Gordon's War

Gordon's War is an overlooked gem that needs to be seen by any fan of 70's Blackspoitation.

After playing a villain in Trouble Man, Paul Winfield was then cast by director Ossie Davis as Gordon Hudson, a Vietnam vet who starts an all-out war on the drug pushers in Harlem after his wife died of an overdose. He gets help from fellow veterans Bee Bishop (Carl Lee), Otis Russell (David Downing), and Roy Green (Tony King). Among the people they're after: Luther the Pimp (Carl Gordon) and Spanish Harry (Gilbert Lewis). Not all is serious, though, during one scene Roy gets very lucky with a fine white woman (Jackie Page credited as "Bedroom Girl") and you get to see...oh, watch the movie. Also, music artist Grace Jones appears as Mary, one of many naked women assembling the stuff in abandoned buildings. Lots of cool explosions and a climatic chase of a car pursuing a motorcycle keeps the film on an exciting level. So on that note, Gordon's War is worth a look. P.S. On the Wikipedia site, it's revealed that Lewis was the original King of Cartoons on "Pee-wee's Playhouse". He'd eventually be replaced by William "Blacula" Marshall.

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.

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.

Paul Winfield stars as the eponymous hero in this highly satisfying, gritty and violent actioner in which after returning home from Nam and finding his beloved wife has died of an overdose, our hero decides to wage war on the drug pushers, pimps and general low life infesting the streets of Harlem. Unfortunately, Gordon is brought to the swift realisation (painfully!) that one man alone is not enough to tackle the problem, so enlists the aid of some old army buddies including the ever super cool Tony King and promptly sets about coming down heavy on the nefarious wretches who are destroying the neighbourhood.

Bucket loads of glorious violence and some fine action set pieces follow in this solidly rendered flick which is all the more sadly, so little known. Winfield, although hardly pushed in this, is fine as ever as are the rest of the cast and the director really succeeds in making us care about these protagonists in the ever more perilous situation they find themselves in. Special mention also to the highly exciting final chase scene in this although the final conclusion involving the assassination of the apparent 'real' top dog running all of the drugs business in the area is regretfully somewhat confusing not to mention unsatisfyingly abrupt. Nonetheless, such a small matter in no way detracts from the overall entertainment value of all that precedes it. Highly recommended.