Evengyny
Thanks for the memories!
Smartorhypo
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Lucien Lessard
Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) is also known as Black Caesar, he finds himself shot by a corrupted police officer in the middle of the street in New York City. Since Gibbs is an well-known gangster, he has the ledger with the name of every bad cop and government officials on the mob's payroll. Gibbs is now public enemy number one in the city. He brings his father (Julius W. Harris) to the mob, Gibbs teaches his father every he knows. But someone in the gang is double-crossing Gibbs and he knows, there will be hell to pay. Revenge looks sweet for Black Caesar.Written, Produced and Directed by Larry Cohen (It's Alive Trilogy, A Return to Salem's Lot, Q:The Winged Serpent) made an amusing, violent, if sometimes unintentionally funny sequel to "Black Caesar". Cohen is at his best, during some of the action sequences, the quick-paced editing and hand-held camera work. Williamson and Harris are fun to watch in this movie. Although the movie looks rushed, the story isn't as clear as its supposed to be and the film is quite sloppy at times.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an decent Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Sound. The DVD's best feature is the humorous and informative commentary track by Cohen. At times, his commentary track seems to be more entertaining than the movie! DVD also includes the original theatrical trailer and an teaser trailer. "Hell Up in Harlem" is a lot of fun, despite some real flaws. Some of Edwin Starr's songs are quite good. If you are an fan of Soul Cinema in the 1970's. Don't miss it. (*** ½/*****).
lastliberal
70s action and a blaxploitation classic with Fred Williamson (The Inglorious Bastards - 1978, MASH) as Black Caesar leading the way backed up by the luscious Gloria Hendry.Lots of shoot-em-up action as the black gangsters take on the Mafia and the crooked cops that support them.Things settle down, Black Caesar moves to LA, and comes back with a vengeance when his pops is killed. Cute scene where Mafia in park dies with hot dogs in their mouths.The dialog and story wasn't the greatest, but if you are looking for righteous action, you've come to the right place.
Poseidon-3
Audiences who saw Williamson's character get beaten to death at the end of "Black Caesar" (an ending Larry Cohen later snipped out after enduring protest from some viewers) may have been confused to see this sequel turn up the same year in which he's alive, if not exactly well. Or perhaps Williamson was so popular in the part that they forgave the inconsistency or maybe even forgot that he'd died and just settled in for a blaxploitation ride. In any case, here he is, suffering from a gun wound and calling his heretofore-estranged father Harris for help. Harris, who was a cosmetics sales rep (!) in the first film suddenly has no qualms about becoming every bit the gangster that Williamson is and they adopt a father-son approach to their organization. They also, for some reason, take the kids of Williamson's old flame Hendry with her now-dead husband and claim them as their own flesh and blood! However, when underling King decides he wants to move up the ladder and frames Harris for a killing that Williamson doesn't approve of, it creates a rift that causes Williamson to depart the business with his new love Avery and move to California. When King and Harris square off and Harris comes out on the losing end, followed by Williamson enduring an in-home invasion, he departs for New York City once again, going on the rampage that is the title occasion. Williamson, who was already contracted to work on another film, did this movie on weekends while a body double played him in the long shots and, considering that, he turns in a reasonably good performance. Harris, in an elevated role from the prior film, is good as well despite the significant change in the characterization. Hendry gets treated pretty shabbily here, but does a nice enough job with her abbreviated role. Avery gives a soft-spoken, generally appealing performance, though it is rather thankless. This is a far less cohesive and polished (if that's even the right word!) film than it's predecessor, but it's an action-filled and fairly captivating one. Again, the gritty location filming and the tough attitude of the film, along with some amusing 70's costumes, enhance the experience. For whatever reason, the "N" word is tossed around far less this time around than before. Williamson, who had a darkly lit and unrevealing love scene in "Black Caesar" here has a rear nude scene while making love to Avery. This same year, he did a Playgirl layout that showed glimpses of his nude body, understandably toned from a life of athletics.
allar100
This is not the best of the blaxploitation films, but it is entertaining. This is the sequel to Black Ceaser, but they completely ignore the ending to its predecessor. The sound is not to great, and the story is kind of weak and forced, but come on, what did you expect.
