Excellent, smart action film.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It had been so long since I first (and last) saw this film that I honestly could have told you nothing about it in detail. Recently in a discussion with other fans of hip-hop music, this film came up and was roundly lauded by those that had seen it as being hilarious, smart, cutting and a "classic" (albeit that that final word tends to get thrown around by fans of this genre so much that it really means nothing). As a result I eventually got around to watching it again. The structure of the film is very much Spinal Tap and it owes a huge debt to that film – right down to the short clips playing out under the closing credits and of course the running joke of one specific role always ending badly (in Tap it was the drummer, here it is the manager). The plot therefore follows the group coming up, falling apart and then being put back together again, but it isn't really the plot that matters here.What matters is that the film is a comedy set in the rap world of the early 90's and as such it has plenty of artists and aspects of the culture to make fun of. This it does but unfortunately it doesn't do it particularly well. The reference points and the artists "targeted" will be clear to anyone with a reasonable knowledge of the period, but it doesn't really do anything with it other than present slightly exaggerated and slightly renamed versions of these people, situations and events. I was surprised by just how little of anything was behind these because they don't seem affectionate, they don't seem to be satirical, they don't seem to be cutting and they rarely seem to be particularly funny. Mostly they just "are"; so references to various artists and types of artist are mostly just done and we are expected to laugh because "oh look they going Ice-T/De La Soul/MC Hammer etc". This wasn't enough for me and I was surprised by how little I was even amused by the film, much less laughed.The exaggerated humor gets broader and broader as it goes on; with lots of excess. The cast are part of this and of course the main place for blame is Cundieff himself. As the lead actor I liked him and his Ice-T impression throughout was pretty good, but his script is not up to scratch. In terms of his direction I had no issues but to be honest it did feel like he must have watched Spinal Tap every single day before shooting, so similar was the style. Scott and Lawrence are funny while Lemmons plays her part well. Johnson's turn as a groupie is a surprising find once you recognize her as being Sherry Palmer from 24! Overall Fear of a Black Hat is a broad spoof of hip-hop culture but one that doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. It owes so much to Spinal Tap but yet is not as funny; it apes hip-hop culture but yet cannot work out if it is doing it affectionately or with an edge, so ends up doing neither. What is left is occasionally amusing but is mostly just a load of reference points without context and expansion to an end. This is remembered as a classic and I would suggest that in many cases it is being "remembered" by those people, not watched recently.

This movie is hilarious and while the satire leans against material dated from the 80's and early 90's, if you know enough hip hop and pop culture then you'd find it funny, even today. The writing is excellent, the jokes are funny and well delivered and the songs are hilarious. Two 'videos' in the movie, one titled 'Booty Juice' and the other "A Gangstas life ain't fun" hit home today just as well as they did when this movie came out. It appears that much of the hip hop life style and creed hasn't changed much over the years. The movie is consistently funny from beginning to end, with many of the jokes dead panned and often subtly delivered. It's easy to miss a lot of the jokes during the film if you aren't familiar with the subjects that they are poking fun at. But again, much of what the director delivers is still funny and relevant even today. A must see satire!

Rated R for Strong Language,Violent Content and Some Nudity. Quebec Rating:13+ Canadian Home Video Rating:14AFear Of A Black Hat is one of the funniest, most original comedies I have ever seen.Its basically a gangsta rap version of the film This Is Spinal Tap.Its a shame not many people have heard of this gem of a film.If you manage to find this film anywhere don't hesitate to buy it even if you don't like rap music.There are not too many comedy films that I give a perfect 10/10 to.The only ones I can think of at the moment are this film,Clerks,The World According To Garp,The 40 Year Old Virgin and Chasing Amy.This film is a hilarious stereotype of the gangsta rap culture.The movie is about a woman named Nina Blackburn who is making a documentary about the fictional rap group N.W.H(N****z with hats).They are basically the stereotype of a rap group making many controversial rap songs about killing and being a gangsta.Fear Of A Black Hat is an excellent comedic film and I recommend it even if you are not a fan of the gangsta rap scene.Its a shame this film is not in the Top 250.Runtime:88min 10/10

My, Kasi Lemmings certainly is a fair looking woman. This film is a lost gem, a dead-on satire "mockumentary" of the early 90's Hip Hop scene, when MC Hammer had just began to fade away into that good night. We follow the three members of the NWH as they embark upon their picaresque journey of would-be riches and fame. And like Nickolas Nickleby, at the end, they finish their journey not far from where they started, but at least a little wiser and lot less naive. This is one of the best films that no one has ever heard of, but it's the kind of film you either love or hate, a lot like "Company Man" in this regard. I regard this movie like the 1000 islands of upstate New York: it's a wonderful little secret you want to keep to yourself.