Tockinit not horrible nor great

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

JLRVancouver "Dolemite" was definitely not made for a "rat-soup-eatin', insecure honky MF" like me but I liked it anyway. The movie is a 'Blaxploitation classic' (which some people may consider an oxymoron) – it's hard to say what's worse: the acting or the karate fights, but it's also hard to say what's better: the pimp suits or the funk. I find it amusing that these extremely crude, subversive, counterculture movies now show up, unedited, on TV Turner Classic Movies – it's like seeing poisonous snakes in a display case at a petting zoo. Times have certainly changed. Worth watching for its own sake as well as from a cultural history perspective, as a lot of modern comedy and rap culture are rooted in movies like this.

MBunge As a time capsule from a particular social, cultural and economic era, Dolemite is remarkable. As a movie, it sucks very, very, very, very hard.This is one of those so-called "blaxsploitation" films from the 1970s and before you watch Dolemite or any of these films, you'd probably be well served to at least check out the Wikipedia entry on "blaxspoitation". If you don't, you could suffer a severe case of brain cramp trying to figure these things out.Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is pimp/spoken word artist/night club owner/street avenger who starts out the movie in jail, where he may or may not have been framed by the cops for dealing in drugs and stolen furs. Yeah, I don't understand the stolen furs either. It must have been a 70s thing. Anyway, Dolemite is offered the chance to get out of jail if he'll go back to his old neighborhood and put a stop to the out of control crime and violence that's taken it over. Accepting the offer, Dolemite is picked up by a carful of his "ladies" and exchanges his prison-issued suit for his first of many pimptacular outfits. Returning to his neighborhood, Dolemite discovers that Willie Green (D'Urville Martin) has taken over his old night club. As Dolemite basically wanders from scenes of sex to scenes of violence and back again, we learn that Willie is connected to the mayor of the city and essentially runs Dolemite's old neighborhood to suit the mayor's agenda. Essentially, it's the story of the white power structure co-opting elements of the black community to "keep the black man down", with Dolemite being the returning hero spoiling that plan. It's a brutally primitive rendition of that story, but subtlety's not exactly a strong point of this movie. A couple of racist cops hassle Dolemite, a black FBI agent gets involved and Dolemite and his "ladies" use some amazingly bad 70s karate to defeat the forces of evil. I mean, seriously, there are 10 year olds in karate dojos all across America who could more convincingly kick people's butts.From almost every technical aspect, this is a laughably bad movie. It's poorly shot, poorly written, it looks cheap and the acting is almost uniformly terrible. Jerry Jones as the black FBI agent and D'Urville Martin are passable, I suppose, but Rudy Ray Moore's alleged acting consists of a "Can you dig it, baby?" nonchalance interspersed with overemphasis of the word "motherf****r"…and he still gives the third best performance of the film.For all of it's flaws, there are two things for which I can recommend this movie.1. This is a film made by 1970s urban black people, for 1970s urban black people, about the world of 1970s urban black people. I'm not saying this is some sort of documentary about the way the 70s actually were for African-Americans, but it does give you a theatrical view of how they looked at and felt about their world. I don't say that as some kind of excuse for how crappy this movie is, but this was the era when African-American filmmakers were getting their first meaningful chance to tell their stories their way. In a country where history is what happened last month and everything before that has vanished into the mists of time, this is a movie that slaps you in the face with how different things are today from how there were just a generation or so ago.2. For all the bad acting, bad camera-work, bad dialog and bad fight scenes, there's an infectious energy to Dolemite. Everything about this movie is raw and unpolished and unpretentious. If you ever got together and made movies with your friends when you were kids, the same honest joy that you can still see in those stories is the same thing you can see in Dolemite. These filmmakers and these performers are all so clearly caught up in what they're doing that they're extremely likable, no matter how awful they are. A great example of that is the clothing in this film. It is hilariously bizarre, but the performers AND the characters they play are so utterly at ease in these fashion disasters, so convinced that these fabricated atrocities are the greatest thing since sliced bread, that you'll end up wishing you could wear those sorts of outfits to work.If you want to watch a good movie, I really can't recommend Dolemite. There are just so many ways that it's truly terrible. But this is a fun movie, I enjoyed it and it's a reminder of how weird the 1970s actually were. So, if you ever are in the mood to watch a awful film about a pimp/spoken word artist/night club owner/street avenger and his army of karate chopping prostitutes, you now know where to look.

HaemovoreRex Certainly far, far from the quality end of the Blaxploitation genre, this nonetheless shares some of the staple ingredients which make many of its more illustrious brethren so charming. The plot concerns the titular hero (the term applied in the loosest possible manner as our man is a bit of a scumbag) who does a deal with the warden in the prison he is being held in (after he was framed by bent cops) to clean up his old hood. This our man sets about with great gusto, partially fuelled by the need to avenge the senseless murder of his nephew. It turns out that the crime in the area is far more deep rooted than a few mere drug dealers and gun runners however, indeed a whole conspiracy is afoot involving bent law enforcement officers and a dirty mayer.With multiple attempts on our heroes life and the pressure on, will our man be able to save the day? Well, if Dolemite's inimitable way with obscenities is anything to go by, then the answer is 'hell yes'!!! Indeed, Rudy Ray Moore's fast and foul outbursts are probably the real highlight here and are sure to raise much mirth. Unfortunately, matters do tend to drag when our man isn't busy berating someone which is a real shame but don't switch off just yet, for the finale in this is an absolute hoot! Yes, the final fight or perhaps more appropriately, small riot which breaks out in a night club is absolutely hilarious and showcases a plethora of poorly choreographed karate fights, our hero literally punching through a guys chest(!) and all this backed up by a cool and thumping seventies soundtrack! Damn! - What more could one wish for in a film I ask?Fellow fans of the genre will probably derive at least some enjoyment here, not least of all the aforementioned sequences but just be warned - as if to act as a reflection of just how low rent this entry is, if one were to base a drinking game on the number of times the boom mike is visible throughout the film, then you'll probably be comatose by the end credits!

MartinHafer I love the so-called "blaxploitation" films and have seen dozens. Some, such as COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, SHAFT and HAMMER have excellent production values and are very entertaining, while many others are very cheap and silly, but still entertaining, such as BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH or COFFEY. However, DOLEMITE manages something rare for the genre--it's just cheap and silly and not the least bit entertaining! It's like blaxploitation made for very, very stupid people.Years ago, I saw a takeoff on the Dolemite films on "Mad TV" and unfortunately, the real DOLEMITE isn't any better. Like the parody, the acting is just atrocious. Rudy Ray Moore has all the charm and charisma of a piece of balsa wood. He can barely read his lines and his "karate" is a joke--with his kicks obviously missing the target again and again. As for the rest of the actors, many might be even worse. My favorite was the FBI guy who couldn't even remember his lines and really struggled to get them out--yet they didn't even bother to re-film these scenes! In fact, so much of it was inept that I had a hard time figuring out whether the film was intended as a joke.If you think that despite horrible acting and action that there is something worth seeing about this film, you're wrong. Even for the perverts out there hoping to see some skin, will be disappointed. The naked women in the film really do look like hard-luck prostitutes and there's nothing remotely sexy about their sagging bodies. I think looking at old people naked--REEEAALLY old people naked--is no worse than looking at these "ladies". And as for Rudy Ray, he has "man boobs". No Black super-hero or anti-hero should look that bad naked!! For goodness sakes, put on your clothes people and come up with a script that doesn't look like it was written by winos!!!FYI--Apparently, there are actually sequels to this film!! I can't imagine watching them, so you'll just have to find someone else to review them. I have watched PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE and ROBOT MONSTER, but I just don't think I can bring myself to see another Dolemite film--they are that bad!