Wonderful character development!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

In 1953, young Tommy Gibbs helps a mobster kill his target and then later beaten by a crooked cop. He spends time in prison and in 1965, Tommy (Fred Williamson) takes on a contract from mob boss Cardoza without authority. He convinces Cardoza to give him one full block in exchange for being their secret kill squad. He slowly gains power and influence bringing him in conflict with the ruling Mafia.This remake is surprisingly good. It is violent. Williamson is iconic. The story telling is a bit disjointed. The barbershop scene has some scary violence. The shaky hand with a straight razor is very uncomfortable. There is a ground level edgy reality to all the scenes in Harlem. The most iconic scene is probably Tommy leaving Tiffany. It's obvious filmed guerrilla style. Many of the passerby seems clueless and confused by the action. It would be nice to do more with the other characters. There are great individual scenes like the mobster forcing Tommy to shine his shoe. This is high level blaxploitation.

Despite finding the chapter dedicated to him in Kim Newman's Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s to be very interesting,I have somehow never got round to seeing a title from auteur film maker Larry Cohen.Talking to a fellow IMDber about the Blaxploitation genre,I found out that Cohen's second movie was in the genre,which led to me getting ready to hail Larry Cohen's Caesar.The plot-1953:After getting paid for helping out in a mob hit, Tommy Gibbs is sent to give corrupt cop McKinney his share. Claiming that he has been short changed and revealing himself to be deeply racist,McKinney beats Gibbs into a bloody pulp,and leaves him in hospital.1965:Ever since taking that beating,Gibbs has slowly built his presence on " the street." Learning that a "whites only" gang has put a wanted dead ad out for a rival gangster,Gibbs tracks down the mobster and kills him.Meeting up with the gang,Gibbs reveals that he killed their target due to their being no chance that the cops would suspect him working with a "whites only" mob. Pushing the gang to give him a reward for the killing,Gibbs is given 2 run-down streets to run.As he turns the broken streets around into money makers,Gibbs sets his sights on finally getting his revenge on McKinney.View on the film:Filmed on the streets of New York,writer/director Larry Cohen & cinematographer Fenton Hamilton give the title a grubby Film Noir appearance,as clipped whip-pans give the on-street violence a gripping,frantic mood,as Cohen's dashing camera moves catch the startled expressions of real New Yorkers finding themselves walking down Gibb's blood-ridden streets.Backed by a hip 'n funky James Brown score,Cohen blends Gibbs extravagant suits with a blunt force violent delivery,which go from leg breaking police beatings,to rival gangster being covered in burnt up gun wounds.Spanning a period of more than 20 years,the screenplay by Cohen gives the first half a light-footed quickness,thanks to Gibbs taking on his battle to control the streets with a slick mix of harsh violence and alluring charisma.Whilst the change in atmosphere is pretty jarring,Cohen shows an impressive bravely in making his "hero" look as ugly as possible,with the haunting memory of Gibbs police beating leading to him rotting away in a Film Noir wasteland.Smirking every time he sets his sights on Gibbs, Art Lund gives a great,gruff performance as McKinney,whose urge to kick Gibbs back down is always bubbling underneath.Taking on a role originally offered to Sammy Davis Jr, Fred Williamson gives a fantastic performance as Gibbs,thanks to Williamson giving Gibbs a firm swagger as he builds his empire,which starts to crumble as Williamson lights up Gibbs short-fuse,as rival gangs start setting their sights on seeing this "Little Caesar" fall.

Writer & director Larry Cohen chronicles the rise of an urban, African-American youth to the position of a New York City crime boss. This is a prime example of a Blaxploitation crime thriller with our hero Fred Williamson comes up the ranks from being a lowly shoeshine boy to a top metropolitan mobster. This 1973 actioneer contains nudity, profanity, blood, and violence. Several individuals die in this R-rated epic. Williamson is good as the protagonist who pulls himself up by his own boot straps and becomes the number one crime boss in New York City. Cohen doesn't let our hero off the hooks. Gloria Hendry, John Larch, D'Urville Martin and Julius Harris co-star. Cohen's mobster movie clocks in at 94 minutes without a shred of too much or too little. John Larch makes a convincing corrupt NYPD cop.

I can't say I'm a fan of "Blaxploitation" films, and indeed this one is one of my very few forays into the genres. It didn't change my opinion much either; what we have here is basically a crime thriller along the same lines as Scarface, except most of the main players are black. The film appealed to me mainly because of the fact that it's written and directed by Larry Cohen who also wrote and directed some of my favourite low budget trash films; films such as It's Alive, The Stuff, Q and The Ambulance. This is an early Cohen film and it appears he didn't get much chance to refine his craft as despite a decent directional debut with 'Bone' a year earlier; this film mostly fits the 'trash' bill in the bad way. The lead character is Tommy Gibbs, who starts off a young kid and gets his leg broken by a copper during a robbery. He's not best pleased and upon his return several years later, he decides to rise to power himself in order to put up a fight against the powers that stand already; both the criminal and the law enforcement.Aside from the fact that the film didn't appeal to me much, it's also badly written and doesn't make up for in originality what it lacks in substance. As mentioned, I'm not well versed in this genre; but I imagine it's more about style than anything else and Larry Cohen does at least give the film a cool vibe that is well done. James Brown features heavily on the soundtrack and it works with the film, although the scenes involving "The Boss" only served in reminding me of how Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels used the song much better. The lead role is taken by Fred Williamson and it does have to be said that he's one of the best things about the film. The central role in this film does require someone 'cool' to play it, and Williamson certainly is that person. The plot is a problem because it's never exactly difficult to tell where it's going and this results in the film not having a great deal of suspense. Cohen's script doesn't really make us care for the lead character either, which means it doesn't really matter where the film goes. This might appeal to fans of this genre but it hasn't made me want to see more it...I don't recommend this one.