Youngblood

I recently watched Youngblood (1978) on Tubi. The storyline follows a 15-year-old boy in Los Angeles who has a successful older brother trying to pull his family out of the ghetto, but the younger brother is unsure if he wants to leave. When one of his friends dies of a drug overdose, he joins a gang and wants to help them get revenge. Can the older brother save the young man before he gets too deep and can't get out?

This film is directed by Noel Nosseck (Best Friends) and stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (LA Heat), Renn Woods (Return to Green Acres), Bryan O'Dell (Street Wars), and Art Evans (Die Hard 2).

This is an underrated addition to the blaxploitation genre. The settings, attire, hairstyles, and dialogue all fit the premise perfectly. This is a well-written and well-cast film. The situations feel authentic and depict real family struggles. The storyline unfolds well, and the concluding shootout is perfect. The soundtrack is also excellent.

In conclusion, Youngblood is a worthy and underrated addition to the blaxploitation genre that's worth viewing. I'd score this a 6.5/10 and recommend seeing for fans of the genre.

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs was the box office draw, but the focus of Youngblood is actually the title character, played with reasonable conviction by What's Happening! semi-regular Bryan O'Dell. He's a not so street smart kid who wants to run with the Kingsmen, a local gang headed by Hilton-Jacobs, a returned Vietnam vet. The Kingsmen spend a lot of time drinking, beating up rival gang members, and abusing each other, but that doesn't mean they don't have a social conscience: when they lose a member to smack, the hunt is on for the dope pushers peddling junk in the 'hood. The story is familiar but is helped along by a uniformly good cast. War's score is excellent, especially the title track and Galaxy, featured in a disco scene heavily reminiscent of Soooooouuullllll Train. Watch for Ron Neal (Superfly) in a brief cameo as a high school gym teacher.

A young and talented cast portray their roles with conviction in a film that was light years ahead of its time. 'Youngblood' is about growing up poor on the streets of L. A. , no matter your skin color. Drugs, gangs and gunfire all figure in the mix of a story of a young boy just trying to navigate the mean streets as he grows into manhood. It's true some of the elements of the film are a bit trite, some elements even perhaps stereotypical. But the great cast transcend any of the script's faults (particularly Ren Woods as the love interest and Ann Weldon as the Mom. I wish both had had more screen time.) Surprising, really, that this film didn't find more of a cult audience - like 'American Graffiti ' or 'The Warriors.' The cinematography is quite good, the score is made up entirely of songs by the band WAR. Laurence Hilton-Jacobs commits 100% as a Vietnam Vet trying to pull himself away from gang life. It's really an Oscar quality performance - not a false note or moment. These elements help the picture a good deal. We never lose interest throughout and the last 15 minutes or so are a real nail biter. A film of exceptional quality. An independent feature that retains a rebel spirit while elevating itself to something relevant and special.

I don't want to be so simple as to say that this movie had no point or message at all, but I will say that they failed to make a better point.

The main character, Michael aka Youngblood (Bryan O'Dell), is a hard-headed high schooler itching to get into trouble. He gets hooked up with an L.A. street gang called the Kingsmen and that was all the brotherhood of troublemakers he needed.

Either because they were stupid or reckless, the Kingsmen move up from gang fights and other petty crimes to jackin' drug dealers. Drug dealers usually aren't in business for or by themselves. They have suppliers who have suppliers on up the food chain and you better believe that someone is going to be protecting the merchandise.

I thought the movie was trying to drive home the message of the futility of street gangs, but it didn't effectively do that. I thought it would drive home the message of the inanity of getting in over your head criminally, and it only somewhat did that as well.

Ultimately, I think this movie languished somewhere in the middle of praising gang life and coming out hard against it. It never came out too strong on either point. Had this movie drove home a harder and more sobering message I think it would have been better.

Watch it. Don't expect 2021 cgi. Fuks that review it have no understanding of black culture or even human culture. This film is way ahead of it's time.