Black Dynamite
Encyclopedia
Black Dynamite is a 2009 American
film
starring Michael Jai White
, Salli Richardson
, Arsenio Hall
, Kevin Chapman
and Tommy Davidson
. It is a spoof
of 1970s blaxploitation
films. The film was directed by Scott Sanders
and co-written by White, Sanders and Byron Minns, who also co-stars.
The film, in which former CIA agent Black Dynamite must avenge his brother's death while cleaning the streets of a new drug that is ravaging the community, had a trailer and funding even before a script was written. Black Dynamite was shot in 20 days in Super 16
format. It was released in the United States
on 16 October 2009 for only two weeks and was well-received by critics. It was released on home video on 16 February 2010.
and former CIA
agent, vows to clean up the streets of drug dealers and gangsters after his younger brother Jimmy is killed by a shady organization. O'Leary, Black Dynamite's former Army
and CIA partner, reinstates him into the agency because they do not want him seeking vengeance by himself. Trying to get to the bottom of Jimmy's murder, he finds out that his brother was actually working undercover for the CIA. Black Dynamite also discovers the shady organization is filling the black orphanages with heroin. He declares war on local drug dealers and successfully cleans up the streets, earning him the affection of Gloria, a black power
activist who works at the local orphanage.
After discovering the government's involvement in the drug ring, Black Dynamite steals the ledger belonging to corrupt Congressman James which details illegal shipments to a warehouse. Black Dynamite and his team storm the warehouse to capture a big shipment. They learn of a top secret operation called "Code Kansas", but there are no drugs in the warehouse; only "Anaconda" brand malt liquor
, a government-produced brand that, according to the advertising slogan, "Gives You Ooooooo!". In a diner, they decipher the slogan and uncover "Code Kansas" as a plan to literally emasculate African-American men through Anaconda Malt Liquor, which is formulated to "give (you) a little dick". Returning to the warehouse, Black Dynamite finds O'Leary is part of the evil plan, but is just following orders. He kills O'Leary before acquiring his next lead to find the source of the "Code Kansas" plan.
Black Dynamite heads to Kung Fu Island, where he discovers that his old nemesis, Fiendish Dr. Wu, is responsible for creating the secret formula found in Anaconda Malt Liquor. In a protracted battle which kills several members of his team, Black Dynamite discovers the true identity of the mastermind of the entire operation - the White House
.
Black Dynamite then travels to the White House and confronts President
Richard Nixon
, who has been giving the orders from the beginning. When Black Dynamite defeats Nixon in a kung-fu battle and threatens to expose Nixon
as the subject of a series of bondage
and cross dressing photographs, the president begs to be killed and his plan is foiled.
's "Super Bad
". White had also held blaxploitation movie parties where he picked up the "funny inconsistencies" in the films. White rented costumes, photographed himself and showed it to Sanders who was attracted to the idea. The same blue costume on White's photograph was used in the final scene of the film.
The original trailer was recorded even before the film went into production in order to raise money. It incorporated scenes from old blaxploitation movies with old voice overs from Adolph Caesar
. The trailer was shot on Super 8 mm film
for around $500 and contained numerous 1970s anachronisms, such as referring to the star of the film as a Baltimore Colts
running back (the Colts moved to Indianapolis
in 1984) and marvelling at Black Dynamite's "five thousand dollar car" and "hundred dollar suit". White and Sanders showed it to Jon Steingart, who told them "Oh my God. Okay, we can raise the money for this."
Once financing was secured, writing the script took about three weeks. During the writing process, Minns's almost "encyclopedic knowledge" of blaxploitation helped them produce the script more quickly.
Color Reversal Kodak film stock to get the high contrast and saturated look common in many low-budget Blaxploitation films of the 1970s. The film was then converted to digital for editing. The filmmakers supplemented their shoot with period stock footage from Sony Pictures Stock Footage, using films such as Missing in Action
, Charlie's Angels
, and Police Woman
. Black Dynamite was shot in the Leimert Park and Angeles Vista sections of Los Angeles
over twenty days, with several green-screen days and one reshoot day. The film had such a low budget that they had to "think in the same ways that they had to think" in the classic blaxploitation movies. Sanders and White had a difficult time keeping the modern world out of the movie. Sanders was worried about anything modern that could destroy "the whole illusion." White worked individually with actors to keep their tone correct.
As an homage to the low production values and "one take only" style of blaxploitation films, many filming errors were done on purpose. For example, in one scene where Black Dynamite stands up from his desk, a red boom microphone
appears above his head (which was common in Rudy Ray Moore
films, such as Dolemite
). When some gangsters pull up to a store, the driver forgets to put the car into park and the car lurches forward. Some of the actors recite their stage directions before their intended dialogue (In one scene, an actor verbalizes the stage direction "the militants turn startled" and continues on saying the scripted dialogue "How did you get in here?").
During casting, White sent Arsenio Hall
the script, and "when he read that there's a Captain Kangaroo
pimp in this thing", he accepted the role.
, Isaac Hayes
, Ennio Morricone
and Wu-Tang Clan
. Morricone greatly influenced Younge from the classical European funk music, while Wu-Tang Clan helped him focus on making music they would want to sample. Sanders gave Younge almost complete leeway, but he still had to work hard to impress others working on the film. To record the score, Younge used vintage tape recording equipment and then sent it to be digitally transferred.
The film's theme song is "Dynomite" by Sir Charles Hughes; its chorus plays nearly every time Black Dynamite appears. It also features many pieces of background music, composed by Alan Tew
, from the 1975 Yorkshire TV series The Hanged Man.
, where Sony Worldwide Acquisitions picked it up for distribution for "nearly $2 million." On June 14, the film went on to win the Golden Space Needle
Audience Award for Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival
, beating The Hurt Locker
among other films. On August 25, 2009, it was announced that Apparition, a new distributor headed by Bill Pohlad and Bob Berney, would handle the film's domestic release.
The general release version differs from the original Sundance cut, wherein six minutes of dialogue scenes and fight sequences were trimmed.
clips starring Black Dynamite and other cast members of the film.
Black Dynamite had a limited release to only 70 theaters and a run time of two weeks. The film grossed $131,862 in its opening weekend, and its two-week total was $242,578. This placed it at number 264 for all films released in 2009.
Black Dynamite received positive reviews and now holds an 85% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes
based on 44 reviews. One reviewer writes, "A loving and meticulous send-up of 1970s blaxploitation movies, Black Dynamite is funny enough for the frat house and clever enough for film buffs." On Metacritic
Black Dynamite has a 65/100 falling in the generally favorable reviews category.
Owen Gleiberman wrote in Entertainment Weekly
, "Black Dynamite blends satire, nostalgia, and cinema deconstruction into a one-of-a-kind comedy high", noting Sanders captured the language and feel of blaxploitation. Roger Ebert
awarded the film three stars out of four, and said, "Black Dynamite gets it mostly right, and when it's wrong, it's wrong on purpose and knows just what it's doing." He added that the film meticulously reproduces 1970s blaxploitation and brings back much-needed gratuitous nudity.
A. O. Scott
of The New York Times
considered Black Dynamite would be a better "five-minute clip on YouTube" than a feature film. Scott wrote, "A boom mike drifts down into the frame; an actor recites stage directions along with his lines. The camera zooms, pans and shifts focus as if it were being wielded by an optometrist on a cocaine binge. The acting is stiff, the dialogue painfully self-conscious, the action sequences choreographed and edited to look as cartoonish as possible. All of which is fun, for a while, in an academic kind of way." James Greenberg writing for The Hollywood Reporter
believed the film would not hold audience's attention because among all the detail there was no real story.
“Between the streets, Vietnam and the C.I.A., Black Dynamite thought he had seen it all. But nothing could have prepared him for his most dangerous mission yet! In BLACK DYNAMITE: SLAVE ISLAND, the world’s greatest blaxploitation sensation uses his fists of fury to shut down a secret island where the Man still plays by 1850s rules!” Slave Island is based on a story by Michael Jai White, Byron Minns and Scott Sanders. Written by Brian Ash
with inks by Jun Lofamia, the one-shot is due in stores April 2011.
“We pick right up where the movie left off and continue with the same over-the-top action in the one-shot,” explained Brent E. Erwin, COO of Ape Entertainment. “When you are dealing with the quintessential badass, tough-as-nails hero, why would you change a thing?”
late night programming block, Adult Swim
, with animation production by the same team behind The Boondocks
. The 11-minute series pilot, written by Carl Jones & Brian Ash
, was produced at Titmouse, Inc. It features the voices of the film's original cast members including Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, Kym Whitley and Tommy Davidson
. The pilot episode was released on Adult Swim Video on August 8, 2011; and the full series is set to premiere in Summer 2012.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn...
, Salli Richardson
Salli Richardson
Salli Elise Richardson-Whitfield is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role on Eureka and her voice acting on Gargoyles.-Early life:...
, Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
, Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman is an American actor known for his big build and ability to play an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother, Terrence in FX's Rescue Me to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed film, Mystic River.Chapman was discovered by the late...
and Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson is an American comedian, film and television actor.Born in Washington, D.C., Davidson was adopted when he was 2-years-old. He was a child of an interracial adoption, with his parents being Caucasian and he being African-American. He attended high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High...
. It is a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of 1970s blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
films. The film was directed by Scott Sanders
Scott Sanders (director)
Scott Sanders is an African American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his work with the films Black Dynamite and Thick as Thieves.-Early life:...
and co-written by White, Sanders and Byron Minns, who also co-stars.
The film, in which former CIA agent Black Dynamite must avenge his brother's death while cleaning the streets of a new drug that is ravaging the community, had a trailer and funding even before a script was written. Black Dynamite was shot in 20 days in Super 16
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
format. It was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 16 October 2009 for only two weeks and was well-received by critics. It was released on home video on 16 February 2010.
Plot
Black Dynamite, a Vietnam veteranVietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...
and former CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent, vows to clean up the streets of drug dealers and gangsters after his younger brother Jimmy is killed by a shady organization. O'Leary, Black Dynamite's former Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and CIA partner, reinstates him into the agency because they do not want him seeking vengeance by himself. Trying to get to the bottom of Jimmy's murder, he finds out that his brother was actually working undercover for the CIA. Black Dynamite also discovers the shady organization is filling the black orphanages with heroin. He declares war on local drug dealers and successfully cleans up the streets, earning him the affection of Gloria, a black power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
activist who works at the local orphanage.
After discovering the government's involvement in the drug ring, Black Dynamite steals the ledger belonging to corrupt Congressman James which details illegal shipments to a warehouse. Black Dynamite and his team storm the warehouse to capture a big shipment. They learn of a top secret operation called "Code Kansas", but there are no drugs in the warehouse; only "Anaconda" brand malt liquor
Malt liquor
Malt liquor is a North American term referring to a type of beer with high alcohol content. In legal statutes, the term often includes any alcoholic beverage above or equal to 5% alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common parlance, however, it is used for high-alcohol beers made with...
, a government-produced brand that, according to the advertising slogan, "Gives You Ooooooo!". In a diner, they decipher the slogan and uncover "Code Kansas" as a plan to literally emasculate African-American men through Anaconda Malt Liquor, which is formulated to "give (you) a little dick". Returning to the warehouse, Black Dynamite finds O'Leary is part of the evil plan, but is just following orders. He kills O'Leary before acquiring his next lead to find the source of the "Code Kansas" plan.
Black Dynamite heads to Kung Fu Island, where he discovers that his old nemesis, Fiendish Dr. Wu, is responsible for creating the secret formula found in Anaconda Malt Liquor. In a protracted battle which kills several members of his team, Black Dynamite discovers the true identity of the mastermind of the entire operation - the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Black Dynamite then travels to the White House and confronts President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, who has been giving the orders from the beginning. When Black Dynamite defeats Nixon in a kung-fu battle and threatens to expose Nixon
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
as the subject of a series of bondage
Bondage
Bondage may refer to:*Debt bondage, a modern form of slavery in which people are bound by debt, rather than legal ownership*Bondage , the practice of tying people up for pleasure*Self-bondage, the practice of tying oneself up for pleasure...
and cross dressing photographs, the president begs to be killed and his plan is foiled.
Cast
- Michael Jai WhiteMichael Jai WhiteMichael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn...
as Black Dynamite - Arsenio HallArsenio HallArsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
as Tasty Freeze - Tommy DavidsonTommy DavidsonTommy Davidson is an American comedian, film and television actor.Born in Washington, D.C., Davidson was adopted when he was 2-years-old. He was a child of an interracial adoption, with his parents being Caucasian and he being African-American. He attended high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High...
as Cream Corn - Obba BabatundéObba BabatundeObba Babatundé is an American actor of stage and screen, known for his Emmy-nominated performance in the television movie Miss Evers' Boys, a NAACP Image Award-nominated performance in the TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and a Tony Award-nominated role for his performance as C.C...
as Osiris - Kevin ChapmanKevin ChapmanKevin Chapman is an American actor known for his big build and ability to play an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother, Terrence in FX's Rescue Me to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed film, Mystic River.Chapman was discovered by the late...
as O'Leary - Richard EdsonRichard EdsonRichard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
as Dino - Darrel Heath as Militant 2
- Buddy LewisBuddy Lewis (comedian)Roland "Buddy" Lewis is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and voice-over artist.-Background:Lewis was born in Gary, Indiana, and known from birth as "Buddy"....
as Gunsmoke - Brian McKnightBrian McKnightBrian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
as Sweetmeat - Byron Minns as Bullhorn
- James McManus as Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
- Phil Morris as Saheed
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr.Miguel A. Núñez Jr.Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in The Return of the Living Dead and Life and a leading role in Juwanna Mann....
as Mo Bitches - Salli RichardsonSalli RichardsonSalli Elise Richardson-Whitfield is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role on Eureka and her voice acting on Gargoyles.-Early life:...
as Gloria Gray - Tucker SmallwoodTucker SmallwoodTucker Smallwood is an American actor, author and vocalist.-Early life:From 1967 to 1970, Smallwood served in the United States Army Airborne Infantry. Commanding a Mobile Advisory Team during the Vietnam War, he was wounded in action...
as Congressman Monroe James - John SalleyJohn SalleyJohn Thomas "Spider" Salley is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises....
as Kotex - Chris SpencerChris Spencer (actor)Chris Spencer is an Jamaican American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was the first host of the syndicated late night talk show Vibe, based on the magazine of the same name. He has gone on to star in several film projects such as The Sixth Man, Significant Others, and Postal...
as Militant 1 - Mike StarrMike Starr (actor)Michael "Mike" Starr is an American actor. Starr is notable for his large size, standing 6 ft 3 1/2 in , and has typically been typecast as thugs or henchmen....
as Rafelli - Nicole SullivanNicole SullivanNicole Julianne Sullivan is an American actress, comedian and voice artist. Sullivan is best known for her six seasons on the sketch comedy series MADtv and five seasons on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens.She has played a recurring character on Scrubs and voices the villainous Shego in...
as Patricia Nixon - Kym WhitleyKym WhitleyKym Elizabeth Whitley is an American actress and comedienne.-Early life:Whitley was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.-Career:...
as Honeybee - Mykelti WilliamsonMykelti WilliamsonMichael T. "Mykelti" Williamson is an American actor best known for his role as Benjamin Buford Blue in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown, and recently for appearing as the head of CTU for...
as Chicago Wind - Bokeem WoodbineBokeem WoodbineBokeem Woodbine is an American film and television actor.-Personal life:Woodbine was born in Harlem, New York to an actress mother. He attended the prestigious Dalton School in New York before transferring to the also prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the city...
as Black Hand Jack - Cedric YarbroughCedric YarbroughCedric Yarbrough is an American comedian and actor.Yarbrough was born in Burnsville, Minnesota. Yarbrough attended Burnsville Senior High School and later Minnesota State University, Mankato. He is also an alumnus of Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis.Yarbrough starred on the Comedy...
as Chocolate Giddy-Up - Roger YuanRoger YuanRoger Yuan is a Los Angeles-born actor, martial artist, stunt man and fight choreographer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Los Angeles. Yuan is a black belt in Chun Kuk Do...
as Fiendish Dr. Wu - John Kerry as the Chief
- Phyllis Applegate as Aunt Billy
- William Bassett as Captain Yancy
- Baron VaughnBaron VaughnBaron Vaughn is a comedian and actor from the cast of the USA Network's Fairly Legal, on which he plays legal assistant Leonardo Prince.Vaughn has played supporting roles in a number of feature films, including Cloverfield and Black Dynamite. He has also appeared in The Awkward Comedy Show with...
as Jimmy - Jon Kent Ethridge as 12-year-old Black Dynamite
- Neil Lewis as 18-year-old Black Dynamite
- Cheryl Carter as Black Dynamite's mother
- Pete Antico as Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
- Justine JoliJustine JoliJustine Joli is the stage name of an American adult model and pornographic actress.-Early life:Joli grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, splitting her summers between a farm in Hannibal, Missouri and Crested Butte, Colorado. She did ballet from age 3 to age 15...
, Charlotte StokelyCharlotte StokelyCharlotte Stokely is an American pornographic actress.She started performing in adult oriented content after her roommate was cast in a porn film; Stokely was then asked to appear on camera...
, Charmane StarCharmane StarCharmane Star is a Filipino pornographic actress who has appeared in over 279 films since 1998. She has also performed as a feature dancer....
, and Erika Vution as the Ladies of Leisure - Stacy Adams as Nurse Jenny
Production
White originally thought of the idea for Black Dynamite around April 2006, while listening to James BrownJames Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's "Super Bad
Super Bad (song)
"Super Bad" is a 1970 James Brown song. Originally released as a three-part single, it went to number one on the soul singles chart and number 13 on the Hot 100....
". White had also held blaxploitation movie parties where he picked up the "funny inconsistencies" in the films. White rented costumes, photographed himself and showed it to Sanders who was attracted to the idea. The same blue costume on White's photograph was used in the final scene of the film.
The original trailer was recorded even before the film went into production in order to raise money. It incorporated scenes from old blaxploitation movies with old voice overs from Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, he is best remembered for his role in director Norman Jewison's film, A Soldier's Story for which he received a nomination for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" from both the Academy Awards and the...
. The trailer was shot on Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
for around $500 and contained numerous 1970s anachronisms, such as referring to the star of the film as a Baltimore Colts
Baltimore Colts
Baltimore Colts may refer to the following football teams:* Baltimore Colts , an All-America Football Conference franchise and National Football League franchise that disbanded after the 1950 season...
running back (the Colts moved to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
in 1984) and marvelling at Black Dynamite's "five thousand dollar car" and "hundred dollar suit". White and Sanders showed it to Jon Steingart, who told them "Oh my God. Okay, we can raise the money for this."
Once financing was secured, writing the script took about three weeks. During the writing process, Minns's almost "encyclopedic knowledge" of blaxploitation helped them produce the script more quickly.
Filming
Cinematographer Shawn Maurer shot Black Dynamite on Super 1616 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
Color Reversal Kodak film stock to get the high contrast and saturated look common in many low-budget Blaxploitation films of the 1970s. The film was then converted to digital for editing. The filmmakers supplemented their shoot with period stock footage from Sony Pictures Stock Footage, using films such as Missing in Action
Missing in Action (film)
Missing in Action is a 1984 action B-movie directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing...
, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
, and Police Woman
Police Woman (TV series)
Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:...
. Black Dynamite was shot in the Leimert Park and Angeles Vista sections of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
over twenty days, with several green-screen days and one reshoot day. The film had such a low budget that they had to "think in the same ways that they had to think" in the classic blaxploitation movies. Sanders and White had a difficult time keeping the modern world out of the movie. Sanders was worried about anything modern that could destroy "the whole illusion." White worked individually with actors to keep their tone correct.
As an homage to the low production values and "one take only" style of blaxploitation films, many filming errors were done on purpose. For example, in one scene where Black Dynamite stands up from his desk, a red boom microphone
Boom operator (media)
A Boom operator is an assistant of the production sound mixer. The principal responsibility of the boom operator is microphone placement, sometimes using a "fishpole" with a microphone attached to the end and sometimes, when the situation permits, using a "boom" which is a more intricate and...
appears above his head (which was common in Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore was an American comedian, musician, singer, film actor, and film producer. He was perhaps best known as Dolemite , the uniquely articulate pimp from the 1975 film Dolemite, and its sequel, The Human Tornado...
films, such as Dolemite
Dolemite
Dolemite is a 1975 blaxploitation feature film, and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack...
). When some gangsters pull up to a store, the driver forgets to put the car into park and the car lurches forward. Some of the actors recite their stage directions before their intended dialogue (In one scene, an actor verbalizes the stage direction "the militants turn startled" and continues on saying the scripted dialogue "How did you get in here?").
During casting, White sent Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
the script, and "when he read that there's a Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
pimp in this thing", he accepted the role.
Score
Adrian Younge plays all instruments and wrote the lyrics to every song on the soundtrack except "Shine," "Cleaning Up The Streets," and "Gloria." His influences on the score were Curtis MayfieldCurtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
and Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
. Morricone greatly influenced Younge from the classical European funk music, while Wu-Tang Clan helped him focus on making music they would want to sample. Sanders gave Younge almost complete leeway, but he still had to work hard to impress others working on the film. To record the score, Younge used vintage tape recording equipment and then sent it to be digitally transferred.
The film's theme song is "Dynomite" by Sir Charles Hughes; its chorus plays nearly every time Black Dynamite appears. It also features many pieces of background music, composed by Alan Tew
Alan Tew
Alan Tew is a British composer and arranger.He got his start as the pianist/arranger for the Len Turner Band based in London, in the 1950s.He is known as composer of library music, including the theme songs for British TV programmes, Doctor in the House called Bond Street Parade, theme from Mother...
, from the 1975 Yorkshire TV series The Hanged Man.
Release
Black Dynamite premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival2009 Sundance Film Festival
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival.-Award winners:*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - We Live in Public...
, where Sony Worldwide Acquisitions picked it up for distribution for "nearly $2 million." On June 14, the film went on to win the Golden Space Needle
Space Needle
The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over...
Audience Award for Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
, beating The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
among other films. On August 25, 2009, it was announced that Apparition, a new distributor headed by Bill Pohlad and Bob Berney, would handle the film's domestic release.
The general release version differs from the original Sundance cut, wherein six minutes of dialogue scenes and fight sequences were trimmed.
Marketing
A viral campaign was launched on the web prior to the film's general release, spearheaded by a mock nonprofit organization called "Fight Smack in the Orphanage" (FSITO). The organization's website features PSAPublic service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
clips starring Black Dynamite and other cast members of the film.
Box office
| Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | United States | International | Worldwide | All time United States | All time worldwide | |||
| Black Dynamite Black Dynamite Black Dynamite is a 2009 American film starring Michael Jai White, Salli Richardson, Arsenio Hall, Kevin Chapman and Tommy Davidson. It is a spoof of 1970s blaxploitation films... |
October 2009 | $242,578 | $53,979 | $296,557 | #7,536 | Unknown | $2,900,000 | |
Black Dynamite had a limited release to only 70 theaters and a run time of two weeks. The film grossed $131,862 in its opening weekend, and its two-week total was $242,578. This placed it at number 264 for all films released in 2009.
Critical reception
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance... |
Metacritic Metacritic Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,... |
Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | Top Critics | Audience | |||
| Black Dynamite Black Dynamite Black Dynamite is a 2009 American film starring Michael Jai White, Salli Richardson, Arsenio Hall, Kevin Chapman and Tommy Davidson. It is a spoof of 1970s blaxploitation films... |
85% (59 reviews) | 79% (14 reviews) | 83% (11,581 reviews) | 65/100 (14 reviews) | A |
Black Dynamite received positive reviews and now holds an 85% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 44 reviews. One reviewer writes, "A loving and meticulous send-up of 1970s blaxploitation movies, Black Dynamite is funny enough for the frat house and clever enough for film buffs." On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
Black Dynamite has a 65/100 falling in the generally favorable reviews category.
Owen Gleiberman wrote in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, "Black Dynamite blends satire, nostalgia, and cinema deconstruction into a one-of-a-kind comedy high", noting Sanders captured the language and feel of blaxploitation. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film three stars out of four, and said, "Black Dynamite gets it mostly right, and when it's wrong, it's wrong on purpose and knows just what it's doing." He added that the film meticulously reproduces 1970s blaxploitation and brings back much-needed gratuitous nudity.
A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
considered Black Dynamite would be a better "five-minute clip on YouTube" than a feature film. Scott wrote, "A boom mike drifts down into the frame; an actor recites stage directions along with his lines. The camera zooms, pans and shifts focus as if it were being wielded by an optometrist on a cocaine binge. The acting is stiff, the dialogue painfully self-conscious, the action sequences choreographed and edited to look as cartoonish as possible. All of which is fun, for a while, in an academic kind of way." James Greenberg writing for The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
believed the film would not hold audience's attention because among all the detail there was no real story.
Home media
Black Dynamite was released on February 16, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray. Both releases contain deleted scenes, a "making-of" featurette and a Comic-Con Q&A panel. The Blu-ray has an extra featurette and trivia track.Graphic Novel
Black Dynamite: Slave Island was scheduled to be released on April 4, 2011. According to a press release from the publisher, "Ape Entertainment, in partnership with Ars Nova, is proud to announce the release of the original 48 page one-shot Black Dynamite: Slave Island, inspired by the major motion picture BLACK DYNAMITE.“Between the streets, Vietnam and the C.I.A., Black Dynamite thought he had seen it all. But nothing could have prepared him for his most dangerous mission yet! In BLACK DYNAMITE: SLAVE ISLAND, the world’s greatest blaxploitation sensation uses his fists of fury to shut down a secret island where the Man still plays by 1850s rules!” Slave Island is based on a story by Michael Jai White, Byron Minns and Scott Sanders. Written by Brian Ash
Brian Ash
Brian Ash is an American producer and screenwriter.Brian Ash is a writer and co-executive producer of Black Dynamite: The Animated Series, a writer and producer of the third season of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks and a writer and creative consultant and on Freaknik: The Musical on Adult Swim...
with inks by Jun Lofamia, the one-shot is due in stores April 2011.
“We pick right up where the movie left off and continue with the same over-the-top action in the one-shot,” explained Brent E. Erwin, COO of Ape Entertainment. “When you are dealing with the quintessential badass, tough-as-nails hero, why would you change a thing?”
Animated series
An animated spin-off of the film is being produced for Cartoon Network 'sCartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
late night programming block, Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
, with animation production by the same team behind The Boondocks
The Boondocks (TV series)
The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name...
. The 11-minute series pilot, written by Carl Jones & Brian Ash
Brian Ash
Brian Ash is an American producer and screenwriter.Brian Ash is a writer and co-executive producer of Black Dynamite: The Animated Series, a writer and producer of the third season of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks and a writer and creative consultant and on Freaknik: The Musical on Adult Swim...
, was produced at Titmouse, Inc. It features the voices of the film's original cast members including Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, Kym Whitley and Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson is an American comedian, film and television actor.Born in Washington, D.C., Davidson was adopted when he was 2-years-old. He was a child of an interracial adoption, with his parents being Caucasian and he being African-American. He attended high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High...
. The pilot episode was released on Adult Swim Video on August 8, 2011; and the full series is set to premiere in Summer 2012.