Welcome to the Movie Club! Today’s movie is Scott Sanders’ blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite!
Black Dynamite stars Michael Jai White as its titular character, a former CIA agent and kung fu expert turned crime fighter. When his brother is killed while working undercover, Black Dynamite vows to clean up the streets and find his brother’s killer, but this thing might just go all the way to the top, you dig?
Black Dynamite was produced on a small budget of $2.9 million dollars. It earned only $424,053 in the worldwide box office, but was a critical success and has an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.12 Additionally, it quickly gained a strong cult following that led to the creation of comic books, an animated series, and even a spiritual sequel titled Outlaw Johnny Black.
Trivia3
- A trailer was originally produced using a mix of original footage and clips from actual blaxploitation movies as a way to secure funding from investors.
- The film was shot on 16mm film to help mimic the high contrast and high saturation look of an older, lower budget movie.
- To further enhance the vintage, b-movie feel, numerous errors take place on purpose, such as boom mics falling into the shot, actors being replaced after mistakes, or even abrupt changes in the colour correction between shots.
Up Next: This more lighthearted streak continues with Nancy Meyer’s comedy The Intern! We’ll meet to discuss it on May 8 at 12PM EST. Check out the trailer and where it’s playing below:
USA
- Stream: Fubo
- Rent or Buy: Plex (Rental only), Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Google Play, YouTube
Canada
- Stream: Netflix, Starz (via Prime Video)
- Rent or Buy: Plex (Rental only), Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, CosmoGO
UK
- Stream: HBO Max (via Prime Video), Now Cinema (Sky Channel?), Sky
- Rent or Buy: Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Sky Store, Rakuten TV