It's tough being a black hero.
Keenan Ivory Wayans'
The Naked Gun-style
Blaxploitation parody film stars himself as Jack Spade who, when he returns home, finds that his brother Junebug was killed off by a case of OG (Over Gold), which happens to involve wearing too many gold chains. Jack then seeks revenge for his brother's death by declaring war on Mr. Big (John Vernon), the one responsible for causing the massive gold chain boom in the neighborhood. He requests the help of his childhood idol, John Slade (Bernie Casey), and later enlists an army consisting of Hammer (Isaac Hayes), Slammer (Jim Brown), Flyguy (Antonio Fargas) and Kung Fu Joe (Steve James). Together, they seek to rid the neighborhood of both the gold chains and Mr. Big. Plenty of
Lampshade Hangings and
No Fourth Wall moments, as well as several folks involved with the
Blaxploitation phenomenon.
These tropes are gonna get you, sucka!:
- Actor Allusion: At one point, Slammer asks Jack Spade what qualifies him to be a black hero, and Spade retorts, "I'm an ex-football player." In real life, Jim Brown was, of course, one of the leading running backs in NFL history.
- Kalinga's wife and two children are blonde and white. When they come out the TV in the other room is playing the theme to The Brady Bunch. Kalinga's wife is played by Eve Plumb, Jan Brady.
- Apron Matron: Ma Bell.
- Bar Slide: Actually more of a Counter Slide in a coffee shop.
- Blaxploitation: A parody of one, specifically.
- Bottomless Magazines: Lampshaded:
Willie: Wait a second! Wait a second! You got a .45 revolver that holds six bullets! Now, I counted at least twenty shots and you never reloaded!
Hammer: That's right.
- Bulletproof Human Shield
- The Cavalry Arrives Late
- Compensating for Something: Brutally parodied and lampshaded during a gunfight later.
- Diner Brawl: Jack would've gotten into one if it wasn't for his mother getting into it instead.
- Disco Dan: Flyguy
- Distressed Damsel: Cheryl after she's captured by Mr. Big.
- The Easy Way or the Hard Way: "The Window or the Stairs?"
- The Eighties
- Fanservice Extra: The well-endowed topless prostitute.
- Fast Roping: During the assault on Mr. Big's hideout.
- Five-Man Band:
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: This has been shown on network TV with Jack's poster of a topless woman blatantly uncensored.
- G-Rated Drug: The gold chains.
- Gun in My Pocket: Bad guy to partner:
Willie: How come their guns are so much bigger than ours?
Thug: It's a phallic thing, I don't know.
- He's Dead, Jim
- Hollywood Tone Deaf: Hammer
- I Know Karate: Subverted when Kung Fu Joe squares off against the cops.
- And again later, when Hammer and one of the bad guys square off against one another minus their guns, the bad guy hesitates and says, "I don't know any of that karate s***." "Neither do I," says Hammer. "Want to fake it?" They then do just that.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Jack to a couple of mooks.
- Lampshade Hanging: Of Bottomless Magazines, during a shoot-out.
- Large Ham: The singer in the bar, who is revealed to be the director's sister.
- Lint Value: Chris Rock appears at Hammer & Slammer's BBQ joint. Since an order of ribs costs $2.50 and you get 5 ribs, he orders 1 rib for 50 cents. They reluctantly agree, then Rock asks for change for a $100 bill.
- Lock and Load Montage: As the team prepares to attack Mr. Big's hideout.
- Lonely Funeral: Junebug's
- Malcolm Xerox
- Minor Injury Overreaction
- My Beloved Smother: Ma Bell.
- Notable Original Music: The titular theme song, as well as Jack Spade's and Flyguy's theme tunes. Arguably qualify as Crowning Music of Awesome material.
- Pimp Duds: Flyguy after getting out of prison. But having been in prison for so long, his outlashish outfit gets openly mocked by the more jaded modern street thugs.
- Putting the Band Back Together
- Rapid-Fire Comedy
- Retirony: The man about to ask his girlfriend to marry him.
- Returning War Vet: Jack
- Running Gag
- Sequel Snark: During the climax, Mr. Big acknowledges that his character is an exploitation villain in a movie.
Mr. Big: I'm sorry, boys, but there ain't gonna be a sequel to this one.
- Still Wearing The Old Colors: Jack wears his Army uniform.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: When Kung Fu Joe calls Slade, Slade's answering machine lets him talk for a while before revealing that it was the answering machine talking and not Slade himself.
- Tap on the Head: Willie to Cheryl with a wrist cast and Slade to one of Mr. Big's guards with a punch to the jaw.
- Walking Armory: Which unfortunately all go off when Hammer falls over.
- Walking In Rhythm: Flyguy
- Wimp Fight
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