Post by lordofdance on May 23, 2007 9:07:18 GMT -5
"I don't want no little witnesses."
The 70's definitely were an interesting time for film. After the wild experimentation and radicalism of the 60's opened up popular culture to all kinds of madness, filmmakers must have felt like a kid in a candy shop. All the stuff they couldn't show before became more acceptable. Even mainstream celebrities would openly stand in line to watch Deep Throat at the movie theatre. Sure, nowadays we have Ron Jeremy making regular appearances on VH1 programs and Quentin Tarantino bringing exploitation to the multiplex, but back in the 70's this stuff was just getting started. It was fresh and exciting. Nobody knew where the hell it was all going.
I've noticed that the use of the "N" word was very common back in movies (and TV shows and songs) of the 70's. Even in movies that weren't considered exploitation, the "N" word was used freely. Today, even thinking that word can get you in trouble (although white guy Quentin Tarantino managed to get away with it), but back then it was in heavy use. I can only assume that all the civil rights struggles and the freewheelin' attitudes of the 60's somehow combined to make saying the "N" word less of a taboo than it is today. Or so it seemed (I guess it's possible that black people didn't object to the use the "N" word as much then because they were just starting to get a real foothold in popular culture. After becoming established, they probably wanted to control how they were portrayed more.) Anyway, Fight For Your Life is a movie that certainly doesn't shy away from using the "N" word or any of its many variations.
Fight For Your Life is a simple revenge movie than just happens to really exploit racism for its dramatic impact. A white southerner, Chinese guy and a Mexican guy escape from prison (en route) and go on a crime spree that culminates in the terrorizing of a black family. There are a number of violent scenes in Fight For Your Life, but the constant flow of racial slurs is what really makes this movie incendiary. It's not surprising that an exploitation movie would use racist subject matter, but Fight For Your Life is considered to be among the most notorious of the movies to go that route from what I understand.
This kid went on to direct Biker Boyz!
Overall, Fight For Your Life is pretty entertaining, but it doesn't quite have that "slam-bang" quality that would have made it truly great. The villains certainly are bastards, and the movie does become mildly exciting when the shit hits the fan at the end, but it could have used a little more pizazz. Dirty Harry is probably more sleazy and disturbing than this movie as a whole. The only thing that sets it apart from other exploitation/revenge movies, really, is the racist dialogue.
Cruelty ***
Grossness **
Overall Disturbing Content *** (maybe higher, depending on how much the racist element bothers you)
Nudity **
Film Quality ***
