RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
73 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 15

Fresh: 11

Rotten:4

Average Rating: 6.8/10

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Putting black cinema on the map and ushering in the legendary Blaxploitation genre of the 1970s, Melvin Van Peebles's SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG is a thrilling work of entertainment as well... Putting black cinema on the map and ushering in the legendary Blaxploitation genre of the 1970s, Melvin Van Peebles's SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG is a thrilling work of entertainment as well as a historically and ideologically significant essay on the issue of race. The film tells the story of Sweetback (Van Peebles), an apolitical black sex performer who becomes a reluctant picaresque hero when he kills the two white policemen who brutalized a young prisoner for racist reasons. On the run to Mexico, Sweetback encounters all manner of provocatively stereotypical characters, including a shower-capped ghetto thug who won't help him, a hypocritical Baptist preacher, and, of course, a host of women who can't get enough of his supercharged sexuality. Working overtime as producer, editor, and co-composer (along with Earth, Wind and Fire), Van Peebles delivers a work that is the true definition of an independent film. Incorporating striking cinematic techniques into his production--including split screens, freeze-frames, and use of film negatives--he single-handedly created a new cinematic genre, proving that true innovation comes from individual human spirit, not assembly-line studio efforts. [More]

Starring: Melvin Van Peebles, Rhetta Hughes, Simon Chuckster, John Amos

Starring: Melvin Van Peebles, Rhetta Hughes, Simon Chuckster, John Amos, Hubert Scales

Director: Melvin Van Peebles

Director: Melvin Van Peebles

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jan 14, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
02/29/08
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

A landmark in Black filmmaking in the U.S., this angry, extravagant, loud, belligerent movie reaches a high pitch early on and stays there.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/13/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/13/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Totally uncompromising and grindingly repetitive, the film nevertheless accumulates a kind of hallucinatory groove, with unexpected shafts of bizarre humour and vigorous, experimental new wave direction.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
08/19/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Even 30-odd years on, the picture still has more than a whiff of rebellion about it.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/15/05
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film

"Song" broke ground for minorities, not for filmmaking

comment Comment
11/28/04
Christian Toto
Washington Times

Melvin van Peebles' blaxploitation 'classic' still doesn't fare well by either artistic standards or simple good taste, but any student of the genre is well advised to check it out.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/19/04
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/10/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Instead of dramatizing injustice, Van Peebles merchandizes it.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
05/21/03
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is style, glamour, and even virtuosic direction (in the inclusive use of so many familiar techniques) that paves Sweetback’s value as a timepiece – its lasting, testimonial contribution is its position as the first of its kind.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
02/18/03
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

No review available.

comment Comment
11/22/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

a revolutionary movie not because it's about one man's defiance, but because it put front-and-center black issues that had never been dealt with before

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/03/02
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
 
 
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
Text View
See More Topics...

Related Forums for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
—
The Code
23%
23%
Confessions of a Shopa…
39%
39%
Inkheart
80%
80%
Gran Torino
28%
28%
Tyler Perry's Madea Go…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
22%
22%
Push
12%
12%
The Unborn

More New Releases…

RT On Current TV

What’s Hot On RT

RT on DVD

RT on DVD

Knowing, Push, The Unborn, and more!

50 States, 50 Movies

50 States, 50 Movies

This July 4th, take a cinematic road trip!

Johnny Depp's Best Movies

Johnny Depp's Best...

The finest work from Public Enemies' star.

RT on Current TV!

RT on Current TV!

Check out the RT Show this Thursday!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
92
  • Brandon Routh Talks Superman's Future Source: Moviehole
91
  • Sony's Amy Pascal Explains Moneyball Balk Source: Los Angeles Times
6
  • Three Theaters Getting Harry Potter in IMAX Opening Day Source: Collider.com
18
  • Weekly Ketchup: Adam Sandler joins The Zookeeper, David Fincher joins Facebook
72
  • Zak Penn Talks The Avengers Source: Sci Fi Wire
20
  • Watchmen Director's Cut Headed to Theaters Source: Collider.com
32
  • Lorenzo di Bonaventura Talks G.I. Joe, Beverly Hills Cop 4, More Source: Collider.com
14
  • (Teaser) Trailer Bulletin: The Last Airbender Source: MTV
61
  • Johnny Depp Talks Alice, Pirates 4, Dark Shadows Source: Collider.com
12
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: Solid Public Enemies Doesn't Quite Bring The Noise
104
  • Total Recall: Johnny Depp's Best Movies
91
  • RoboGeisha: 2009's Most Insane Trailer?
79
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
53
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
46
  • RT on DVD: Street Fighter, Transmorphers 2, and Uwe Boll's Tunnel Rats!
36
  • Academy Invites Tyler Perry, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen to Join Oscar Ranks
28
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Dinosaurs and Gangsters Spark Fireworks
23
  • Karl Malden: 1912-2009
17
  • Blood: The Last Vampire -- Exclusive Concept Art and Artist Profile
11
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Appreciating Michael Jackson
Appreciating Michael Jackson External Link

TIME music critic Josh Tyrangiel remembers - and appreciates - the high peak of Michael Jackson's career in the early '80s.

10 Best Picture Noms?
10 Best Picture Noms? External Link

With the Best Picture Oscar noms now 10 deep, BuzzSugar looks at 10 films that should have made the cut.

Successful Sci-Fi Sequels
Successful Sci-Fi Sequels External Link

Sequels never used to be as good as the original, but now they can be even better. Can Transformers 2 follow suit?

Films That Time Forgot
Films That Time Forgot External Link

The AV Club's Zack Handlen explores why Snowbeast has been dismissed and forgotten.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.