Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Theo Robertson On the surface Original GANGSTAS insinuates it's going to be a tough , gritty vigilante thriller set in the ghetto with a bunch of law abiding citizens taking on some nasty gang bangers . At it's most vague and basic this is exactly what it is . But remember one thing - the cast list . Who's appearing . We've got Richard Roundtree , Jim Brown , Ron O' Neal , Pam Grier and Fred Williamson basically every mainstay from the blaxploitation movies from the 1970s . And this is how the movie plays out . In effect you're watching a sequel to all these funky movies from the 1970s , produced for white people for black people . Even the title of the movie has undertones of a follow up to these 70s movies The problem is that by the 1990s had come along Tarantino was the pin up boy of American cinema . We were now in the era of post modernism - some might claim post , post modernism - and watching OG you're struck by the lack of self referential concepts behind the proceedings . It also goes against the grain of other movies such as MENACE 2 SOCIETY in that there's a lack of anti-gangsta subtext and any social commentary is loosely touched upon and shallow . In effect it's straight forward vigilante wish fulfillment while being enjoyable to a degree certainly belongs in another era

paul vincent zecchino This is a powerful film and I hope you see it. Caught it here recently on THIS TV Network, so likely it will come around again.The opening scenes of Gary, Indiana present as an arresting message of what happens to prosperity when do-gooders, Wowsers, Uplifters, Eco-messiahs, Carrie Nations, lunatics, and other chronic nuisances chase industry and jobs away in the name of saving something or other. Plants close and shortly rust. People quit their homes and leave them to face nature's relentless onslaught along with the thugs who move in and make them into Den's of iNiquity.Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson, Ron 'Superfly' O'Neil, they're all here along with the great Pam Grier, Jim Brown - Captain Anders in 1968's "Ice Station Zebra", along with the late and very much missed Paul Winfield who evinced touching cinemagic in 'Green Eyes'.Even if you don't enjoy films in general, let alone the Blaxploitation genre, anyone who's into UE, Urban Exploration, sometimes called Industrial Archaeology - and if you're not, you should be - you'll swoon as serial images of one decrevalent building after another after oxydizing blast furnace after abandoned ten storeys-high heat stoves march across your screen. Yes, Gary, Indiana in "Original Gangstas" is prime Urban Exploration territory. The film's message is poignant as ever: Don't incite people, particularly those wise in years, to righteous indignation. It's an unwise practice to do so.Be sure to watch for the David Lynch-esquire visual anachronisms, e.g. the film takes place in 1996, yet many police cruisers hail from the 80s as well as the 90s. The Gangstas drive cars whose model years span a fifty year period, thus keeping you off balance until the stunning conclusion.The wry humor, "there goes the neighborhood", will catch you off guard as well, and send you tumb-bumbling off the couch, onto the floor, and scurrying to your video store for your own copy of "Original Gangstas". If you don't own a copy of this, you should. Now. So do it. Now.Paul Vincent ZecchinoManasota Key, Florida11 October, 2010

preppy-3 John Bookman (Fred Williamson) returns to his home town which is now over run by gangs. His father is attacked and John wants to clean up the city. He enlists two old friends to help--Laurie (Pam Grier) and Jake (Jim Brown). But the gang leader is a borderline psycho and won't let go of the city. Bookman realizes they're going to have to fight to win.This was just made to get some of the best stars from the 1970s blaxploitation films together to kick a** like they did back then! Aside from Williamson, Grier and Brown we also get Ron O'Neal and Richard Roundtree popping up in small roles. And it's always good to see Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford and Robert Forster (before his big comeback in 1997's "Jackie Brown"--with Grier). The basic plot is OK but there are some serious mistakes made. As the movie goes on the plot gets increasingly stupid (Williamson's "plan" to pit the gangs against each other causes killings and huge property destruction) and there are plenty of loopholes. There's some great action sequences but (even for this type of movie) it's far too violent. Seeing old people and children attacked or killed is just going too far. Still it's great to see these actors in action again. Grier easily gives the best performance--but I was surprised at how really good Williamson and Brown were. This gets a 7 just for the cast. Worth catching...just don't think about it too much.

chas77 This film does not work.It has great potential and the theme of abandoning your roots frequently pops up -- giving potential for further plot development which most action films do not even approach. However, this all-star cast of blaxploitation veterans making their first film together rarely jells. For instance, Fred Williamson, who produced, seems to have forgotten that there were other great actors from that era. 90% of the film is him strutting around, pontificating on how bad the neighborhood has become and why don't the cops/neighbors/politicians/whoever do something about it. He saw fit to put Jim Brown in as co-star, but Brown serves as little more than a bodyguard, punching the whey out of a few people and (in his one big solo scene) threatening a young thug. Richard ("Shaft") Roundtree and Mr. "Superfly" himself -- Ron O'Neal -- are given glorified cameos. In fact, the introductory scene with O'Neal is shown completely in long shot. Why didn't the director do a few closeups? You can hardly tell it's O'Neal. That's just sloppy direction (either that or they didn't have permits to shoot on city streets and shot this on the sly).Other great character actors -- Robert Forster, Charles Napier, Wings Hauser -- are featured but have little to do but act like cartoon characters. Whoever wrote this film should have given thought to the reasons why the best blaxploitation epics worked. Not a complete failure but overall a major disappointment considering this is the first and only film these stars have been in together (no chance for a reunion with O'Neal's recent passing). ** out of *****