A seemingly forgotten little gem. Van Peebles’ exuberant style sometimes gets in the way but this largely sturdy western is as overtly politically activated as any good blaxplo, it’s packed with action, and the cast is absolutely loaded, from Isaac Hayes and Pam Grier to Big Daddy Kane all the way to SIDEWALK STORIES director Charles Lane.

The early '90s were a time when it didn't seem odd for Mario Van Peebles to cast Stephen Baldwin as the token white guy in a cowboy movie.

As far as 90s westerns go, this has more style than The Quick and the Dead, more laughs than City Slickers, more violence than Unforgiven, more surrealism than Dead Man and (somehow) a better ensemble cast than Tombstone.

Mario Van Peebles' unapologetically Black revisionist western is as much an ardent outlier in its own era of chosen genre as it is an homage to the Black westerns of the 70s, particularly Buck and the Preacher and Take a Hard Ride - but it's also more than that, with a kitchen sink approach to genre and style that is probably best compared to the same year's Last Action Hero and being every bit a Movie Movie as that one is. Sorely overlooked and ripe for reappraisal this very moment.

And if that's all not enough, Tone Loc sings a song titled Posse Love on the soundtrack.

The idea of the film is very intriguing: as the narrator rightly informs the viewer at the start, many in the West were black as they migrated westward in search of better lives after the Civil War.

However, the film simply doesn’t have the budget nor the talent (some of the cast are great, others are terrible) to pull it off effectively. Surprisingly, Big Daddy Kane probably had the best performance.

Mario Van Peebles hit it big with NEW JACK CITY, so he shot for the freaking sky with his second directorial outing: A hyper-stylized neo-western about a posse of black cowboys. The film's got an amazing cast, a real sense of scope, and while the style sometimes comes off as a clunky, I'd rather watch a swing for the fences any day of the week.

Really not sure why this is so critically derided, especially on this site? Mario Van Peeble’s direction is solid, the cast is insane, the violence is ridiculous and it’s super fast paced. It certainly has some flaws but it’s not the failure that other reviewers here have made it out to be. I really, really enjoyed it and I would take this over any boring old white dude cowboy film from the same time period. It’s also the second 90’s western I’ve seen this month with Isaac Hayes in it? Huh. Definitely worth a modern revaluation. Evil Billy Zane forever.

Positives:

-They got Deebo’s big ass riding a horse
-An original theme song by Tragedy Khadafi! 
-Tone Loc seems to have no idea he’s in a western he’s acting like it’s early 90s LA
-Blair Underwood is the best desperate social climbing black dude
-Big Daddy Kane is sick
-Salli Richardson is the hottest person (maybe ever?) 

Negatives: 

-The frame story structure sucks 
-Stephen Baldwin also sucks
-Not enough Pam Grier 
-Mario Van Peebles should’ve stayed behind the camera 
-I felt bad for the horse that had to carry Deebo’s big ass

Positives:

-They got Deebo’s big ass riding a horse
-An original theme song by Tragedy Khadafi! 
-Tone Loc seems to have no idea he’s in a western he’s acting like it’s early 90s LA
-Blair Underwood is the best desperate social climbing black dude
-Big Daddy Kane is sick
-Salli Richardson is the hottest person (maybe ever?) 

Negatives: 

-The frame story structure sucks 
-Stephen Baldwin also sucks
-Not enough Pam Grier 
-Mario Van Peebles should’ve stayed behind the camera 
-I felt bad for the horse that had to carry Deebo’s big ass

Como reivindicación de una era y una figura olvidada sobremanera por los westerns funciona a las mil maravillas. Posse es un alegato racial sobre la importancia de los vaqueros negros en el oeste. dirigido por Mario Van Peebles. El problema es que además quiere convertirla también en una películas de bandas de negros y eso lastra el resultado, pero disfrutable lo es de sobras.

BGH Cult Movie Challenge: Black Artists Day 7

While I find this movie to be well acted - everyone gave a great performance - I found the script to be messy. I liked the setting, the characters and their dynamics, but ultimately following the story was a bit of a chore for me. I'd love to see more Black cowboy movies though - I think that's a super interesting story that's been lost to whitewashing of history.

Six out of ten rigged poker games.

MvP’s command of his images here is really impressive; seeing in reviews a wide rejection of the roving camera as being unable to latch onto much but am setting myself down in opposition— it’s latching onto everything it catches sight of and creating a totally batshit sense of montage, trains thundering past ticking clocks past rearing horses, all of the west condensed into a concentrated onslaught. there’s no concern with continuity and the only stakes that matter are derived from the images that create them: burning schools, crucifixions, time itself, blood and dirt. really nice to see everyone who’s ever popped up in a movie pop up at one point or another.

Tiny Lister punches a horse. What a king. RIP

Peebles’ swaggering mannerism is wonderful when his impulses climb towards cartoonish heights. His occasional attempts to reign things in are a much more mixed bag, as his roaming camera is unsuited to capture images of dramatic or moral import. The best example of this is the sex scene, in which bloodless vigor reduces the proceedings to a series of Skinemax vignettes. Pam Grier’s sparse role is a disservice to both her talent and historical stature—women in general would benefit from a lot more fleshing out. The New Orleans brothel scene, ironically, provides the movie with its most animated female characters; their transparent status as objects at least allows them to embody the role of salespeople.

All in all: an uneven blast, Woody Strode’s frame story worth the price of admission alone.

Viewed in 1993. Group of black Civil War veterans who defend a small town against the KKK. Decent action.

An ensemble western that feels very of its time. I like the cast and there's fun to be had, though sections of it drag a bit.

Black History Month Challenge
First Time Watches - 2021
15. Adventure
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I love what this movie wants to be.
I hate what it became.

Start with a damn good message, add an awesome ensemble cast, throw in a ton of style, have your cast overact, add too many plotlines, edit the shit out the film, and BAM! you got this movie.

This movie is a complete mess, and it is a mess I really wanted to enjoy. When I made this Black History Month Challenge this was one of the most anticipated films on the list. I wanted to see more genre films, action, horror, westerns. Sadly, this is horrible. I think I'd rather watch The Cherokee Kid with Sinbad. Actually, is that available on any of my subscriptions? I want to see that now!

huh, not as great as 13yr old me remembers

Antes de que Django Unchained planteara la posmodernidad del hip hip en una del oeste, ya lo hizo Mario Van Peebles en este Western Noire alucinante al que le debe no solo el Tarantino de Kill Bill (Ya se recupera aquí a Pam Grier), sino Desperado, Rápida y Mortal o la misma Da 5 Bloods. No sólo es un buen blaxploitation sino que su comentario racial es tremendamente válido hoy, recoge un comentario muy pertinente sobre la gentrificación (con clímax bastante mejor que Bacurau), y mola como quiere molar el remake de Los 7 magníficos. De culto.

I’ll be damned, Posse holds up. I thought I only had vague memories of this, but about 10 minutes in I realized that I must have watched the shit out of this back in the day.