MVD Entertainment Group has tabbed Nov. 22 for the next Blu-ray addition to it popular Marquee Collection line of film products.
The latest selection is director Mario Van Peebles’ 1995 film adaptation of his filmmaker father, Melvin Van Peebles’ 1995 book, Panther, a look at the rise of the Black Panther movement inspired by Huey Newton.
This is one of those must-see films, partly because of the story, partly because of the source — the late Melvin Van Peebles, who delivered the iconic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in 1971 (a film about the Black Panthers).
It is also a film that is frustrating. For the first 90 minutes or so, we get a gritty, no-holds-barred look at the rise of the Black Panthers, with Marcus Chong (The Matrix, The Crow: Wicked Prayer) as Huey Newton and Coutney B. Vance (two-time Emmy Awards-winner — Lovecraft Country, American Crime Story) as Bobby Seale. Kadeem Hardison (perhaps best known as Dwayne from the long-running A Different World sitcom series) plays a fictional character named Judge (likely an amalgamation of individuals that Melvin Van Peebles was associated with during the period).
You get an understanding of why the street was hungry to fight back. A force to counter corruption … Black Panthers, a symbol of pride. But, for whatever reason, Mario Van Peebles reserved the final act of Panther for a dramatic shift in tone to an all-out action film, which runs counter to the established narrative to that point.
Call it flawed; perhaps imperfect … Panther is, however, the perfect Marquee Collection selection and certainly worth a look on Nov. 22 when it makes its Blu-ray debut.
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