Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Absolutely amazing

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

My favorite movie ever. Gets better every time. It seems corny with some spots of promise the first time you watch it but the appreciation level grows. George Murdock, Don Gordon and Carol Speed are hidden gems in a 70s, dare I say it, blaxploitation movie. Quotable as hell with hidden messages. The first ever documented on film Players ball, an awesome battery acid injected death scene, planetarium hypnosis and a guy trapped in a trunk with rats. Max Julien and Micheal Campus killed it.

. . . but Warner Bros. answered to a Higher Purpose when it courageously released THE MACK as an extreme early warning to We Americans of (The Then) Far Future concerning our upcoming Times of Trial IF the USA stubbornly persisted into another century with an outdated and totally discredited Policy of Prohibition. Warner Bros.' always prophetic film distributors try to warn Americans that it's not enough to legalize mass consumption of booze in all 50 states. That alone has not brought peace to U.S. streets. Furthermore, promoting all manner of gambling, including the so-called "Numbers Game" (aka, Powerball or MegaMillions) will not put much of a dent into the violence rocking Main Street, either. Even dropping the War on "Reefer Madness" cannot soothe the roiled waters of the USA's Civil Unrest. No, Warner's uncannily accurate Cassandras clairvoyantly contend, what Profiteth a Nation to foster all of the other Vices, when it senselessly prohibits "the World's Oldest Profession"? Warner depicts THE MACK's hero "Goldie" bravely paddling against the tide of holier-than-thou waters as he stoutly fights to make Oakland's streets safe for working girls. For his troubles, cops beat Goldie's mom to death. Never forget that Warner warned us with THE MACK that Prohibition will doom as all!

SPOILER ALERT I can't believe I've never seen this film before. Actor Max Julien plays "Goldie", an ex-con who returns to the streets determined to make it as a pimp in Oakland.The film was actually shot in early '70s Oakland. Yes, the early '70s, Black Panthers vs Pimps, racial upheaval, everyone get naked next door in Berkeley, warzone Oakland.The directors and producers needed "permission" from both the Panthers and the reigning pimp of the time, Fred Ward, just to film and premiere the film. Fred Ward appears in several scenes as one of the competing Pimps and without a doubt he's one cool cat.The story follows the usual pattern. At first Goldie does well, organizes a stable of fine hoes (and they are fine), buys his mom a new house and is pimpin' in the dopest ride I've ever seen. Like any good pimp he keeps the local school kids flush with cash and warns them not to grow up to be like him. They can be doctors, lawyers, whatever. Just don't be a pimp.Now all the while Goldie is working hard to be the Mack, his brother is heavily involved in the Panthers and trying to improve the community. On several occasions the two brothers clash for obvious reasons. Were it not for the bond of brotherhood they would certainly have nothing to do with each other. But being that they are brothers, they must somehow reconcile their diametrically opposed viewpoints.This is a strong and well delivered theme of the film. While Goldie seeks empowerment one way, his brother seeks it another way. But it isn't played out like a sanitized, good and evil, afterschool special. Both brothers make valid arguments for their choice of lifestyle. In the end, you just can't knock the hustle.Goldie has the local cops constantly on his butt for kickbacks and free hoes and they deliver rock solid performances. One of them delivers the beststream-of-consciousness-drunk-as-a-skunk-with-fat-black-uninterested-hooker performance I've ever seen. Not on par with Gene Hackman's breakdown from heroin addiction in The French Connection 2, but still so good you wonder if he really was actually drunk to do the scene.Of course it's not long before rival pimps and gangsters get just a wee bit annoyed at Goldie taking some of their territory and put the finger on him. First one of his hoes gets offed. Goldie wastes no time in exacting his revenge. His gang ambushes the local kingpin and injects him with BATTERY ACID. Convulsing kingpin death ensues.Then a ho belonging to another pimp decides to join Goldie, and for that, the other pimp kills Goldie's mom! Really. Bad. Idea.Once again, Goldie gets his revenge. This competing pimp carries a cane that conceals a hidden rapier. Goldie, with gun leveled on the guy, orders him to stab himself over and over and then finishes him off with his blazing pistola. He finds out later that it was actually the two white cops that killed his mother, on orders from the pimp. Goldie partners with his brother to deal with them.Alas, the experience has taken its toll and Goldie decides he's had enough of the pimping game.What an incredible film. I originally thought this was going to be typical blacksploitation ala Shaft but I was so wrong. First of all, the exploitation elements are kept to a minimum. I know that's hard to believe given what I've said above but it's true. Well-acted and well-filmed, Max Julien delivers just the right amount of cool, the right amount of visciousness and the right amount of sweetness to his hoes and the audience. The result is a fairly authentic blueprint of the Oaktown in the early 70s, the racial struggle, and of course, the pimping game.

All the quotes that youve heard in rap music regarding the pimping lifestyle is from this film. From Too $hort, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Nas, Raekwon, theyve all used snipets of this film.This is defintely a great movie if you are a fan of the 70s films. Willie Hutch delivers a slammin score and the acting is phenomonal! Richard Pryor does his usual "free-style adlib" acting, while Max Julien plays the lead role. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.