Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Comeuppance Reviews Tom (possibly Tim, not really sure) Gunn (Brown) is the coolest, smoothest club owner in town. All the hippest people are seen at his Gunn Club, the cleverness of the name alone surely drawing them in. While Gunn is content to run his business and be the life of the party, his brother Scottie Gunn (Jefferson Jr.) is involved with weightier issues. He joins a Black Panthers-style revolutionary organization known as BAG, or, the Black Action Group. It seems BAG has stolen some "payoff books" and money from the mob, notably Russ Capelli (Landau), who most people know as a used car salesman whose TV commercials show him as a trustworthy guy. When tragedy befalls Scottie, the elder Gunn must wage a one-man war against Capelli's gang. Will he ever get answers, with cops and politicians dogging his every move? Black Gunn is a typical example of the Blaxploitation of the time, so much so, it seems to be one of the main templates for parodies such as I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), which also starred Bernie Casey, and Black Dynamite (2009). Jim Brown is beyond low-key as our hero Gunn. He whispers all his lines, but he always looks cool in his fly threads. He even makes bowties look stylish and not nerdy. Martin Landau should have been in the movie more, because Black Gunn as a whole needed a strong, central villain. He's more than capable of filling that role, but for most of the movie, we actually forgot Landau was on board! He kind of shows up, then goes away and shows back up at the end. Landau should have gotten more screen time.Highlights include the funky soundtrack by Tony Osborne, the classic evil whiteys, its total lack of political correctness, including racial slurs you could never do today, and some cultural references: there are numerous allusions to Vietnam, and certain characters coming back from that conflict. Additionally, there's the line "It'll make Watts look like a Saturday night in Disneyland!" - indicating some of the tensions of the time. But the problem is the movie as a whole is too long and has too many extended, pointless scenes. Yes, it does have some gunplay and explosions, and maybe a few fights, but Black Gunn could have reached a much higher level if the whole thing had been streamlined: shorter running time, more action. Not that the movie is bad, really, but there's a bit too much fat. And the ending is lame.Interestingly, and correct us if we're wrong here, but Black Gunn never received a VHS release during the Golden Age era of the video store, at least here in America. Its cult Blaxploitation status had to grow from other means, such as foreign releases, poster and film prints, and write-ups in such books as That's Blaxploitation! by Darius James and others. It did get a DVD release in the 00's, so stateside Blaxploitation fans could finally see it. The results...are mixed. It has a lot of things fans of the sub-genre love, but it's a bit bloated for its own good.Fans of Blaxploitation, Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, and even the briefly seen Jeannie Bell (known for TNT Jackson, 1974), and even Luciana Paluzzi will want to check out Black Gunn. Casual viewers might not be as into it. After all, as great as Martin Landau is, as a Blaxploitation baddie, he's no Monroe Feather.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

tavm Just watched this Jim Brown action movie on the Crackle site. He plays Gunn, a nightclub owner who vows vengeance after his brother-because of his involvement in a robbery-gets killed. Unlike most blaxploitation movies, this one takes it's time in developing the story though it threatens to get monotonous when sequences get too talky. Of the supporting cast, the most interesting player to me was Jim Watkins playing the only black officer-in this case, Lt. Ken Hopper-who is firm but fair in his dealings with Gunn. My favorite scene was the one where a couple of white women staying at his girlfriend's house start putting the moves on him before that girlfriend shoos them away but not before Gunn's shirt came off! Ooh, yeah! So on that note, Black Gunn is highly recommended.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Typical 1970's black-exploitation movie with big macho bad a** Jim Brown, as the genteel and soft spoken nightclub owner Mr Gunn,taking on the West Coast Mafia with a little help from his friends. The friends that help Gunn in wiping out the mob are the black militant members of BAG, The Black Action Group, a Black Panther like movement. Made up of mostly Vietnam Vets BAG is out to free the "Hood"-or East L.A-from illegal drugs and and the violence that result from them by using a little violence themselves.Gunn at first isn't at all interested in any violence in freeing his people from the mob that controls East L.A until his hot headed brother Scottie, Herb Jefferson Jr, gets murdered and left at his door-step. You see Scottie and members of the BAG had ripped off a mob controlled bookie joint and not only taken off with the days profits but the pay-off books! Those books can implicate everyone in the city from the major and police commissioner on down in being on the take to the Mafia.You get the usual heroics that you would expect from a Jim Brown movie with Jim, as Mr. Gunn, going on a revenge trip in finding who was behind Scottie's murder and making him pay for it. It isn't an easy task for Mr. Gunn since when we first saw him he was a peaceful and law abiding businessman where violence was totally alien to him. By the time the movie ended Mr. Gunn had gunned down some two dozen people stolen a number of cars blown up half of the L.A dock and, after illegally breaking and entering into his swank apartment, worked over Ray Kriley, Bruce Glover, the mobster who did in Scottie. With all this law breaking all the LAPD had on Gunn was a reckless driving charge, with a stolen car no less, that was dropped making it possible for him to keep his liqueur license as well as control of his popular L.A nightclub "The Gunn's Cub"!Besides Jim Brown the major reason for watching "Black Gunn'" is actor Martin Landau as Mafia Boss Rus Capelli. Overacting like crazy Landau as Russ Capelli, who uses the cover of a TV used car salesman, came across more like a corny stand-up comic then a Mafia Chieftain.***SPOILERS*** In the final showdown at the L.A dock Capilli has Mr. Gunn captured by his hoods but foolishly, with his obnoxious overacting, lets him get away. It's then that a machine-gun toting Gunn, together with members of the BAG, wipes out Capilli's whole organization. As for Carpelli he-or Martin Landau's stunt double-ends up immolating himself because he forgot, when a burning barrel of gasoline came barreling down on him, to duck!

Scott_Mercer Jim Brown deadpans his way through Black Action Film heaven. All the touchstones are here: The Mafia, a Black Panthers rip-off, drugs, trashy whores, nasty pimps, jittery dealers and even sweatier addicts, fist fights, gun play, drug dealers, revenge killings, psycho hit men, racial slurs, car chases, stolen cars, and explosions. Even more than that, plenty of early Seventies atmosphere here to enjoy: giant sedans, huge lapels, enormous hair, used car dealers, bowling, black revolutionaries, sexy stewardesses, and lots of fuzz guitar, tremolo and wah-wah pedals on all the music.Jim Brown is a schmoove nightclub owner (this is an adult nightclub, kids, where the immaculately coiffed adults eat steak, drink whiskey and slow-dance to overproduced soul easy listening music) who's cooler than a cucumber popsicle. His uncool little brother is in with BAG, the Black Action Group, who get deep into it when they steal money and ledger books from THE MOB.The greasy mobsters aren't gonna put up with that, so they put out the word: find those lousy #$$%*#* and kill 'em. But little brother hid the ledgers at Gunn's nightclub/suave bachelor pad. So they kill the brother anyway, and that REALLY makes Gunn mad. It's all-out war now, and Gunn has to avoid both the Fuzz and BAG on his one-man war of vengeance. There are some slow spots here and there, but the action sequences make up for the few slack bits. Brown is not going to be doing heavy drama anytime soon, but he does what he does here extremely well. Highly recommended for fans of Black Action Cinema.