Best Blaxploitation
Django Unchained is a 2012 Western film set in the Antebellum South and Old West. The narrative centers on an enslaved individual’s journey to reunite with his spouse, guided by a bounty hunter. Featuring a cast including Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz, it explores themes of slavery and violence dur...
Jackie Brown is a 1997 crime drama directed by Quentin Tarantino. The story centers on Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who gets caught up in a scheme involving the transportation of illicit funds across borders. Featuring an ensemble cast including Pam Grier and Samuel L. Jackson, it adapts Elmore...
Shaft, released in 1971, follows private detective John Shaft as he investigates the kidnapping of a Harlem woman by Italian mobsters. Adapted from Ernest Tidyman’s novel, the film features Richard Roundtree as Shaft alongside a supporting cast including Moses Gunn and Charles Cioffi. It marks the b...
The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a 1973 political thriller directed by Ivan Dixon and based on the novel by Sam Greenlee. The narrative follows the first Black CIA officer, who resigns from his position and utilizes his specialized government training to organize a guerrilla revolution in urban Amer...
"Wattstax" is a 1973 American documentary film directed by Mel Stuart that chronicles the Wattstax music festival held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1972. The event commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots and featured performances by prominent Stax Records artists such as I...
"Shaft" is a 1971 American action film directed by Gordon Parks and based on the novel by Ernest Tidyman. The plot follows John Shaft, a private detective working in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, as he navigates the criminal underworld to locate a kidnapped mobster's daughter. Starring Richar...
Live and Let Die is a 1973 spy film featuring Roger Moore as James Bond, marking his debut in the series. Directed by Guy Hamilton and produced under Eon Productions, it represents the third installment of the franchise. The screenplay was penned by Tom Mankiewicz for Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Br...
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 independent film written, directed, produced by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. It follows a Black sex performer who flees after killing two police officers who were attacking a young Black Panther. The film was self-financed and distributed independentl...
Cooley High is a 1975 American coming-of-age comedy-drama directed by Michael Schultz and written by Eric Monte. Set in Chicago in 1964, it follows high school friends Preach and Cochise as they navigate school, relationships, neighborhood life, and decisions with lasting consequences. The film cent...
The Wiz is a 1978 musical fantasy film based on L. Frank Baum’s *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz*. Featuring an African-American cast, the story follows Dorothy Gale's journey through the Land of Oz as she seeks assistance from the Wiz. She navigates encounters with various fantastical characters includi...
Across 110th Street is a 1972 American crime thriller directed by Barry Shear, starring Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, and Antonio Fargas. The narrative depicts a violent, multi-sided conflict involving the Mafia, local Harlem criminals, and the police following a lucrative bank robbery. It is widely...
Super Fly is a 1972 American blaxploitation crime film directed by Gordon Parks Jr. The plot centers on Youngblood Priest, a Harlem cocaine dealer attempting to secure one final deal to leave the illicit drug trade. The film is widely recognized for its stylish visual aesthetic and its highly influe...
The Education of Sonny Carson is a 1974 American biographical drama directed by Michael Campus and adapted from Sonny Carson's autobiography. Set largely in Brooklyn, it follows Carson from childhood involvement with a street gang through incarceration and his later development as a community activi...
"Cornbread, Earl and Me" is a 1975 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Joseph Manduke, based on Ronald L. Fair's 1966 novel "Hog Butcher." The narrative focuses on the lives of three Black youths in an urban neighborhood whose lives are shattered when a local basketball star is unjustly ki...
"Claudine" is a 1974 American romantic comedy-drama directed by John Berry, starring Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones. The film follows a hardworking African American single mother of six in Harlem who navigates the restrictive rules of the public welfare system while engaging in a romance with...
"The Mack" is a 1973 American crime drama directed by Michael Campus, starring Max Julien as "Goldie," a recently released convict who pursues dominance as a successful pimp in Oakland, California. The film explores his conflicts with rival pimps, corrupt police officers, and his own revolutionary b...
Foxy Brown is a 1974 American action film directed by Jack Hill and starring Pam Grier in the title role. Grier plays a woman who infiltrates a criminal organization while pursuing revenge for the murder of her government-agent boyfriend. The film is associated with the blaxploitation cycle of the 1...
Mandingo is a 1975 melodrama set in the Antebellum South, exploring the Atlantic slave trade and its impact on enslaved individuals. The film’s title originates from the Mandinka people, who were often utilized as fighters, and carries a derogatory connotation. Adapted from Kyle Onstott's novel and...
Sparkle is a 1976 American musical drama directed by Sam O'Steen, starring Irene Cara, Lonette McKee, and Philip Michael Thomas. The film follows three sisters from Harlem who form a singing group and navigate personal and professional conflicts as they rise to fame in the 1960s, drawing inspiration...
Let's Do It Again is a 1975 American comedy directed by Sidney Poitier, starring him and Bill Cosby as two friends who use hypnotism to rig a boxing match for a major financial payout.
Coonskin is a 1975 adult animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, notable for its controversial and satirical deconstruction of blaxploitation tropes, racism, and the Deep South.
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 comedy directed by Sidney Poitier, starring him and Bill Cosby as two friends searching the underworld for a stolen winning lottery ticket.
Directed by Jack Hill, this 1973 film stars Pam Grier as a nurse who turns vigilante to avenge her sister's drug addiction, making Grier an iconic leading lady in action cinema.
Keenen Ivory Wayans directed this 1988 comedic parody of the blaxploitation genre, featuring original icons Jim Brown and Bernie Casey.
Directed by Larry Cohen, this 1973 crime film stars Fred Williamson as a shoeshine boy who rises to become a ruthless Harlem mob boss, featuring a James Brown soundtrack.
A 1977 blaxploitation comedy-drama directed by Sidney Poitier, his third collaboration with Bill Cosby, in which two reformed criminals are blackmailed into mentoring at-risk youth.
This 1973 American comedy film diverges from typical violent blaxploitation tropes, focusing instead on family dynamics during an impending wedding.
Starring Robert Hooks, this 1972 film follows a suave fixer in Los Angeles who gets framed for murder, noted for its celebrated Motown soundtrack produced by Marvin Gaye.
Starring Sidney Poitier, this 1970 police procedural follows detective Virgil Tibbs investigating a murder in San Francisco and serves as a sequel to In the Heat of the Night.
A 1977 blaxploitation comedy directed by Michael Schultz, starring Richard Pryor in three distinct roles in an adaptation loosely based on Lina Wertmüller's 1972 Italian film The Seduction of Mimi.
