Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie Review

Gordon? Is that you?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 4, 2019

There have been a number of perceived “injustices” in the doling out of both nominations and actual statuettes in the annual Academy Awards festivities, and there’s probably no one with even a marginal interest in film who doesn’t feel this or that person “should” have been nominated or in fact won in any given year. In the spirit of those sentiments, I’d like to suggest that it is a manifest tragedy of some incalculable order that one Bernard Johnson did not receive recognition by the Academy for what is even singled out by commentator Sergio Mims as the sole reason to watch the film even if you can’t stand any other aspect of it: the costumes. Just take a gander at some of the screenshots accompanying this review for a hint of the furred, spangled offerings in store, a veritable glut of early seventies overkill that is instantly distinctive and absolutely unforgettable. It’s even funnier to put these “fashion statements” in the context of what were apparently some on the (super?)fly location shots done in New York, where star Roscoe Orman struts through city streets as Willie Dynamite in all his finery, where the “background” folks are obviously not extras but just your average, everyday men (and women) on the street, many of whom have expressions that are genuinely hilarious, which may suggest that even back then in the early seventies, Johnson’s couturial sensibilities may have been way "fashion forward" (if I may permitted to quote experts like Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn). Of course the foregoing is said with tongue planted rather firmly in cheek, but as even Mims seems to hint at several times through his commentary, for all of Willie Dynamite’s enjoyable elements, it’s probably not the be all end all of the blaxploitation era, though it may be generally underappreciated, as Mims himself avers.

The Universal masthead that begins the film ends up being one reason that commentator Mims feels Willie Dynamite may not have achieved the recognition it deserved, since in Mims’ opinion the then faltering “studio system” didn’t quite know how to even shoot a Blaxploitation film. Sims mentions the difference in look between Willie Dynamite and the somewhat earlier (and also somewhat similar) The Mack, pointing out that the “gritty” aspects of an urban pimp and his “employees” didn’t necessarily translate all that well to studio shot scenes done on the Universal backlot. Still, for a major studio offering, especially in an era when independent film was definitely on the rise, Willie Dynamite has a kind of rough mien a lot of the time, especially with regard to its portrayal of the lives of the working girls, some of whom are shown to be physically abused (including by Willie himself).

Willie Dynamite is kind of an interesting outing despite its rote qualities, and that interest includes its rather frank assessment of the “relationships” between pimps and their girls. Willie is shown to be a cad throughout the film, and there are a couple of downright shocking moments where he physically manhandles women, in scenes that may frankly send some folks’ “PC meters” askew. That said, the film is actually one of Willie’s redemption, or at least increasing “woke”-ness (with regard to his own prospects at least, if not to his dealings with women), as he has skirmishes both with other pimps vying for his same territory, as well as a crusading social worker named Cora (Diana Sands, in her last film role, and sadly just a few months before her untimely death).

As Mims points out in his engaging commentary, what perhaps undercuts the supposed “reality” (as obviously artificially heightened as it is) is the sense of a kind of big studio disconnect. There’s a distance between the characters and the audience here that may not be as prevalent, or at least as noticeable, in arguably more hardscrabble fare like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, a film Mims credits with jumpstarting big studio awareness of what a so-called “Blaxploitation” entry could mean at the boxoffice. Willie Dynamite is frankly a fairly cartoonish concoction, one that is certainly stylish, but which never fully connects on an emotional level. It’s a fascinating curio, though, especially as a repository for some of the most over the top early seventies fashion statements ever captured on celluloid.

Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Willie Dynamite is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow doesn't provide a ton of information on this transfer culled from the Universal library. The insert booklet contains the following pretty generic verbiage on things:

Willie Dynamite in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio. The High Definition master was made available for this release by NBC Universal via Hollywood Classics.

The back cover of the release contains a bit more information when it states "transferred from original film elements by Universal," though as I've discussed in some previous reviews, what exactly "original film elements" may mean can vary pretty substantially. One way or the other, though, while somewhat variable the overall quality of this release is very good, especially with regard to the intense palette. This film is a riot of weirdly colored costumes, and purples, greens and oranges pop with considerable immediacy. There's also excellent fine detail noticeable throughout the presentation with regard to the costumes, with elements like the fur that Willie seems to like a lot looking very precise. There are some minor color temperature variations, and a couple of scenes where densities fluctuate a bit. Also, while the grain field is organic looking almost all of the time, some of the location work can look just a tad chunky at times.

Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Willie Dynamite has a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track that capably supports the film's R&B drenched score (there's a great title tune warbled by Martha Reeves). The interstitial location shots of New York can offer at least a passing semblance of the hubbub of urban life, but a lot of the film actually takes place in studiobound settings with smaller scale dialogue scenes typically involving two to three people. Fidelity is fine throughout, with no signs of major age related wear or tear.

Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Sergio Mims has a lot of interesting information in it, but there's a curious thing that happens several times where Mims will say something, and then say it exactly the same way again, that made me wonder if some kind of editing problems exists. That said, fans of the film are sure to enjoy this.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:05)

Willie Dynamite Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For those of you wondering what the frell my deck (the often joking — at least on my reviews — subtitles under the film's title) is all about, as Mims kind of hilariously gets into, star Roscoe Orman may frankly not be that well remembered as Willie, but will probably forever be emblazoned upon the minds of at least one generation (and possibly more, considering his tenure in the role) as Gordon, one of the regular denizens on Sesame Street. It's a lot of fun, if also kind of unavoidably shocking, to see Orman in a considerably more unsavory role, but that unseemly quality has to be contextualized within what commentator Mims himself calls this film's undeniably artificial feeling ambience. Willie Dynamite is probably a bit too glossy for its own good, despite its stabs at relevance, but as Mims states, consider coming for the costumes if for nothing else. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering a purchase.