Melinda Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Melinda Blu-ray Movie Review

Dope is def! Wait, that's not right...

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 25, 2025

Best known as the big-screen debut for future Enter the Dragon co-star Jim Kelly, Hugh A. Robertson's Melinda is a surprisingly character-drive blaxploitation drama that doesn't give into all of the genre's established and future clichés. It's still got a few, of course. A swaggering, charismatic leading man? You bet. Karate and nudity? Double check. "The Man" vs. The Community? Of course. And while the cheese factor occasionally subverts whatever points Melinda is trying to get across, it's still a decently entertaining time capsule that's worth seeking out for enthusiasts.

Our man of the hour is Frankie J. Parker (Calvin Lockhart), a sharp-dressed radio DJ and TV personality who's a local legend in L.A. and knows it. He spends his free time charming the ladies and taking karate lessons from his old friend Charles Atkins (Jim Kelly) at a community center where efforts are made to keep kids off drugs because, well, dope is death. Frankie eventually crosses paths with Chicago beauty Melinda Lewis (Vonetta McGee), who's in town on business when they meet at a club owned by Frankie's friend "Tank" Robertson (Rockne Tarkington), and he invites her to a posh party on Tank's yacht where she's introduced to Frankie's ex-girlfriend Terry Davis (Rosalind Cash). That goes about as well as expected, but Melinda and Frankie drive back to his apartment where they're followed by a armed thug who, uh, feels the heat after secretly watching them make love. He "finishes the job", but doesn't finish the job.

Plot twist! The next morning will be the last time Frankie sees Melinda alive: after returning from work, his pad is ransacked and she's apparently been stabbed to death. Soon enough, the truth comes out that "Melinda" is actually Audrey Miller, the old flame of a Chicago gangster named Mitch (Paul Stevens) who just happens to be an associate of Tank. Word has it that Audrey stole something of importance from Mitch before fleeing to L.A. and, once Frankie puts together more pieces of the puzzle, he'll need the help of ex-flame Terry, as well as Charles and a few of his students, to bring the gangster to justice. This won't be any regular mission, of course: there's a few backstabs and betrayals along the way as well as an orgy, a cage of snakes, an unforgettable bank visit, a sniper, and more.

Again, despite these ridiculous but entertaining elements, Melinda is saved by the fact that it's a bit more character-driven than most blaxploitation films. Braggadocious, perpetually self-centered Frankie is insufferable right until that plot twist occurs -- basically, the first third of the film -- but undergoes a pretty swift and sudden change once reality sets in. Knocked down a few pegs, he's quite a bit more stoic and focused from there on out and Melinda is better for it, as Frankie and Terry's more grounded relationship comes back into focus and stands in direct contrast with some of the film's stubbornly outlandish developments. They're a bit much at times but that's also part of the film's infectious fun, which includes a late-breaking karate brawl punctuating Jim Kelly's short but memorable bookending appearances that undoubtedly raised enough eyebrows to get him front and center for future projects like you-know-what as well as Black Belt Jones and Three the Hard Way. He's rough around the edges here, but there's promise.

Other highlights includes terrific time-capsule footage of early 1970s Los Angeles as well as its era-specific production design and music, which all elevate the film to moderate heights -- this is no hidden masterpiece but there's elements working below the surface that give Melinda a bit more replay value than most. Warner Archive's welcome new Blu-ray, which replaces their own DVD-R from 2016, offers loads of support where it matters most, leaning hard on a reliably great A/V restoration that'll be of great interest to die-hard fans and curious newcomers too.

Melinda Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As Frankie might say (above), Warner Archive's restoration of Melinda is such a pretty motherfucker. Sourced from a brand-new 4K scan of the original camera negative, this 1080p transfer does an outstanding job of playing to the film's visual strengths, which in this case is its period-specific production design and pure time-capsule appeal. As usual the picture looks extremely clean and film-like, free from age-related wear-and-tear but retaining all of its organic grain. Disc encoding is excellent as well with no perceivable amounts of posterization, macro blocking, or related eyesores, which isn't surprising since this 109-minute film basically gets an entire dual-layered disc to itself. It's simply more wonderful work from Warner Archive and will absolutely impress die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

Melinda Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix preserves Melinda's mono mix in a split two-channel container, producing a similarly clean, crisp, and trouble free audio presentation that is limited by its low budget but still gets the job done well enough. From intimate dialogue to sparse but explosive action scenes, everything sounds well within expectations for the genre and time period, which also includes the era-specific original score by Jerry Peters and Jerry Butler, with the latter also providing lead vocals for select songs including "Love Is". Overall, there are no real complaints here.

Melinda Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover art that doesn't do its stars any favors. On-disc extras are limited to the original theatrical trailer, which is a little disappointing but not unexpected.

• Original Theatrical Trailer - This over-the-top vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Melinda Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hugh A. Robertson's Melinda plays decently well more than 50 years after its original release, never exactly reaching the upper ranks of blaxploitation but holding its own as an entertaining effort with memorable characters and moments. Most everything else falls into place as goofy detours, ridiculous exchanges, and questionable action creep in from the sides, but the total package is at least as good as the sum of its parts. Warner Archive's Blu-ray makes its case with an outstanding new A/V restoration that plays to the film's period-specific strengths, making Melinda a no-brainer for die-hard fans as well as a potential blind buy for curious newcomers. Recommended to the right crowd.