No shortage of celebrities and other period icons pop up along the way, including Richard Pryor, Elvis, OJ Simpson, Isaac Washington, Eartha Kitt, and the returning "Tricky Dick" Nixon. Other highlights include the obligatory Christmas special ("A Crisis at Christmas"), a flashback-heavy trip to Vietnam ("Apocalypse, This!"), a spoof of everyone's favorite classic monster movie that isn't Godzilla ("Honky Kong"), and a madcap race across the country for fame, fortune, and a Wheaties box cover ("The Race War"). It's wildly entertaining for all the right and wrong reasons.so if "Just Beat It" doesn't impress you, I doubt the rest of Season One will change your mind. Like other episodes to come, this 22-minute adventure takes a famous (or infamous) icon from the time period-in this case, Michael Jackson and family-and either subverts their legacy or slyly puts their destiny in place, alternate universe-style. Not counting the half-length pilot episode (included in this collection as a bonus feature), Black Dynamite hits the ground running with what might very well be the first season's best episode, "Just Beat It". More often than not, the strange world of Black Dynamite feels right at home within the tighter confines of a 22-minute format, as these 10 episodes prove in relatively short order. It's a subtle trade-off that barely even registered during the first few episodes, and the admittedly strained nature of the original's pacing is no longer burdened by a need to run 84 minutes. These are replaced by a much slicker atmosphere loaded with artistic compositions and flashy "camera moments" that would feel right at home in your average episode of The Boondocks. Gone, however, are the subtle visual clues that we're watching a (purposefully) low-budget affair, save for one clever gag about a wayward boom mic in the second episode. If you shut your eyes, Black Dynamite the animated series pretty much sounds like the real thing: most of the voice actors reprise their original roles, recognizable music cues and sound effects remain intact, fight scenes are vicious and heavy-hitting, and mountains of goofball dialogue retain the original's satirical sensibilities. But if you've seen an enjoyed the original Black Dynamite more than once, you'll probably dig this. Of course, not everyone liked the original film, and I'd expect that anyone who rolled their eyes at the movie will either (a) avoid this series like the plague or (b) give up after a few minutes. I'd imagine that most of the remaining fans will hop on board via this animated series, a slight retooling of the film's subversive mix of comedy, action and tongue-in-cheek Blaxploitation that's wildly entertaining in the right mood. Believe it or not, the original Black Dynamite was released theatrically almost five years ago.but like 99% of the film's cult followers, I was introduced to it on home video between then and now.
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