Difference between revisions of "Solomon King/Comments"

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< Solomon King
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A highly anticipated lost Blaxploitation genre film I was waiting to see. The opening starts off kind of slow but as it progresses the action and dramatic moments increase. As a blaxploitation aficionado, I consider Solomon Kane to be a minor effort in the genre that is, at its worst, along the lines of Dolemite and at its best, closer to a film like The Black Godfather in terms of quality and impact. Overall, it's not the classic I wanted to see but still modestly entertaining and worth watching for big fans of this era in film history. - Pete
To start, this was a highly anticipated long lost Blaxploitation genre film I was waiting to see in its newly restored version after hearing about it online. The first half of the film starts off kind of slow but as it progresses the action and dramatic moments increase more and more which helps to give the movie the energy it needs. Unfortunately, beyond that, there is nothing that really sets Solomon King apart from other protagonists we've seen in these kinds of movies throughout the 70s (see Shaft, Super Fly, Coffy etc). Both the character and story/plot are about as generic as it gets. In short, Solomon is doing his thing, the bad guys show up, kill his woman and he fights back to win the day. From the start it's clear that Writer/Star/Co-director Sal Watts is not on the level of a Fred Williamson or Jim Brown and barely registers as a three dimensional performer. He says his lines, emotes when needed and that's all. As a long time Blaxploitation aficionado, I consider Solomon King to be a minor effort that is on the bottom tier of films in this genre. At its worst, it's along the lines of Dolemite (in terms of the amateur, cringy acting) and at its best, closer to films like The Black Gestapo or The Black Godfather in terms of low budget but decent, solid filmmaking. Overall, it's not the exciting classic actioner I had hoped for but is still mildly entertaining and worth watching for avid Blaxploitation fans. - Pete


[[Category:Comments]]
[[Category:Comments]]

Revision as of 18:38, 2 February 2023

To start, this was a highly anticipated long lost Blaxploitation genre film I was waiting to see in its newly restored version after hearing about it online. The first half of the film starts off kind of slow but as it progresses the action and dramatic moments increase more and more which helps to give the movie the energy it needs. Unfortunately, beyond that, there is nothing that really sets Solomon King apart from other protagonists we've seen in these kinds of movies throughout the 70s (see Shaft, Super Fly, Coffy etc). Both the character and story/plot are about as generic as it gets. In short, Solomon is doing his thing, the bad guys show up, kill his woman and he fights back to win the day. From the start it's clear that Writer/Star/Co-director Sal Watts is not on the level of a Fred Williamson or Jim Brown and barely registers as a three dimensional performer. He says his lines, emotes when needed and that's all. As a long time Blaxploitation aficionado, I consider Solomon King to be a minor effort that is on the bottom tier of films in this genre. At its worst, it's along the lines of Dolemite (in terms of the amateur, cringy acting) and at its best, closer to films like The Black Gestapo or The Black Godfather in terms of low budget but decent, solid filmmaking. Overall, it's not the exciting classic actioner I had hoped for but is still mildly entertaining and worth watching for avid Blaxploitation fans. - Pete

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