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Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

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Videos & Photos

  • Trailer 1
  • 4K Restoration Trailer

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Melvin Van Peebles

Producer:

Jerry Gross

Runtime:

1hr 37m

Synopsis

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

Cast

  • Melvin Van Peebles
  • Hubert Scales
  • John Dullaghan
  • Simon Chuckster
  • Mario Van Peebles
  • Max Van Peebles
  • Rhetta Hughes
  • John Amos
  • Megan Van Peebles
  • Wesley Gale

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.3
24.4K
22.2K
5.3K
RATINGS 53 FANS
3.3
  • Feb 2, 2021

    Melvin Van Peebles interview with Roger Ebert: "And the arrogance of the white critic is something to behold. In New York, a lot of the critics wouldn't even come to see my movie because I didn't have a screening for them. I said, if they want to see it, let them go to a…

    344 Likes
    Frogtown
    Frogtown
    Jun 21, 2019

    One of the most radical formal expressions of discontent and revolt perhaps ever? "They got your brother, don't let them get you."

    323 Likes
    Josh Lewis
    Josh Lewis
    Feb 11, 2019

    Waaaaay more fractured and experimental than the typical blaxploitation run and gun action I had in mind. Time slows and loops and shatters to show the lingering impact of trauma. Sweet Sweetback feels both suspended and hurried, alive and somnambulant, intimate and…

    144 Likes
    Patrick Pryor
    Patrick Pryor
  •
    Jun 2, 2018

    Not at all what I expected -- at times almost incomprehensible, like some caustic, revolutionary combination of Godard and Anger in its nonstop jump cuts, superimpositions, and repetitions. How long did it take to assemble this thing?? I can't imagine trying to watch…

    106 Likes
    Liz
    Liz
    Sep 26, 2021

    COME ON FEET TROUBLE AIN'T NO PLACE TO BE Folks, this rewired me. The way Glauber rewired me. The way The Three Jacks (Demy-Rivette-Tati) rewired me. The way Akerman rewired me. This is how movies MOVE. This is how thought THINKS. Perfect Los Angeles study. Those…

    93 Likes
    Carlos Valladares
    Carlos Valladares
    Feb 16, 2021

    "Now we can't have that." -Guy on the toilet. - Complex Top 50 Blaxploitation Films: https://boxd.it/1w5pa I don't always get art. Melvin Van Peebles did some drugs (I'm guessing) and made a movie and it's great and weird mixed with horrible and unseemly. Some of…

    85 Likes
    {Todd}
    {Todd}
  •
    Feb 2, 2022

    “Come on feet!”If you’re fed up with the rules that govern the form you have chosen to express yourself, you gotta make your own. Melvin Van Peebles knew this, and his complete rejection of social mores and cinematic formalism results in a berserkly transgressive, morally…

    82 Likes
    Jerry
    Jerry
    Jan 12, 2019

    RATED X BY AN ALL WHITE JURY

    72 Likes
    Marcy Webb
    Marcy Webb
    Oct 11, 2021

    But compared to the underlying affirmations and populist appeal of, say, Gordon Parks’s Shaft, Van Peebles’s film roils with unfiltered rage, dispensing with the humor of the director’s prior features that acted as a release valve for their thematic tensions. There is no…

    71 Likes
    Jake Cole
    Jake Cole
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Queue Community Reviews

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Top Reviews
  • Cinematic Joshua
    Cinematic Joshua disliked
    Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

    An abysmal and offensive blacksploitation low budget disaster!

    👀 1 2Y
    Jimmy Cricket
    Jimmy Cricket is "meh" on
    Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

    One of the most angriest radical forms of expression put to film. Looks at the abuse towards the black community from a black voice. Very experimental in style/structure. It sets out to be proactive and, still 50+ years later, succeeds. And that’s mostly due to the opening scene.

    9M
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Atom Users Reviews

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Metacritic

71
metacritic
Based on 10 Critics
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USER SCORE (0)

There are no user reviews yet
75

A shrewd and powerful mix of commercial ingredients and ideological intent.

View full review
Metacritic review by Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
88

Over 40 years after its release, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song still retains its shock value, but even more so, it remains distinct as a work that cannot be squarely placed within a singular category.

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Metacritic review by Clayton Dillard
Clayton Dillard
Slant Magazine
See All Critic Reviews on Metacritic.com

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song?
The movie is 1hr 37min long.
What's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song about?
After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.
Who's the cast of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song?
  • Melvin Van Peebles as Sweetback
  • Hubert Scales as Mu-Mu
  • John Dullaghan as Commissioner
  • Simon Chuckster as Beetle
  • Mario Van Peebles as Sweetback, Kid
  • Max Van Peebles as Sweetback, Young
  • Rhetta Hughes as Old Girl Friend
  • John Amos as Biker
  • Megan Van Peebles as Kid
  • Wesley Gale
Who's the director behind Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song?
Melvin Van Peebles directed Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.
Who produced Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song?
Jerry Gross produced Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.