Original Gangstas
| Original Gangstas | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Larry Cohen |
| Produced by |
Wolf Schmidt Fred Williamson |
| Written by | Aubrey K. Rattan |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Vladimir Horunzhy |
| Cinematography | Carlos González |
| Edited by | Peter B. Ellis David Kern |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures (MGM) |
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Release date
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May 10, 1996 |
|
Running time
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143 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.6 million |
| Box office | $3,000,000 (US) |
Original Gangstas is a 1996 action-gangster film filmed and set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree. The film is directed by Larry Cohen.
The film details the deteriorating state of an impoverished Gary neighborhood terrorized by a street gang called the Rebels. When the gang murders a local boy, it prompts the emergence of several individuals who grew up in the neighborhood: the original members of the Rebels.
The movie opens to a narration detailing the poor economic state of a gang-ridden Gary. The narrator explains to the audience of how the city came into such a state. After the opening narrative, the scene switches to the base of operations for the Rebels, a local street gang, and a one-on-one basketball game between a Rebel gang member and a local boy named Kenny Thompson. Kenny humiliates the Rebel by winning and taking the gambled winnings for his own. After he leaves, Spyro, the current co-leader of the Rebels (opposite Damien) is under the impression that Kenny's skills are something more than "something he picked up." He instructs his lieutenant, Kayo, to exact retribution on Kenny for being hustled.
While Kenny and his friend Marcus are relaxing at a diner, Kenny decides to call his girlfriend. He enters a phone booth to make the call, but is subsequently shot by Kayo in a drive-by shooting; his mother, Laurie Thompson, alarmed by the gunshots, steps outside her home to discover her son murdered. The owners of the grocery store, Marvin Bookman and Gracie Bookman, two well-respected members of the community by both the Rebels and local citizens, feels that justice should be brought to Kenny's murderer and discloses the license plate number of the shooter's vehicle. When the Rebels discover this, Spyro orders Kayo to dispose of the vehicle. Kayo and the Rebels then proceed to confront Marvin about his assistance to the investigators of Kenny's death; Marvin argues that Kenny was a good person and did not deserve to be shot. The co-leaders of the Rebels describe how they respected the Bookmans' store and, while others around it were robbed and ransacked, their store was left alone; the fact that Marvin would "sell them out" expresses a high amount of disrespect to the Rebels, who then immediately seek revenge on Marvin. Eventually, Kayo and Bobby, with a group of fellow Rebels, attacks the grocery store, resulting in the near-fatal shooting of Marvin by Bobby.
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