THE BLACK SIX(1973)
Archive Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray
Label: Film Masters
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 84 Minutes 50 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Matt Cimber
Cast: Gene Washington, Carl Eller, Lem Barney, Mercury Morris, Robert Howard, John Isenbarger, Willie Lanier,
Hannah Dean, Lydia Dean, Rosalind Miles, Marilyn McArthur
SIX TIMES TOUGHER THAN 'SHAFT'!
SIX TIMES ROUGHER THAN 'SUPERFLY'!
SEE THE 6 BIGGEST, BADDEST AND BEST WASTE 150 MOTORCYCLE DUDES!
The Black Six (1973) is a blaxploitation entry directed by Matt Cimber (The Witch Who Came from the Sea) with young biracial couple Eddie (Robert Howard) and Jenny (Cindy Daly, the three-fingered typist from Beetlejuice!) making out on a football field talking about their future plans when Jenny's brother Moose King (John Isenbarger, of the San Francisco 49ers), who disapproves of his sister dating a black guy, and his gang of white bikers shows up and chain-whip him to death. We then meet a black ex 'Nam vet biker gang called The Black Six lead by Bubba Daniels (Gene Washington) who are travelling across the country. Washington was a wide receiver with the San Francisco 49ers, and interestingly the other black bikers are also played by pro-footballers, among them "Mean Joe" Greene from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Eugene "Mercury" Morris from the Miami Dolphins, "Lem" Barney of the Detroit Lions, Willie Lanier of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Carl Eller from the Minnesota Vikings. They stop off to do some work for a nice old white lady, and then grab some beers at Flora's Truck & Beer Stop, but they end up getting harassed by the racist locals who don't realize they're fucking with the wrong dudes, and the six men end up literally tearing the joint down by hand! Later they stop off in a small town to gas up Bubba gets word that his kid brother Eddie has been murdered, with him splitting off from the group to embark on his own solo adventure to mourn his brother and avenge his brother's death. At home he reconnects with his estranged mother Mama (Hannah Dean, TV's Out of the Blue) and his college bound activist sister Sissy (Lydia Dean), as well as an old flame turned prostitute Ceal (Rosalind Miles, Friday Foster), but to get to her he has to talk-up a barfly (Fred D. Scott, Weird Science) and then rough-up her pool-hall pimp Copperhead (Ron Le Brane, TV movie A Case of Rape). Eventually he finds Cindy bartending and the white supremacist biker gang come on strong, actually teaming-up with another white biker gang lead by Thor (Ben Davisdon, of the Oakland Raiders) to eradicate The Black Six, who by the finale have rolled into town to assist Bubba.
It's not great, but it is a fun blaxploitaion flick, also being a bit of a vetsploitation and bikersploitation flick at the same time, has a pretty simplistic story, which director Cimber said is a biker version of the Tennyson poem "The Charge f the Light Brigade", the footballers and supporting cast are certainly not a-list acting talent by any means but they are spirited, fun and likable enough to get it done, and get it done they do! The amped up finale features a biker battle royal with the Bubba and the black bikers taking on a horde of white bikers launching flares and Molotov cocktails, with one of them sticking a flare into his bike's gas tank like some sort of white trash suicide bomber on wheels. The flick has some satisfying fights, a bit of nudity, and some terrific biker action with the the NFL-ers and a actual Hell's Angel's biker performing their own stunt work. It's not particularly violent, but it is a fun watch, right up till the end when we see the screen text "
Audio/Video: The Black Six (1973) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Film Masters, sourced from a new 4K scan of 35mm elements, the true source is not listed anywhere but judging by appearances I would say from a 35mm theatrical print. The source is in very nice shape, age-related wear and tear is present but minimized die tot he restoration, some white specks, a couple of digs, and faint vertical lines, but very watchable. rain is resolved somewhat coarsely, which I would expect from a print, and it has some nice rough hewn texture and detail to it. Colors and skin tones look natural throughout, black levels are solid, but the shadow detail is weak during the finale which takes place in a pitch black field lit by just motorcycle headlamps. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono, like he video it's slid but has some minor age related wear, but it does the job just fine.
The sole disc extra is an Audio Commentary Track with Robert Kelly and Daniel Budnick, and it's a good listen, plenty of background on Cimber and the cast, talking about the locations, the framing of the film, having fun with it and not taking things too seriously, juts a solid, well-researched conversational commentary track that I found plenty worth a listen. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring the original movie poster artwork, plus the first-pressing gets a limited edition slipcover with the same artwork. Inside there's a 12-Page Full Color Inserted Booklet, essay by Don Stradly that gets into the production, casting, how the film was received by critics and sportswriters, and some of the casts remembrances of making the film from their memoirs.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Robert Kelly and Daniel Budnick
- 12-Page Full Color Inserted Booklet, essay by Don Stradly
- Limited Edition O-card
Screenshots from the Film Masters Blu-ray:
Buy it!
#ad