La guerra di Gordon

OK, so this isn't one of the best movies ever made, but it is one of the better Blaxploitation films and is still not very well known.

A Vietnam vet returns home to Harlem, to find out his lady died from an overdose. This Heroin problem is not only a problem for him, but dope and pimps are taking over the whole neighborhood. He wants justice, not just for his woman but for his neighborhood and for his people.

He gets a group of his buddies from the Nam, and they form a a 4 man task force to push the dealers out of Harlem.

This movie is creative and fun, if you don't try to take it too seriously. Fans of the genre will recognize many of the actors in the movie.

This team not only tackles the dealers, the attack the infrastructure, and keep on fighting until they get all the way to the top until they get all the way to the top.

Paul Winfield presence is strong.

This is really more of an crime-action movie than a crime-drama. Car chases, fighting, comedy, and a few slick quotables in it as well.

If you like Blaxploitation flicks, you'll want to see this.

Now in many ways, GORDON'S WAR and the comedy I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA are very, very dissimilar movies. However, if you think about the basic plot, the stories are practically the same. Both feature a soldier coming home to find out someone they love was killed by gangs of pushers. Both then consist of the leading men gathering a group of Vietnam vets to put the hurt on the dealers and eventually kill off "Mr. Big".

Now GORDON'S WAR might easily be categorized as a "Blaxploitation Film", but in many ways it defies the genre. Whites aren't really even mentioned in this film and most of the warfare is directed against Black drug dealers, so the anti-White America rhetoric is missing. Plus, the film, while violent and idealizing vigilantism, has a much more positive message than many films of the genre. But of course, for those who love Blaxploitation, rest assured that this one still has a lot of amazing violence, lots of boobs and tough "take no crap from anyone" leading men.

In this case, the lead is played by a man not associated with the genre, Paul Winfield. Winfield returns from 'Nam to discover that his wife got hooked on drugs and died. Instead of brooding about it, he vows to clean up the ghetto with the help of his army buddies.

The film, while not especially deep, has a lot of action, a fantastic musical score (one of the best of the era) and is entertaining throughout. Well worth viewing.

This is by no means another cookie-cutter 70's Black crime drama: Paul W. and his band of Vietnam War Vets have come back to Harlem to try to eradicate the pimps and pushers who are sowing the seeds of devastation in their community. What is significant to me is the well orchestrated and articulated courses of action that they employ to achieve their goals. Gordon (Paul W.), the leader, demands discipline and dedication from his fellow Vet brothers to carry out the difficult tasks at hand and they in turn fulfill those demands by utilizing their own special skill sets in their own individual fashion. Note the technical skills used to set up command headquarters liaison and communication and also the street skills used in flushing out the dope den by "fakin' the funk" to simulate rat poison dope cutting.

The film moves along at a brisk pace, by not overindulging in extreme doses of gratuitous violence and wasted motion. The progression of events is shown in a logical and entertaining fashion, thanks to the directorial skills of Ossie Davis and by injecting "New Birth" cuts into the soundtrack.

Even though this is purportedly a Black film set in Harlem, you don't see any extreme cases of race badgering and "Honkey" this and that name calling. These brothers depicted here have returned to put out any and all hoodlums involved in the Harlem crime scene, whether it's Spanish Harry and his boys in the 'hood or the fat cat suppliers up the ladder in downtown Manhattan. To Gordon and his men, you mess around, you lay around! Even though this film is now 35 years old, the principles are still as applicable to today's problems as they were to the problems back in the day.

I'm certainly not an expert when it comes to Blaxploitation cinema, but I've seen enough films by now to know that I root for the underdog titles rather than the popular blockbusters. Flamboyant and famous genre classics like "Shaft", "Foxy Brown" or "Black Caesar" may be entertaining, but I prefer the raw and desolate atmosphere of unsung gems like "Across 110th Street", "Ganja and Hess", "Fight for your Life" or "The Spook who sat by the Door". Ossie Davis' "Gordon's War" can definitely also be added to that shortlist from now on as well! This film doesn't rely on the groovy charisma of one single lead- player (although Paul Winfield is truly fantastic) but instead it portrays a harsh and saddening image of life in the decaying big city ghettos. Mostly thanks to the authentic Harlem filming locations, in combination with a straightforward no-nonsense script and a handful of marvelous action sequences, "Gordon's War" is a rewarding Blaxploitation gem worth tracking down. Decorated war hero Gordon Hudson returns from Vietnam only to find out that his beloved wife died of an overdose and that a whole generation of Harlem youngsters is falling victim to lousy heroine. You know the revenge/vigilante routine from here onward: Gordon assembles his army buddies and go back to war, only this time it's a personal battle against the drug pushers on the streets and crime lords who provide them. Apart from being a fast- paced and competently made thriller, "Gordon's War" is also memorable for featuring one of the most inventive safe raids I've ever seen and the bizarre supporting role of Grace Jones in her first screen appearance. The abrupt finale is a bit of a letdown, though, and the film could have done without the clichéd "oh-we-used-to-be-so-happy" flashbacks.

Those looking for classic blaxploitation will find it here: pimps and rug dealers in fancy furs, shooting galleries, naked chicks packaging heroin, black men and white women, and the mafia controlling it all from the shadows.

Paul Winfield had received an Oscar nomination for Sounder the same year as he made this film, and he was to make one of my personal favorites, Conrack, the next year, so this was probably the peak of his acting career.

He is a Vietnam vet who comes home to tragedy and vows to do something. He gathers some friends and starts a private war against the drug dealers. It was an interesting film with many familiar faces in the blaxploitation genre.

Despite the weak ending, it was a good example of a positive blaxploitation film.