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PAID THE COST

TO BE THE BOSS

Hittin' The Streets With Blaxploitation Classics Vols 1 & 2

BILL WOOD | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

I love ‘70s kung fu films. I love ‘70s horror films. But I will admit – outside of a brief obsession with Dolemite – that I know little or nothing about the ‘70s Blaxploitation genre. Sure, I’m familiar with the street level stuff: Shaft, Superfly, The Mack. But then there’s the subway level, where we head downstairs into the grittier material. Basic requirements: A little skin, a lot of violence and a Grade-A slammin’ soundtrack. Academy contenders these movies were not, but who freakin’ cares?!? They were entertaining as all get-out, and that's what matters.

 

Enter Shout Factory’s Blaxploitation Classics Volumes 1 & 2, an epic collection of 12 urban crime thrillers from grindhouse purveyors American International Pictures (AIP), gloriously remastered in 4K UHD. We’ve got superstars such as Pam Grier and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson ripping and tearing through the streets of Harlem, Los Angeles, and “Bucktown” (a.k.a. Kansas City). Pushers, pimps, corrupt cops, even the mob... they all get served.

 

Here's a quick breakdown of the movies included in these sets:

 

Blaxploitation Classics Volume 1

Across 110th Street

Black Caesar

Hell Up In Harlem

Truck Turner

Coffy

Sheba Baby

AIP Blaxploitation Documentary: Part One

 

Blaxploitation Classics Volume 2

Foxy Brown

Friday Foster

Slaughter

Slaughter's Big Ripoff

Bucktown

Cotton Comes to Harlem

AIP Blaxploitation Documentary: Part Two

 

The first thing I noticed about these films is the video quality, which is to say they look absolutely stellar on my 85-inch QLED, remastered from original camera negatives in 4K with HDR color grading. The results can often be hit-or-miss with older movies, but these particular films look stunning: vibrant ‘70s color palettes, deep shadows, crisp and sharp with plenty of film grain throughout. As far as vintage film restorations go, this is about as good as I’ve seen.

 

The same cannot be said for the audio quality, which was uneven on my setup. Most movies actually sounded fine and the soundtrack music was solid, but there were films like Bucktown where the dialogue was muted and compressed. Whether this is a limitation of the source material or my own audio equipment I cannot say.

 

On to the films themselves. First we have Across 110th Street, starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Lotto as a couple of NYC cops trying to crack a heist that has gone fatally wrong. Anthony Francesca is brilliant as the psycho mob lackey who doesn’t know when to quit, and having Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas in any movie is a plus in my book. This movie is least like the others – tense, serious, and leaning more toward hard-boiled detective thriller then Blaxploitation entertainment. It’s also one of the better movies in the collection no matter how you slice it.

 

Next up we have NFL legend Fred Williamson in Black Caesar, a twist on the noir classic Little Caesar starring Edward G. Robinson. Williamson was a huge box office draw, and after watching this film it’s evident why. Like Pacino’s Tony Montana, Williamson portrays a ruthless and brutal gangster who lets nothing stand in the way of his quest to rule his world, but his charisma and screen presence had me rooting for him regardless.

 

For my money, there is no better setting for Blaxploitation than 1970s Harlem. It's as powerful as any character in the movie, and Black Caesar is no exception. I also must mention the James Brown tunes that accompany the soundtrack; they are literally perfect. This is Soul Brother #1 at the peak of his game, and watching Williamson strut past the Apollo Theater to the tune of “Paid The Cost To Be The Boss” is a highlight of the entire collection.

 

Black Caesar was immensely enjoyable and is definitely a movie I'll be revisiting every now and then. It was successful enough to spawn a sequel, Hell Up In Harlem, which is also in this collection. This film really goes off the rails (that scuba scene!) and plays out like a random series of events, but what it lacks in plot it more than makes up for in over the top action. It also features a top-notch performance from Julius Harris as the faithful father turned crime boss.

 

Sticking with Manhattan's coolest neighborhood, Cotton Comes To Harlem is often credited as the first Blaxploitation film. It's missing some of the genre's trademark sex and violence (that would come later), but there's still plenty of action and a great story featuring a mix of crime drama and comedy, not to mention some amazing views of Uptown. I particularly loved the nighttime shots of 125th Street, a place I frequent whenever I'm in NYC. The clubs, the dive bars, the all-night diners, they all look stunning in 4K. There's a car chase scene with a very brief view of Yankee Stadium (technically South Bronx, but humor me) where you can clearly see not only the stadium far off in the distance, but the auto shop next to it.

 

NFL Hall of Famer and Blaxploitation icon Jim Brown takes center stage in Slaughter and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, proving he's more than up to the task of handling the lead role. Both movies are worth watching but I enjoyed the sequel quite a bit more, despite losing the James Brown soundtrack due to licensing issues. The first movie's south of the border setting didn't click with me (if you couldn't tell, I prefer it when these movies take place in NYC).

 

A huge focus of both volumes is the undisputed first lady of Blaxploitation, Pam Grier*. Of these, Coffy and Foxy Brown are the most popular and easily the best of the bunch. I can imagine Tarantino salivating while screenwriting Jackie Brown with these two movies on repeat. The other Pam Grier vehicles – Friday Foster and Sheba Baby – aren’t as entertaining (the latter gets criticism as the weakest of the bunch), but Bucktown (co-starring Grier and Williamson) does make a nice comeback, even if Grier takes a backseat to let Williamson handle most of the ass kicking.

 

 * Grier stars in five of the twelve movies included in these collections, and if there's a third set you can bet she'll be featured there as well!

 

One film that really caught me by surprise is Truck Turner*, featuring soul legend Isaac Hayes as a bounty hunter living life on the edge. I had never heard of this movie before picking up this set, yet it ended up being one of my very favorites. Hayes has so much charisma that it’s a small wonder he didn’t land the starring role more often (he created the iconic score for Shaft, but rumor has it Hayes was passed over for the lead role). Meanwhile, ‘70s downtown Los Angeles provides the perfect backdrop to this highly entertaining action flick, which successfully straddles the line between comedy and suspense. Of the movies included in this collection, Truck Turner and Black Caesar ended up being my two favorites.

 

* What also caught me by surprise is the performance by Nichelle "Lt. Uhuru" Nichols. I won't spoil anything except to say that if you've only seen her in the Star Trek series, you're in for a shock with this film!

 

As you can see, I'm a huge fan of Blaxploitation Classics Vols. 1 & 2. I expect quality restoration for landmark films these days, but not for what is essentially a dated and niche genre. These collections are becoming increasingly hard to find at a decent price, which hopefully means (a) these releases were a success for Shout, (b) we’ll get at least one more volume in the future. Apparently there are enough AIP Blaxploitation flicks to fill out a third volume, including Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. Now I can dig that!!! - BW

 

BONUS REVIEW! Shaft (Criterion Collection – 4K UHD)

 

The Blaxploitation collections were completed, but I was still hungry for more. So I scooped up arguably the biggest and most important Blaxploitation movie of all-time; the Criterion 4K UHD release of Shaft. I’m glad I did – this movie definitely does not disappoint!!!

 

First off there is Criterion’s restoration, which is every bit as good as the Arrow restorations. From Harlem to Times Square, the urban battlefield that is 1970s New York is on full display here, in ultra-high definition with deep blacks and vibrant HDR colors. There were several nighttime scenes that were extremely difficult to make out (I’m assuming they were shot this way), but this is still the best Shaft has ever looked, and it’s hard to imagine squeezing out any more detail.

 

Like some of the other films mentioned above, I wasn't blown away by Shaft's audio. The music sounded fine on my equipment, but much of the dialogue was buried in low-volume muffle. There were moments where I had my setup cranked and still had issues hearing what was going on (thank God for subtitles!). Apparently this is a limitation of the source material (originally released in mono), so it's never going to get better than this. (Update: Switching to the mono soundtrack resolved the volume issues... for whatever reason!)

 

The movie itself – which I’ll admit I’d never seen in its entirety until now – is damn near perfect. The fact that it was released by MGM may have something to do with this, but the quality really shines through, particularly the opening sequence with Shaft bobbing and weaving through NYC traffic to the beat of Isaac Hayes’ iconic theme song. Richard Roundtree is as cool as they come as the main man, although I do wonder what Isaac Hayes might have done with the role. Judging by his performance in Truck Turner, I think he would have nailed it!

 

The extras in this Criterion set are nothing short of jaw dropping. For starters you have the sequel, Shaft’s Big Score!, included in its entirety on a separate Blu-ray. Even if it doesn’t quite measure up to the original, it’s awesome to have this flick included as bonus material (to be fair, it may not have made the cut as a separate Criterion release). There’s also a third disc with a variety of interviews and commentaries, shedding light on the cinematic and cultural significance of Shaft when it was originally released in theaters in 1971, and how the film’s impact and legacy continue to this day.

 

Like Truck Turner and Black Caesar, Shaft is a movie I’ll definitely be coming back to every now and then. Seeing these classics restored with modern technology is a pure treat, and I sincerely hope there are more to come.

 

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