Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

si4abetterworld This is a dramatization by Mario Van Peebles, based on real events. It's about the making of the revolutionary film "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song" (again with lots of a's and s's).That film is the only one that I ever heard Huey P. Newton recommend. Do you know it? ("Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song", I mean.) I haven't seen it, because I haven't found it in any video stores, but I would like to.Anyway, "Badass!" is also autobiographical, because Melvin Van Peebles, Mario's father, is the one who made "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song", and Mario was also involved in making that film, as a child.

honeybearrecords BAADASSSSS (dir. by Mario Van Peebles) Man, I was so f*cking excited when I heard that this film was being made. When I was a kid, I would spend weekends with my Dad. There are two things I remember doing. One was shopping for model ships and airplanes from World War II. The other was going to see two or three movies in an afternoon. We saw EVERY Hong Kong action movie and EVERY blaxploitation flick that came out in the early '70s. So Melvin Van Peebles and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" holds a special place for me in my memories.Based on his father's book, Mario Van Peebles recreated the story of the making of "Sweet Sweetback…" and the incredible struggle it took to get it funded and distributed. First, the major studios wanted nothing to do with a film about a black man turned revolutionary who kills a cop and gets away with it. They didn't want anyone making a film where city cops are exposed as racist and crooked. The racist unions wouldn't allow him to make a movie with a crew of whites, blacks, Latinos and Asians. To make matters worse, real racist cops step in and arrest half of the crew illegally.Basically, this film is "American Splendor" meets "Reds". It's the story of a guy working outside of the system eventually developing support from committed people who understood his vision with the ultimate triumph being the movie itself. Like "Reds", there are talking heads giving testimonials throughout. My favorite scene in "American Splendor" is the final moment where you get to see Harvey's actual retirement party with no actors and all real people. At the end of "Baadasssss" you get to see the real people and I thought I was going to cry. It's a great movie all the way to the very last second.

Logan-22 Badasss really shows the struggles independent filmmakers go through to get their visions up on the screen... Mario does an inspired job of portraying his father, Melvin van Peebles, as he goes through complete and utter hell to get his grand cinematic vision "Sweet Sweetback's Badasss Song" made. It turns out the behind the scenes story is a million times better than the original film! To top it off, a great supporting cast puts in some of their best and most memorable performances: Adam West, David Alan Grier, Vincent Schiavelli, Sally Struthers, Saul Rubinek... Lots of great characters pop up in this film!If you are a fan of independent film-making, or enjoy '70s black action cinema, you will LOVE Badasss! This film has a lot of truth in it about both subjects. I gladly give it a "10" and would watch it again. Kudos to everyone involved, and especially to Mario, who finally gets it right both as an actor and director! This film is so damn good it's a CRIME that more people won't see it. Rent or buy it NOW!!!

wwhitbeck First off, I'll qualify my comments by saying that I've never seen Sweetback, or heard of it for that matter. Turns out, that wasn't important. What we have here is an outstanding piece of work that proves loving your material doesn't condemn it to the dulldrums as others would have you believe. Well written, and directed, this look into film history should be on every filmmaker's shelf. Two thumbs up for all of the actors for a job very well done. Mario especially, should be praised for his touching and oft emotional journey into his own past.