Disco Godfather (1979)

Perfect cast and a good story

A Major Disappointment

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Although this film I'm sure was not considered for any awards or anything, I still enjoy watching it every once in a while. Rudy Ray Moore is Tucker an ex cop, now club owner, Dj and is known of course as The Disco Godfather. His favorite nephew(Bucky) an awesome basketball player and possible NBA prospect gets messed up on Angel Dust. This enrages The Godfather Of The Disco and he focuses all his energy on raising awareness in the community and takes it to the streets and starts knocking heads. Disco Godfather is not in the same class as classics like Dolemite and Petey Wheatstraw, but Rudy and company still deliver the goods in this very funky, very low budget blaxsploitation feature. As a huge fan of outrageous stuff like this and of course Rudy Ray Moore, I enjoy and appreciate this film for what it is. Disco Godfather is simply good entertainment in its purest form. Yes, the production value sucks, the acting is terrible and Rudy's fighting skills are even worst. Its all good though because it is fun to watch. What Rudy lacks in acting and fighting skills, he more than makes up for with his unique ultra cool persona and great screen presence. Plus to boot the film has a very strong and positive anti drug message. Thumbs up, I can dig it!

I thought I'd spoke on this good-bad film, but I guess it didn't take This is set during the PCP craze that rocked black neighborhoods in the mid-1970s. Then folks started freebasing and you stopped hearing about "Sherm" Alley. It became "Crack Alley." If you don't think this place existed, I can take you... This picture is low end for sure but there is a sincerity in it's message. A decade later, Spike Lee tried to say something about the crack epidemic, but didn't fair quite as well. What was Jungle Fever about when you think about it. The social milieu of Disco Godfather is rooted in genre(the detective story.) Maybe that's why it succeeds where others failed. I don't know... there was more heart here than in many a modern black film. and the karate sequence! what the--

Put yo weight on it! I was born in the early/mid-80s so I grew up well past the prime of disco, so I can't vouch for what makes horrible disco dancing. But if I had to guess, I'd say Rudy Ray Moore sucks at it. Unless contorting your face and stabbing the air with your pelvis constitutes wicked disco skills; I could be wrong. As the 70s were drawing to a close, Rudy Ray Moore was riding that disco high and decided to be a little more socially conscious with his fourth feature. In what may or may not be a serious attempt at an anti-drug message, Moore and director J. Robert Wagoner (and screen writing help from former collaborator Cliff Roquemore) have Moore tackling his most dangerous adversary yet: angel dust. Moore is Tucker Williams, a retired police officer who runs the hottest local disco joint, Blueberry Hill. But all is not well…there is a new drug flooding the streets and the youth are becoming addicted to angel dust. When Tucker's nephew Bucky suffers a mental breakdown from a bad trip in the middle of his club, Tucker makes it his solemn duty to track down the supplier of the drug and clean up the streets. Known as the Disco Godfather, he begins an investigation into its local production at the command of Stinger Ray, a local businessman whose legitimate front is some sort of basketball team he is recruiting for. Or something. I couldn't quite figure out who Stinger Ray was supposed to be. Zaniness ensues."Haven't you heard, Godfather? Our children are dying."The movie begins with a nearly ten minute sequence of disco dancing at Blueberry Hill with Moore chanting "Put yo weight on it!" in a failed attempt to institute a new catchphrase, presumably to pad the running time to feature length. You need to have a bit of patience with this movie because it has a tendency to cram in a disco break randomly, regardless of how it brings the story to a screeching halt. If Moore and the filmmakers had intended to do a serious movie to address a serious social issue, they probably shouldn't have made the drug portions so hilarious. The people high on angel dust in this movie are just too funny, accurate or not. I've never witnessed anyone high on the drug, and I have my doubts that the writers were overly concerned with research. Disco! There's a scene where the Disco Godfather is given a tour through a facility where people recover from angel dust, but it doesn't quite have the effect I think the filmmakers were going for. The movie has the usual bits of awesome we've come to expect from a Rudy Ray Moore movie: cheesy effects, horrible acting, and moments of total absurdity. There's a point where the Disco Godfather battles a cowboy. No joke, a cowboy. And the cowboy is using a whip. It's just so bizarre and misplaced, and I totally love moments like it.I do need to give this movie some credit. It is the first Rudy Ray Moore movie I've seen with structure! There aren't multiple plot lines going in random directions, but one solid story of the Godfather's battle against angel dust. The problem is that the movie is just boring. It's weak. I watch Moore's movies for the absurd characters, low production value, and strange attempts at action. We don't get much of that here. With the quasi-serious tone, we lose a lot of the WTF factor that makes Moore's movies so fun to watch. DISCO GODFATHER is a difficult movie to remember after seeing it because there really isn't anything memorable here. I honestly didn't care about this movie for 90% of it until the final battle at the angel dust production plant. Moore busts out with his weird brand of kung-fu as he battles his way into the plant until *gasp!* he's exposed to angel dust! Moore's nightmare on angel dust makes it worth the hassle of watching his movie. It's the best Moore moment since the final battle through the house on the hill in THE HUMAN TORNADO. Oh, and we get some of the regular cast in the movie. Jimmy Lynch and Jerry Jones return, and Lady Reed is relegated to a minor role that spares us her usual painful line delivery. In the end, the movie fails to live up to any of Moore's movies that came before it. It doesn't have nearly as many laughs, and it has 100% more disco. If it weren't for the awesome finale, I probably would have marked it even lower.

"He thinks he's an unborn caterpillar" and being thoroughly locked and loaded, he acted it out...An entire cast -- and what looked to be crew -- with bloodstream's packing drug cocktails while the roller disco went on...Lines delivered with eyes half-closed to sweaty bone-skinny costars wearing a colorful variety of metallic fabrics...it was indeed sweet priceless jive, 50% of which sadly went unheard...slurred & muffled out into the shadows engulfing the poorly lit actors...And fake punches were badly thrown...But to the beat of deliciously dance-inducing funk...making up for the muddy talent...and besides, who can say no to disco-karate-fever followed by hallucinations so far-freaking-out! ...They attacked the whack -- then whacked the attack -- and by the end there was a vampire woman, red eyed demons, a soul-train exorcism, and the reveal of the story's meaning...disco godfather hates his aunt Betty.