Jake.
High powered rifle: Used to kill a gang member.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: The gang and their lifestyle.
A new gang member shoots an elderly man to complete his initiation into the gang.
Gang members bet (for cash) on the outcome of a basketball game.
A gang member gives John "the finger."
A friend of a murder victim takes a handgun and is going to get revenge but ends up not doing it.
Phrases: "Bitch," "Nigger," and "Faggot."
John and Jake steal one of the gang member's cars (used to make a rival gang think that this gang has attacked them).
Molotov cocktails are thrown into homes which catches them on fire.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): There are several rap songs glorifying gangs, others make heavy use of the "f" and "s" words.

PROFANITY: Consider these numbers conservative. There may have been more, especially in many of the rap songs.
103 "f" words (23 using the prefix "mother"), 50 "s" words, 33 ass words, 11 damns, 10 hells, 1 SOB, and 4 uses of "God damn," and 1 use of "Jesus" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Jake says to John, "It’s not like it used to be -- drinking and screwin’ around."
A gang member is seen on top of his girlfriend with her legs spread (but there's no nudity).
A couple are having sex in a car -- her legs are seen in the air and she moans. His bare butt is seen as he’s pulled from the car.

SMOKING: John occasionally has a cigar.
People are seen smoking at a dance party.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: There is a funeral for a drive by shooting victim.
John wants his parents to move to a safer area, but they don't want to.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Gangs.
Using violence to stop violence.
Young urban boys growing up without father figures.

VIOLENCE: A guy who hustled the gang is shot with machine guns in a drive by shooting.
Gang members harass an elderly store owner. He hits one of them in the neck with a bottle, and the others then beat him up and severely kick him once he’s on the floor. Then a new gang member shoots him several times with a handgun.
John finds several youths looting a store and proceeds to beat them up with punches and kicks. He then grabs one of their guns and shoots one of them in the foot.
A woman repeatedly hits one of the looters with a large piece of wood.
A basketball player punches another player in the face.
Some gang members throw a man out the door of a barbershop. John then gets into a fight with them. One member pulls out a knife and lashes out at John. The fight spills out onto the street where they finally subdue John and hold a straight razor to his throat. Jake then appears and beats up the gang members.
The gang leader shoots a member in the head.
The gang members go on a rampage throughout the community -- harassing people, looting, etc...
A man having sex is pulled from a car and punched in the stomach.
John and Jake drive by a rival gang and fire machine guns at them, blowing up several of their cars.
There is a drive by shooting at a basketball game. People are hit by machine gun and shotgun fire.
A gang member shoots his three gun suppliers dead.
A gang member breaks the neck of a fourteen-year-old informant.
Gang members throw molotov cocktails into homes causing them to burn down. One man runs from his home on fire.
There is a big machine gun battle between the gang and the neighborhood men.
Booby trapped guns misfire and injure gang members.
Many people are shot and killed in a big gun battle.
Neighborhood people come out and beat up the gang members with baseball bats and other hard objects.
John is shot through his hand.
A gang member shoots a woman in the leg. She wrestles the gun from him and shoots him dead.
Of course there’s the typical fistfight at the end of the movie (Did they run out of bullets? Or were their trigger fingers too tired?) where both sides beat the others to bloody pulps.
Jake breaks a gang member's neck.
A gang member is pummeled by shots from a high powered rifle.

Reviewed May 11, 1996

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