Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Red-Barracuda This gritty urban drama centres on the plight of three downtrodden Detroit autoworkers who are at the mercy of the corporation they work for and the corrupt union who are supposed to represent them. Desperation and frustration leads them to carry out a robbery of their union headquarters and in doing so find incriminating documents which they try to use as blackmail.Blue Collar is Paul Schrader's directorial debut. He had hitherto been known primarily as the writer of Martin Scorsese's classic Taxi Driver (1976) but this is the first one where he took the director reigns. It's clearly a product of the New Hollywood with its confrontational style and it probably suffered at the box office because of this, as by 1978 we were well and truly into the blockbuster era and such downbeat dramatic fare was somewhat less welcome by audiences and so Blue Collar became more of a sleeper than a hit. It tackles tough social issues like race relations and the hardships of the working class in a capitalist society head on, with no false niceties. The highly profane script portrays its characters realistically and with no glamorisation, all of which is to the movie's lasting credit and value. It's hardly a feel-good story either with the ultimate message being that the system is in place to actively encourage division amongst workers rather than any platform that encourages collectively powered change. Acting is universally good with the three main actors Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto all wholly convincing in their roles. Pryor is particularly excellent here, showing the great range he had as an actor - a detail that is not widely known given his appearances mainly in comedy - he in fact uses his comedic skills quite often to draw out dramatic truths here. The film itself remains an impressively uncompromised one.

dworldeater Blue Collar is a criminally under rated classic from writer/director Paul Schrader. This is in my opinion one of his finest works. This is a very compelling and gritty drama with powerhouse performances from Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto and Richard Pryor. This film is much about the struggles of the working man and a look at American society at the time. The film holds up well and much of the themes of the film are relevant today. Very well written and shot, the story flows well and the dialogue and performances are top notch. While the film is about union corruption, it also is a very human story that shows some of the circumstances that corruption manifests itself. There also is commentary on race, class and other issues that are relevant in modern times as well. The film is pretty political and hits on all kinds of social issues, but is never preachy or pretentious and brings this to life in a very real and personal manner. Blue Collar is a very overlooked film that deserves more fanfare and a solid work of 70's cinema.

cmccann-2 Following his screen writing credits on classics like Obsession and Taxi Driver, Paul Schrader would make his first foray behind the camera with the 1978 film Blue Collar. Spotlighting the exploitation of proletariat workers at the hands of powers at be, the film ranks among Schraeder's best and remains a quintessential piece of 1970's U.S. independent cinema.Blue Collar revolves around three workers at a Detroit auto plant; Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel) and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto). Perpetually mistreated by their higher-ups and barely making enough money to feed their families, the film follows the group as they hatch a desperate plan to rob their union. Carrying through with the plan, the men end up stumbling upon evidence of behind-the- scenes corruption, setting the stage for the film's second half where the big wigs gradually take down each member of the group.Shot with an air of gritty realism, Blue Collar is a low budget drama with a Marxist message - powerfully channelling themes of race, class conflict and white collar crookedness. Though similar contemporaneous films have endured better in the annals of film history, Schraeder's debut remains an overlooked gem - one worthy of being dusted off and given a second look.

thump85 I was extremely impressed with the acting of the 3 main characters(Pryor, Kotto, and Keitel). Since I grew up in Detroit and my Dad and uncles worked for the big 3 the Auto Industry angle caught me. In the scene where Keitel was on the Belle Isle Bridge, I spotted in the background the Uniroyal Tire Company, where my Grandad worked for over 40 years. Yet Pryor's performance was terrific. The scene with the IRS agent was CLASSIC and a perfect example of blending comedy into a not so funny situation for Zeke's somewhat straight character. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and seeing some old landmarks and areas the way they were was a treat.