Top 30 Black Films(retro)
by blaxploitation.com
blaxploitation.com recommends...
Top Thirty Classic Blaxploitation Movies
Across 110th Street 1972
Classic, hard cop movie in true old school style. Fantastic Bronx locations, a tight script and some good performances. Outstanding soundtrack too.
Avenging Disco Godfather 1979
Rudy Ray Moore in classic tongue-in-cheek ass-kicking style . Grab a six pack and get stuck in! read review...
Black Belt Jones 1974
Our all-time favorite blaxploitation movie. Total entertainment that doesn't take itself too seriously. Jim Kelly's best performance, a strong female lead in Gloria Hendry, killer music from Dennis Coffey, and some excellent set-pieces to boot. Unreservedly recommended. read review...
Black Caesar 1973
Fred Williamson's best film role. A tough movie with superb soundtrack and some excellent performances. read review...
Black Shampoo 1976
Ridiculous black remake of the Warren Beatty hit Shampoo. Classic bad B-movie material with John 'Candy Tangerine Man' Daniels. Hilarious, violent and pretty surreal.
Blacula 1972
Respected stage actor William Marshall stars in this camped-up black version of the Dracula story. Brilliant music and some good performances - even pretty scary in parts!
Bucktown 1975
A less well-known, gritty Fred Williamson movie with Pam Grier. Great theme by Johnny Pate.
Car Wash 1976
This one had to go into the list for sheer entertainment value!
Claudine 1974
Great to see this low-key classic back on video and DVD for the first time in a long while. Makes a great change from the violence inherent in many of these films.
Cleopatra Jones 1973
The first, and best, Cleo Jones film, starring the lovely Tamara Dobson, a 6ft-plus ex-model who can really act. All-round entertainment, some great cars, great chases, and a great soundtrack. read review...
Coffy 1973
Arguably Pam Grier's best-known role. As nurse Coffy, she avenges her sister's death by taking on the drug dealers. Vicious, nasty, uncompromising. Superb music and a great lead performance. read review...
Come Back Charleston Blue 1972
Well-shot and well scripted, this early blaxploitation movie is a great detective story with plenty of plot. Good stuff.
Cornbread, Earl and Me 1975
Low-key, socially conscious basketball-themed movie. Well scripted and acted, great soundtrack too.
Detroit 9000 1973
Another of our personal favorites. Highly recommended heist movie featuring excellent, bleak Detroit locations and some superb performances. read review...
Disco 9000 1976
Crazy, cult classic B-movie about a disco club in the top of a high-rise exclusive tower block. Pretty cheesy but has its moments - some excellent parody of the music business and tasty dance set pieces. read review...
Dolemite 1975
Rudy Ray Moore's original lewd and crude creation on top form. Toasts, wisecracks, bad catsuits and plenty of action.
Education of Sonny Carson, The 1974
Superb and largely forgotten socially aware movie about a young ghetto kid's transition to adulthood.
Enter The Dragon 1974
Bruce Lee, John Saxon AND Jim Kelly? Music by Lalo Schifrin? The movie that kick-started the 1970s kung-fu obsession.
Foxy Brown 1974
Our favorite Pam Grier role. Tough, sexy, confident and just slightly vulnerable. A genre classic. read review...
Friday Foster 1975
Almost a complete change for Pam Grier, cast as a photographer in a bright, breezy production. As always, Grier is very watchable and turns in a great performance in a movie with a much lighter feel than most of her other films. read review...
Gordon's War 1973
Neighborhood hero forms his own army to battle the drug dealers moving into their patch. Classic Paul Winfield flick with an incredible, super funky soundtrack (by the same composer who wrote the Twin Peaks music, trivia fans!)
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka 1988
Hilarious pastiche of all things blaxploitation, from the pimps to the cars to the clothes. Very funny with many classic one-liners.
Mack, The 1973
Along with Superfly, here's the original guide to ghetto pimp life.
Man And Boy 1971
Beautiful understated Western with a great performance by Bill Cosby and fantastic music by Bill Withers and JJ Johnson.
Monkey Hustle 1977
Infectious mid 70s classic starring all the main male leads of the time in a hustling-themed film.
Shaft 1971
What can you say? The original black private dick. Everyone should own a copy of this.
Slaughter 1972
Jim Brown's best screen role. read review...
Spook Who Sat By The Door, The 1973
Underground classic. Amazing, experimental soundtrack by Herbie Hancock and super-weird conspiracy theory-style plot with a superb lead performance. Gripping and essential.
Superfly 1972
Savage, vicious, exploitative genre classic. A gripping main performance and superb soundtrack.
Sweet Sweetback's Badaaasss Song 1971
Melvin Van Peebles' superb, almost avant-garde genre-defining classic. Self-financed and publicized, it's a triumph. Weird, hard, absorbing and at times difficult viewing, it's impossible to miss.
Willie Dynamite 1974
Finally available on video, this is the other classic pimp movie. Superb music by JJ Johnson and some key performances, not least by Roscoe 'Sesame Street' Orman in the lead role!
Wow, i dont see how, Cooley High didnt make it into the top 30!!
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