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Disco Godfather

Disco Godfather

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie made me an offer I couldn't refuse!
Review: I was riveted to my seat. Non-stop action. Rudy Ray Moore is a genius. His on-screen chemistry with Eddie Murphy was electric. The cameos by Madonna and Don Johnson were a nice surprise. It was a shame that nuclear blast killed everybody at the end. Buy this movie on video or DVD today!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dear God, this is a turkey if ever I saw one!
Review: If you have found this review through your own ingenuity, then I assume you are a fan of the sub-genre of films known simply as "Blaxploitation". If you are considering this film as your first foray into this genre or are an old hand who hasn't got around to seeing Disco Godfather yet, a word of advice. DO NOT get this film! Having witnessed what Blaxploitation is capable of with The Human Tornado and Dolomite, I was mightily shocked after viewing this debacle. Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of "bad" films, but this film is really, really BAD and not in the good sense either! The sound, acting, story, characters, everything is a mess. Even Rudy Ray Moore, the disco godfather of the title, cannot save this film from descending into utter tedium from the word go. I actually had trouble staying awake, no lie. For the money you would have spent on this, you could buy some seriously better examples of the genre. Stay away friends, you'll thank me for it later.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What has he had?
Review: Ok, it's been years since I have seen this (probably 15) but it made such an impact on me that I'm buying it on DVD damnit!

For all out laugh value, you could do much worse. The scary thing is that they are trying to be serious.

Not to ruin anything, but the ending of this movie tweeked me out so hard that I'm still feeling it. You were thinking "Well maybe the godfather sacrificed himself for the good of the community and so that the next generation will be spared the scourges of PCP."

Or:

Disco godfather wakes up with a "Whew! That was a close one, angel dust almost claimed me, but my strong will and clarity of righteous purpose helped me previal."

BUT NO!!! Godfather goes crappin' his pants crazy seeing the "PCP angel/devil" and whimpering "ma ma" then right out of a Steve Ditko comic: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

AND THATS IT!

HOLY CRAP!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What has he had?
Review: Ok, it's been years since I have seen this (probably 15) but it made such an impact on me that I'm buying it on DVD damnit!

For all out laugh value, you could do much worse. The scary thing is that they are trying to be serious.

Not to ruin anything, but the ending of this movie tweeked me out so hard that I'm still feeling it. You were thinking "Well maybe the godfather sacrificed himself for the good of the community and so that the next generation will be spared the scourges of PCP."

Or:

Disco godfather wakes up with a "Whew! That was a close one, angel dust almost claimed me, but my strong will and clarity of righteous purpose helped me previal."

BUT NO!!! Godfather goes crappin' his pants crazy seeing the "PCP angel/devil" and whimpering "ma ma" then right out of a Steve Ditko comic: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

AND THATS IT!

HOLY CRAP!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: RUDY RAY IS DEFINATELY "DOLAMITE"
Review: RUDY RAY MOORE, THE KING OF THE CHITTLIN CIRCUIT,IS AT HIS SIGNAFYING MONKEY BEST. THE MAN IS A WORDSMITH BEYOND COMPARE. HE ALSO HAS THE DIRTIEST MOUTH ON THE PLANET. I RECOMMEND THIS HIGHLY, BUT YOU MUST HAVE A BOTTLE OF BOONE'S FARM HANDY FOR ATMOSPHERE.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Boring. Predictable, Low Budget
Review: Save your money. Not worth owning. This one has a dull plot. Very predictable. This silly man in a chicken suit keeps repeating. Very low budget. Rent it instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Shermanizing Experience
Review: SOme people slam this film but I offhand can't think of a funnier movie. How many other anti-drug movies end with a disco nightclub-owning cop battling a whip-weilding homosexual? Man, I don't know who won the Oscar that year but Rudy Ray Moore should have won it (especially when he reacts in pain to an object that hasn't even hit him yet). And that...ending...you've just gotta see it yourself, you're not really sure if it was intentional or they just kinda ran out of money. A bargain at any price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Shermanizing Experience
Review: SOme people slam this film but I offhand can't think of a funnier movie. How many other anti-drug movies end with a disco nightclub-owning cop battling a whip-weilding homosexual? Man, I don't know who won the Oscar that year but Rudy Ray Moore should have won it (especially when he reacts in pain to an object that hasn't even hit him yet). And that...ending...you've just gotta see it yourself, you're not really sure if it was intentional or they just kinda ran out of money. A bargain at any price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: PUT YO WEIGHT ON IT
Review: The pivotal moment of this film is when the manager of Blueberry Hill, the slammin disco club where the Disco Godfather shows his exotic moves, explains to a reporter that in order to be in the disco crew you have to 'get down, AND get funky.' And I think this says it all. My friends and I were in pain from the amount of laughter that this film evoked and even Rudy Ray Moore himself admits in the book, 'What it is...What it was,' this film essentially ruined his career. Watch and laugh, but be careful...don't forget to breathe.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me.
Review: This film differs from the other two films in the Dolemite trilogy in that it is not really a Dolimite film. Rudy actually plays a cop-turned- disco DJ (you know how that's always happening) named Tucker whose hands-on approach to fighting the menace of angel dust is meant to entertain and enlighten us. But does it succeed in this lofty endeavor? In spite of all its best efforts, it does. Nearly incoherent dialog, bad acting and ghastly filmmaking all come together seamlessly to make this possibly the best example of why not to use drugs. For example, in one scene the Chief of Police, who has just spoken to an infuriated Tucker, picks up the phone to presumably make a call and then out of nowhere breaks the fourth wall to address the viewers with the following:

'There are only three things that could make him that mad, 'n one of them is to mess with his family. Gonna turn over every stone in this city to find the main man. When he does' all Hell's gonna break loose.'

He then turns away from the camera and hangs up the phone neither telling us what the other two things were nor completing his call. It is choice scenes like this combined with roller dancing, slow motion kung-fu and excessive hallucination sequences that entertain you in ways that this film's makers could never have foreseen.

But this film does not let its electrifying dancing and relentless action obscure its deep message and indisputable humanity. In one scene, Tucker talks with the Chief of Police about his plans to 'attack the whack'.

'I don't get you', exclaims the chief.
Tucker pauses for some deep soul searching and offers the profound reply, 'I don't get me either.'

Dialog like that is unforgettable'unforgettable like that time when I went into the garden shed and hit my head on a wasp's nest. I'll never forget that. At any rate, dialog like that flows naturally out of a story like this. Make no mistake; Rudy Ray Moore is unfettered by the restrictions of conventional storytelling, using techniques that sometimes thrill and surprise you and even threaten to alter your state of consciousness. I will not let loose any spoilers about the surprise ending' but let's just say that the ending, chock-full of irony and heavy stuff like that, will change your life forever. Or not.

Although I gave this only two stars, it deserves a few more if only for starring the ever charming Rudy Ray Moore. As a RRM film, it's simply not as good as his others. However, if you like bad films.... this one is well worth the effort... you'll get the best results by watching with friends.


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