Blu-ray Art and Details for 'Black Dynamite'

There's not much to report other than the fact Black Dynamite will be on DVD and Blu-ray on February 16th, but hey - Black Dynamite will be on DVD and Blu-ray on February 16th. Click below to see the full Blu-ray cover, courtesy of DVD Active.

Now, if you aren't familiar with the movie, it's a faux blaxploitation film about a former CIA agent who is called back into action when The Man kills his brother and starts running heroin into the inner city's black orphanages. Michael Jai White is world's most bad-assss former spy taking the streets back for justice, and I sure wish the film got a bigger chance in theaters. Less than a quarter-million bucks in revenue hardly seems like a fair shake.

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Get the Score On the 'Black Dynamite' Score

Anytime we've looked at clips or trailers for Black Dynamite, which is now in select theaters, we've always mentioned how authentic it looks, sounds, and feels, given that it was made almost 40 years after the films it spoofs/pays homage to.

In the movie, Michael Jai White plays a former CIA agent whose brother is killed by The Man, who is also responsible for funneling heroin into local orphanages and flooding the ghetto with "a secret weapon disguised as common malt liquor." It's like it's ripped from the newspapers, isn't it? Here's a pretty interesting video from Wax Poetics about one of the major components of turning a contemporary movie into a believable blaxploitation flick from the early 70s: The soundtrack by first-time film composer Adrian Younge. Check it out.

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'Black Dynamite' Star Pitches Cartoon Series Spin-Off

Although the vast majority or the vast majority of moviegoers probably haven't yet heard of Black Dynamite, based on he trailers alone, I'd like to see more than one go-round. And the film's star, Michael Jai White, tells Latino Review we may get exactly that.

According to the site, "he told me they're planning on doing a Black Dynamite cartoon series for Cartoon Network. (I'm assuming for Adult Swim). He said one of the guys (I think Carl Jones) behind the popular series The Bookdocks is behind it." I would think that would have to depend on how well it goes in the theatrical release in a couple weeks for the blaxploitation spoof, which is also a good barometer for the new company distributing it, Apparition (in a coupling with Sony). Supposing it does pretty well, then you might see an off-shoot like the one White described.

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Another Baadasssss Trailer for 'Black Dynamite'

We've got another trailer from Black Dynamite, which I think makes the third or fourth one since the film hit Sundance back in January. Hopefully, you've seen some of this stuff before, but if not, this is as authentic a blaxploitation spoof that we've ever seen.

There have been a few of these before - and you're probably thinking of I'm Gonna Git You Sucka - but I don't think any of the satires in the last 35 years or so have so perfectly emulated the look of the 1970s. Honestly, if this is your first exposure, you'd be suspicious that it's actually an old trailer that's just been re-edited. Michael Jai White plays the man in the $5,000 car and the $100 suits and yep, that is Aresnio in there, too.

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Solid: 'Black Dynamite' To Be Released in October

What I've seen of Black Dynamite gives me hope that the blaxploitation spoof will play very well with audiences this fall. Now it just has to find the audience.

Sony and Apparition will distribute the film in the U.S. beginning on October 16th, which is a busy weekend in a crowded month. True, there aren't a lot of blaxploitation movies in theaters in this October, but we've seen countless examples of movies that should do better that eventually get sacrificed on the altar of bigger marketing budgets and movie stars, so just because it's being released doesn't mean much on its own. That malaise is particularly pronounced when the movie isn't mass appeal the way a (500) Days of Summer would be. That also has young, attractive stars. But when you get into the category of Moon, a terrific genre picture that just didn't make it to enough theaters, you start to see that it takes more than being good and interesting to generate an audience.

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