Akira Kurosawa engaged SEVEN mighty samurai for his cinematic landmark and Yul Brunner led a bunch of SEVEN notorious gunslingers, but when you're dealing with tough black guys on motorcycles, I guess you can afford yourself to go with one less. "The Black Six" suffers under the incredibly low rating of barely 2.2 out of ten around this website; which I personally find exaggeratedly harsh. Such a low rating would be justified if and only if a film exclusively relied on impeccable storytelling and stylishness, but it doesn't. Matt Cimber's film is definitely entitled to a couple of extra points for ingenuity, clever marketing ideas and a whole lot of spirited input from cast and crew. As briefly indicated above already, the plot is more than a little similar to "Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven", and a rudimentary concept like that is guaranteed to score. And there's more, too. Matt Cimber alertly cashes in on not one, not two, but no less than three of the most popular exploitation topics of that period: blacks, revenge and bikers! Okay, admittedly, the production itself is a bit shabby and amateurishly inept. Particularly the pacing is wildly uneven and the script randomly leaps from one main subject onto another! There are numerous other obvious defaults, but they are merely forgivable or even delightfully cheesy ones, like stereotypical character drawings, hammy acting, obligatory love & peace speeches and abruptly edited sequences. "The Black Six" opens with the romantic tableau of a black boy and a white girl falling in love on a football field. But the girl's mean brother and his gang of bikers show up and beat the kid to death with chains. Then for the next half hour, the film extendedly introduces and follows the titular 6-headed gang of black bikers. They're Vietnam buddies who're done fighting and spend their remaining days cruising through the countryside, making regular stops to either help people who don't pay attention to skin color or teach the ones that do a valuable lesson. The plot patiently takes its time to reveal that the black kid murdering during the opening scene is actually one the six' younger brother. They all return to Bubba's hometown together and face a very important decision. Overlook the white biker gang's vile act of murder and continue to live by their principals of love and peace, or
get some revenge! Well
would you have guessed the answer if you hadn't already seen the tagline? The first half hour of "The Black Six" is terrific, with the six philosophizing in an old lady's yard and wrecking an all-white truckers' bar, but the story gets incomprehensibly dull when they return to Bubba's hometown. He alone goes out looking for his former girlfriend and asking around about the murder (of course, nobody knows anything), but it's incredibly tedious and clichéd. The climax is great amusement again, though mainly for the wrong reasons. The big and relentless showdown between the six and a nearly countless number of white Viking-bikers is a highlight of pure camp. For some reason, Matt Cimber thought it would be a great (and much cheaper) idea to hire football players for the main roles. This is another very ingenious detail and I definitely appreciate it, especially since one of them Carl Eller, the toughest of them all - looks a lot like Samuel L. Jackson and act like him, too. The opening theme is terrific and the continuously reoccurring tunes, albeit too gratuitously borrowed from "Shaft" is quite catchy. Pretty bad, maybe
but most certainly a whole lot of cheesy fun, with the exception of the dire middle-section.
14 Reviews
Another blaxploitation biker film hybrid
Red-Barracuda10 September 2021
This is another blaxploitation biker film hybrid which sources its main actors from a bunch of off-season American football players - is this a thing?! Anyway, with that in mind, the acting is diabolical with the least-bad actor returning to his Southern hometown to find out who killed his brother. He is accompanied by his biker gang - The Black Six! This one sure is ropey, with badly staged fight scenes and an ultra-daft sequence where the Black Six literally pull a building down for a laugh. It has a funky theme song and any scene with The Six riding around on their bikes is invariably accompanied by it. The ending is...inconclusive.
Won't satisfy blaxploitation or biker movie fans
Eegah Guy19 April 2002
Made during director Matt Cimber's dive into the blaxploitation trend of the early 70s along with LADY COCOA and THE CANDY TANGERINE MAN, this film tries to resurrect the dead corpse of the biker film genre by using a black cast and racial conflict melodramatics and having them battle a gang of racist white bikers. This same concept was done much better a couple years earlier in THE BLACK ANGELS. Obviously intended to be enjoyed by black audiences, the Black Six gang are decent people who only become violent when provoked. The white biker gang are just one-dimensional thugs and murderers. It's all rather tame and dull throughout and only enjoyable for the outdated fashions and funky theme music.
Black six=awesome
eardini7 December 2003
The black six is a standard blacksploitation movie enhanced by the cast of all star football players. The black six mentioned in the title are a rough gang of bikers just back from vietnam looking for nothing but a good time and brotherly love. Yet, they are met with strife and problems. It seems that everywhere they go they are judged because of the color of their skin. The leader of the groups brother is killed and they have finally had enough of the oppression so they finally fight back. The black six are succesful in defeating their foes and the oppression ends. Mysteriously, the movie ends with them fighting and the screen sends an ominous message out to all of those that are thinking about bullying around others in the future "look out honky, hassle a brother and the black six will return."
"This cat Bubba's a bad mother...." "Shut yo' mouth!" "But I'm talking' 'bout Bubba!"
soulexpress23 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Start with a trite script, add a no-talent cast, mix in a white director who clearly did not understand Blaxploitation, and you have THE BLACK 6. Or as I call it, "The Anti-Shaft."
Eddie Daniels is a Black high school senior with a white girlfriend. When her brother Moose (yes, Moose) and his biker pals beat Eddie to death, his brother Bubba (yes, Bubba) comes to town with his own biker pals. Bubba's there mainly to see his mother and sister but takes the law into his own hands when the police show no interest in solving the murder.
The title characters were all played by NFL stars. As actors, they were great football players. Not that the rest of the cast is any better--especially the nice old lady who hires the men as temporary farm workers, and the hysterical white woman whose diner they trash when its racist clientele insults them. Then there's Bubba's humorless, militant sister with an Afro that would have embarrassed Angela Davis. Or as one of the Black 6 puts it, "Man, you got one heavy little sister." (She's not fat.) And Bubba's old girlfriend, who's now a hooker, delivers a monologue that's beyond belief.
Finally, the ending doesn't make a damned bit of sense. I watched the final scene three times but still couldn't figure out what happened. At first, I thought the Black 6 had all been killed, but then a message appears on-screen: HONKY...LOOK OUT...HASSLE A BROTHER...AND THE BLACK 6 WILL RETURN!!! All I know is, the cataclysm entailed chains, flares, explosions, dozens of loud motorcycles, and a whole lot of dead bikers. And yet, the cops never show up. Must have been their night off.
Eddie Daniels is a Black high school senior with a white girlfriend. When her brother Moose (yes, Moose) and his biker pals beat Eddie to death, his brother Bubba (yes, Bubba) comes to town with his own biker pals. Bubba's there mainly to see his mother and sister but takes the law into his own hands when the police show no interest in solving the murder.
The title characters were all played by NFL stars. As actors, they were great football players. Not that the rest of the cast is any better--especially the nice old lady who hires the men as temporary farm workers, and the hysterical white woman whose diner they trash when its racist clientele insults them. Then there's Bubba's humorless, militant sister with an Afro that would have embarrassed Angela Davis. Or as one of the Black 6 puts it, "Man, you got one heavy little sister." (She's not fat.) And Bubba's old girlfriend, who's now a hooker, delivers a monologue that's beyond belief.
Finally, the ending doesn't make a damned bit of sense. I watched the final scene three times but still couldn't figure out what happened. At first, I thought the Black 6 had all been killed, but then a message appears on-screen: HONKY...LOOK OUT...HASSLE A BROTHER...AND THE BLACK 6 WILL RETURN!!! All I know is, the cataclysm entailed chains, flares, explosions, dozens of loud motorcycles, and a whole lot of dead bikers. And yet, the cops never show up. Must have been their night off.
Folks don't like to talk
nogodnomasters29 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A biker race fight develops when Eddie (Robert Howard) is killed by white bikers for dating a white girl. The claim to fame for this film is that it has six NFL stars in the feature with Joe Greene being the most recognized name in the modern era. Outside of Gene Washington, the speaking roles for the players were limited as their acting was as bad as their white counterparts in the film.
Guide: Brief nudity (Rosalind Miles)
Guide: Brief nudity (Rosalind Miles)
this movie is SOOOOO bad, it's bad
garko-127 April 2005
BUT for that very reason, i highly recommend it to anyone who is sick of quality. oh sure, film can attain the poetic. yeah yeah. but then a movie like this will be made, humbling all high-flown notions about the heights film can attain. all-around horrifically bad acting (note the "cracker" jogging for his life from flora's diner), crappy background music (someone wake up the trumpeter and tell him to read the sheet music, huh?), poor film stock (but alas, it looks like the DVD releasing company color-corrected the 70s pink out of it), corny framing (note the waving American flag as Bubba gives his heartfelt soliloquy on the steps of the trailer post office.) it's high camp for those starved for poor taste. like me.
i'm giving it a '1' because it deserves it and connoisseurs of the bad would do likewise. but we LOVE crap like this, so a '1' in our books means #1!!! even though it really is awful and you'd be a sucker to watch it. but a lucky sucker indeed.
i'm giving it a '1' because it deserves it and connoisseurs of the bad would do likewise. but we LOVE crap like this, so a '1' in our books means #1!!! even though it really is awful and you'd be a sucker to watch it. but a lucky sucker indeed.
THE BLACK SIX (Matt Cimber, 1974) BOMB
Bunuel19767 October 2006
If it's at all possible, this one's even worse than THE BLACK GESTAPO (1975; see above): it concerns the revenge perpetrated by the free-spirited, peace-loving but ultimately tough brother (and his five equally brawny cronies) of a black man killed by a group of bikers for daring to go out with a white girl. The title characters are played by a variety of American Football stars but, apart from the novelty factor, this does the film no good as none of them can act - not that the rest of the cast is any better, as witness the old woman for whom they work early on in the film or the hysterical owner of the roadhouse diner they end up trashing after being insulted by their racist clientele! Even at this juncture, I can hardly remember anything about it - except for the exaggerated Afro hairstyle of the lead character's radical younger sister who rebukes him for going off on their bikes rather than joining the Black Cause - after which one of the guys tells him, "Ma-aaa-n, you have one he-aaaa-vy li'l sistah!" Also, the print I watched was so muddy and dark that, due to the characters' skin color, I could hardly distinguished one from the other, especially during the climactic fight!! There's also an eccentric white biker named Thor who, appropriately enough, dons a Viking helmet but I have no idea what he really had to do with the main plot at the end of it! Finally, the end credits show a hilarious title card which warns white "honkies" that if they "hassle a brother", they'll find the Black Six on their heels...or something! The director later made the intriguing horror film THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA (1976) - whose R1 SE DVD from Subversive Cinema I've been eyeing for purchase for the longest time - but, after watching this piece of trash, I'll think twice before going for it as a blind buy...
A Blaxploitation Biker Movie
Uriah4320 July 2015
After his younger brother is beaten to death "Eddie Daniels" (Robert Howard) decides to return to his hometown and find out who was responsible for it. With him are 5 friends who served in Vietnam with him. Although none of them want trouble they believe they can handle whatever comes. What they don't realize is just how bad things really are where they're headed. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie is a combination of a biker film and a blaxploitation picture rolled into one. It also had the distinction of casting quite a few NFL players in prominent supporting roles. Unfortunately, the script was weak and the acting was pretty basic as well which resulted in a pretty tame effort all things considered. In any case, the fact of the matter is that regardless of the effort to combine two notable sub-genres, the effort was a dismal failure as this wasn't a good movie by any measurement. Accordingly, I have to rate it as below average.
Great in its genre and good enough on any occasion
move-75 June 2005
The Black Six isn't the greatest movie around but what do you rate it against ? There aren't that many black biker movies around. The Black angels would be slightly better and movies like JC and the one with Motown singer Marvin Gaye only featured black actors. As a Black Biker movie in the genre its pretty good , and as a movie its good enough ! Actually its quite enjoyable most of the time and the action at the end makes it more or less well worth it and a great climax. The soundtrack is good funky stuff and the title song is absolutely amazing ! I don't know if the song "The Black Six" was ever released on 45 but the stylus would have a pretty hard job of staying in the groove as it would be dancing all over the place.
The movie is basically about a white girl and a black guy who fall in love. The white girls brother is in a motor bike gang and is a racist and he and his buddies kill the black guy. The Black six are six decent but no nonsense black ex army buddies who ride together . Also the guy who was killed by the racist bikers is the brother of one of the six. So its the revenge thing here with some adventure on the way. And an amazing climax and the end of the movie. Great action !
The movie is basically about a white girl and a black guy who fall in love. The white girls brother is in a motor bike gang and is a racist and he and his buddies kill the black guy. The Black six are six decent but no nonsense black ex army buddies who ride together . Also the guy who was killed by the racist bikers is the brother of one of the six. So its the revenge thing here with some adventure on the way. And an amazing climax and the end of the movie. Great action !
Trash
sirarthurstreebgreebling19 September 2000
Matt Climber brought us the underrated "Butterfly" with Stacy Keach and Pia Zadora , but this seems to be the turkey that they should have talked about. Now im not saying that a young white director cannot make a film that revolves around predominatly black characters , but Climber cannot. From the old 70's blaxploitation school of white directors with some issues of their own that need to be dealt with this is of the same ilk. Bad script , Bad idea , there are dozens of similar films made a damn site better and without making the leads into uncle toms for the audience. Poor
The guy who created GLOW + six NFL players = The Black Six
BandSAboutMovies30 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Matt Cimber has pretty much lived a life - he was married to Jayne Mansfield, he created the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and he directed movies like Butterfly, The Witch Who Came from the Sea and Hundra amongst others. And in 1973, he was able to convince six currently playing NFL stars to appear in a black version of the biker film. The results? Amazing.
The Black Six is made up of six All-Pro NFL stars:
Gene Washington, San Francisco 49ers (who also was in Cimber's Lady Cocoa and Airport '75) Willie Lanier, Kansas City Chiefs (who is in the NFL Hall of Fame and was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team) Carl Eller, Minnesota Vikings (an NFL Hall of Famer who went on to found substance abuse clinics) Mercury Morris, Miami Dolphins (a Pittsburgh native who was drafted to West Texas State, the alma mater of tons of pro wrestlers, including Tully Blanchard, Stan Hansen, Ted DiBiase, Dusty Rhodes and both Funk brothers to name but a few) Lem Barney, Detroit Lions (an NFL Hall of Famer who sang backup on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and played himself in Paper Lion) Joe Greene, Pittsburgh Steelers (one of my hometown heroes, Greene is probably one of the greatest - if not the greatest - Steelers ever. He appeared in a famous Coke commercial, as well as Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story and Smokey and the Bandit II and is also an NFL Hall of Famer) Washington already had some acting experience, so he stars as Bubba Daniels, a Vietnam War vet who returns home to find that his brother has been killed by a white supremacist biker gang. Their leader, Thor, is played by Ben Davidson, an avid real-life biker who played for the Oakland Raiders. You can also see him in M*A*S*H*, Conan the Barbarian and as Porter the Bouncer in Behind the Green Door.
Bubba and his gang - the Black Six - decide to avenge that death, which leads to battles with townies, uncaring police and Thor's gang. The final battle ends with Thor blowing up his own bike to kill them all or so it would seem. According to Mercury Morris' book Against the Grain, the players protested that ending - guess they didn't realize that nearly every biker movie ends with the heroes getting killed - so that's why the movie ends with the title card that says "Honky, look out...Hassle a brother, and the Black 6 will return!"
It's all pretty depressing stuff, to be honest. But you can say that for nearly all biker and blaxploitation cinema. It's still amazing to be that at one point, the NFL didn't have the control that it does today and that six of its biggest stars could go off and make a movie together.
The Black Six is made up of six All-Pro NFL stars:
Gene Washington, San Francisco 49ers (who also was in Cimber's Lady Cocoa and Airport '75) Willie Lanier, Kansas City Chiefs (who is in the NFL Hall of Fame and was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team) Carl Eller, Minnesota Vikings (an NFL Hall of Famer who went on to found substance abuse clinics) Mercury Morris, Miami Dolphins (a Pittsburgh native who was drafted to West Texas State, the alma mater of tons of pro wrestlers, including Tully Blanchard, Stan Hansen, Ted DiBiase, Dusty Rhodes and both Funk brothers to name but a few) Lem Barney, Detroit Lions (an NFL Hall of Famer who sang backup on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and played himself in Paper Lion) Joe Greene, Pittsburgh Steelers (one of my hometown heroes, Greene is probably one of the greatest - if not the greatest - Steelers ever. He appeared in a famous Coke commercial, as well as Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story and Smokey and the Bandit II and is also an NFL Hall of Famer) Washington already had some acting experience, so he stars as Bubba Daniels, a Vietnam War vet who returns home to find that his brother has been killed by a white supremacist biker gang. Their leader, Thor, is played by Ben Davidson, an avid real-life biker who played for the Oakland Raiders. You can also see him in M*A*S*H*, Conan the Barbarian and as Porter the Bouncer in Behind the Green Door.
Bubba and his gang - the Black Six - decide to avenge that death, which leads to battles with townies, uncaring police and Thor's gang. The final battle ends with Thor blowing up his own bike to kill them all or so it would seem. According to Mercury Morris' book Against the Grain, the players protested that ending - guess they didn't realize that nearly every biker movie ends with the heroes getting killed - so that's why the movie ends with the title card that says "Honky, look out...Hassle a brother, and the Black 6 will return!"
It's all pretty depressing stuff, to be honest. But you can say that for nearly all biker and blaxploitation cinema. It's still amazing to be that at one point, the NFL didn't have the control that it does today and that six of its biggest stars could go off and make a movie together.
NFL Bikers vs. Honky Bikers
Michael_Elliott18 February 2013
The Black 6 (1973)
** (out of 4)
Blaxploitation flick about a black kid who is killed by a white motorcycle gang after they catch him with a white woman. Soon after his brother Bubba (Gene Washington) shows up with his five friends to get to the bottom of the crime and soon realize that they're going to have to take down quite a few honky's. THE BLACK 6 isn't a classic movie in the same field as THE DEFIANT ONES but who in their right mind is going to come into this thing expecting greatness? If you're looking for an ultra-cheap, silly and poorly made film that at least keeps you entertained then this here offers that. Again, there's no question that the film doesn't offer up anything of real quality but if that's what you're expecting then it's best to just stay away to begin with. The film's big point to get people to watch it is that the six black guys are all played by NFL players with the two biggest names being Joe Greene and Mercury Morris who most people will know from being on ESPN each year whenever the last undefeated team finally loses a game and protects his Dolphins only perfect season. None of the six NFL players can act but this really doesn't take anything away from the picture. The other motorcycle gang really can't act either so I guess you could say that everyone is on a level playing field. I really thought the story here was pretty predictable and it's certainly nothing we haven't seen before yet it kept me interested in the characters and there's no doubt that the six bikers were fun to watch. There's a very funny sequence towards the start of the picture where the six black guys are taking care of an elderly white woman, which I'm sure was meant to show that they didn't hate white people, just the ones that harmed them. This is followed up by another funny scene where a racist couple refuses to serve them so they literally tear down the building. THE BLACK 6 isn't as bad as its reputation as long as you go into it not expecting it to be something it's not.
** (out of 4)
Blaxploitation flick about a black kid who is killed by a white motorcycle gang after they catch him with a white woman. Soon after his brother Bubba (Gene Washington) shows up with his five friends to get to the bottom of the crime and soon realize that they're going to have to take down quite a few honky's. THE BLACK 6 isn't a classic movie in the same field as THE DEFIANT ONES but who in their right mind is going to come into this thing expecting greatness? If you're looking for an ultra-cheap, silly and poorly made film that at least keeps you entertained then this here offers that. Again, there's no question that the film doesn't offer up anything of real quality but if that's what you're expecting then it's best to just stay away to begin with. The film's big point to get people to watch it is that the six black guys are all played by NFL players with the two biggest names being Joe Greene and Mercury Morris who most people will know from being on ESPN each year whenever the last undefeated team finally loses a game and protects his Dolphins only perfect season. None of the six NFL players can act but this really doesn't take anything away from the picture. The other motorcycle gang really can't act either so I guess you could say that everyone is on a level playing field. I really thought the story here was pretty predictable and it's certainly nothing we haven't seen before yet it kept me interested in the characters and there's no doubt that the six bikers were fun to watch. There's a very funny sequence towards the start of the picture where the six black guys are taking care of an elderly white woman, which I'm sure was meant to show that they didn't hate white people, just the ones that harmed them. This is followed up by another funny scene where a racist couple refuses to serve them so they literally tear down the building. THE BLACK 6 isn't as bad as its reputation as long as you go into it not expecting it to be something it's not.
A Nice Companion Piece for People Who Love Classic Football and Blaxploitation
Agent106 January 2024
I'm so glad this was brought to my attention. While watching a documentary about the Minnesota Vikings, I learned about the interesting life of Carl Eller, and this movie came up. Needless to say, I had to watch it. From a genre viewpoint, it was a pretty standard Blaxploitation movie, but dang was it kinda funny.
The story is basically the saga of a peace loving biker club, who all happen to be comprised of some of the best football players in the NFL during this era of the early 70s. It was a nice time capsule so to speak, as there was strife in the NFL during this time and the players felt they were not being properly compensated. Only the best could live off the earnings of their NFL paychecks in those days, for many of those men had to get second jobs during the offseason. It only made sense to bring in some well built, hungry football players to portray a tough motorcycle club that was seeking answers for a mysterious death. The fact they got Mercury Morris, Willie Lanier, Eller, Gene Washington, Lem Barney and Mean Joe Green is quite amazing, considering the profile these players had during their time.
All of the tropes are there. Black man gets killed for dating a white woman, the brother of the man searches for answers in a nearly all white town, no one talks, some casual racism is spouted out, good guys battle racism, etc. There is nothing different about this film than from any others beyond the fact the good guys hilariously destroy a racist cafe owner's establishment. Trust me, that scene is gold.
My main critique is the end. Boy oh boy what the heck happened. It's clear they ran out of money, because even though it looked like our boys were going to get burnt and killed by the racist motorcycle gang, the movie just stops and basically tells us they won. How? Anyway, weird ending aside, it's a fun movie and worth checking out.
The story is basically the saga of a peace loving biker club, who all happen to be comprised of some of the best football players in the NFL during this era of the early 70s. It was a nice time capsule so to speak, as there was strife in the NFL during this time and the players felt they were not being properly compensated. Only the best could live off the earnings of their NFL paychecks in those days, for many of those men had to get second jobs during the offseason. It only made sense to bring in some well built, hungry football players to portray a tough motorcycle club that was seeking answers for a mysterious death. The fact they got Mercury Morris, Willie Lanier, Eller, Gene Washington, Lem Barney and Mean Joe Green is quite amazing, considering the profile these players had during their time.
All of the tropes are there. Black man gets killed for dating a white woman, the brother of the man searches for answers in a nearly all white town, no one talks, some casual racism is spouted out, good guys battle racism, etc. There is nothing different about this film than from any others beyond the fact the good guys hilariously destroy a racist cafe owner's establishment. Trust me, that scene is gold.
My main critique is the end. Boy oh boy what the heck happened. It's clear they ran out of money, because even though it looked like our boys were going to get burnt and killed by the racist motorcycle gang, the movie just stops and basically tells us they won. How? Anyway, weird ending aside, it's a fun movie and worth checking out.
See also
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