Main Cast: Kadeem Hardison, Bokeem Woodbine, Joe Don Baker, Courtney Vance, Tyrin Turner
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
This controversial political drama semi-fictionalizes the history of the radical Black Panther Party, an African-American organization that polarized America from 1966-70. Huey Newton (Marcus Chong) and Bobby Seale (Courtney B. Vance) are a pair of Oakland, California, men who form a new political party dedicated to protecting Blacks from bigoted cops through violent means. Their "Black Panther Party for Self-Protection" serves free lunch to kids, educates the community in African-American awareness, gets drug dealers off the streets, and has gun battles with the Oakland police. Two members of the Panther Party are Tyrone (Bokeem Woodbine) and Judge (Kadeem Hardison). When FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Richard Dysart) suspects that the Black Panthers' leftist leanings are an indication of communist involvement, Judge, an affable Vietnam vet, agrees to become a double agent, reporting to both the Feds and the Panthers. After the Panthers storm the State Assembly in Sacramento, political paranoia grows, and Hoover conspires with the mafia to flood urban streets with cheap heroin, thus destroying the party. Director Mario Van Peebles, who also appears in the role of Stokely Carmichael, worked from a script written by his father, Melvin Van Peebles, based on his book about his real-life experiences with the Black Panthers. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Marcus Chong - Huey Newton; Ralph Ahn - Mr Yang; Angela Bassett - Betty Shabazz; Charles Cooper - Sheriff; Joseph Culp - Baby Faced Cop; Robert Culp - Charles Garry; Mark Curry - Lombard; Richard Dysart - Hoover; David Greenlee - Patrolman; Dick Gregory - Reverend Slocum; Anthony Johnson - Sabu; Jay Koch - Ronald Reagan; Kool Moe Dee - Jamal; James LeGros - Avakian; Jenifer Lewis - Rita; Mario Van Peebles - Stokely Carmichael; Manny Perry - Shorty; Jeris Poindexter - Black Cop; Tim Riley - Band at Barbecue; Chris Rock - Yuck Mouth; Jerry Rubin - Defense Attorney; James Russo - Rodgers; Roger Guenveur Smith - Pruitt; John Snyder - Cop; Melvin Van Peebles - Old Jailbird; M. Emmet Walsh - Dorsett; Ann Weldon - Mrs Dowell; Yolanda Whittaker - Pregnant Junkie; Michael Wincott - Tynan; James Bigwood - Grove Street Cop; Mark Buntzman - Pushy Reporter; Preston Holmes - Prison Guard; William Fuller - Sergeant Schreck; Thyais Walsh - Bernadette; Anthony Griffith - Eldridge Cleaver; Reginald Ballard - Brother at Meeting; Bobby Brown - Rose; Steven M. Gagnon - Prosecutor; Lahmard J. Tate - Gene McKinney; Robert Peters - Cop at Ramparts; David L. King - Berkeley Campus Singer
Credit
Bruce Hill - Art Director, Liza Chasin - Associate Producer, Robi Reed - Casting, Paul A. Simmons - Costume Designer, H.H. Cooper - First Assistant Director, Mario Van Peebles - Director, Earl Watson - Editor, Tim Bevan - Executive Producer, Eric Fellner - Executive Producer, Stanley Clarke - Composer (Music Score), Richard Hoover - Production Designer, Edward J. Pei - Cinematographer, Mario Van Peebles - Producer, Melvin Van Peebles - Producer, Preston Holmes - Producer, Robert Kensinger - Set Designer, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Melvin Van Peebles - Screenwriter
