GORDON'S
WAR (1973)/OFF LIMITS (1988)Directors: Ossie Davis and Christopher Crowe
Shout! Factory
Shout digs into the vaults of Fox to release a forgotten blaxploitation effort from Ossie Davis (COTTON COMES TO HARLEM) called GORDON'S WAR and even pairing it with a discontinued title that Anchor Bay originally released when they still had a deal going on with Fox; OFF LIMITS. Now fans can enjoy both films on a double-feature disc.
GORDON'S WAR opens with decorated Vietnam vet Gordon (Paul Winfield, THE TERMINATOR)
returning to his stomping grounds of Harlem when he finds out his wife died
of an overdose of heroin. Enraged, Gordon decides to make a stand against the
drug dealers by forming his own army consisting of friends Bee (Carl Lee, SUPERFLY),
Otis (David Downing) and Roy (Tony King, REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER). It seems
the drug dealers are being controlled by kingpin Spanish Harry (Gilbert Lewis)
and the army one-by-one battles pimps, wiseguys, crooked businessmen, and most
of the scum Harlem has to offer. The production values are what to expect for
a low-budget film as it was shot on location in Harlem and in and around New
York City. Also appearing in small bit parts are Ralph Wilcox (COP AND A HALF)
as a hot dog vendor who gets pummeled when he crosses Gordon's gang and Charles
MacGregor (BORN TO WIN) as a dope pusher. The action scenes are well-choreographed,
including a scene where Winfield burns a villain with a can of aerosol and a
wild car/motorcycle chase that ends in a bad crash.
Released
on video by CBS/Fox in the late 1980s, Shout! presents the film in a brand new
anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.78:1) and it looks near flawless with some
grain and blemishes, considering it was a taken from a 35mm print (like a number
of Shout! DVD titles that have been released).The mono audio comes through clear
with no problems. Extras include a commentary with King and director of photography
Victor J. Kemper in which the two men talk about the making of the film and
some fond memories of how they interacted with Winfield off-camera and that
he was a real gentleman to work with. Kemper explains how he shot the entire
climatic chase scene as there was no second unit crew available and King basically
talks about how he got cast in the film and touches upon the rest of his acting
career. The original trailer and two TV spots are included.
In OFF LIMITS, we are transported to war-occupied 1968 Saigon, where we meet
police officers Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.) and Albaby
Perkins (Gregory Hines, RUNNING SCARED) who are assigned to investigate the
killings of some local prostitutes. They suspect the murders are done by high-ranked,
but deranged Colonel Dexter Armstrong (Scott Glenn, NIGHT OF THE RUNNING MAN).
Action abounds as the two officers find themselves in jeopardy as the try to
find Armstrong. Car chases, shootouts, and violence ensues in this sadly obscure
period piece. The talented supporting cast also includes Fred Ward (TREMORS)
as their superior officer, Amanda Pays (TV's "Max Headroom") as a
streetwise nun, David Alan Grier (BOOMERANG) as a fellow officer who assists
Dafoe and Hines and Keith David (THEY LIVE) as an uncooperative witness.
As
stated above, this was one of many titles that Fox licensed to Anchor Bay for
DVD. Having been discontinued for a while, Shout! re-releases this as part of
the double feature set. It's presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with
anamorphic enhancement and it's the same transfer used on the old AB disc. The
print looks good with a light coating of grain and some speckling, but generally
looks clean. The mono audio is in good condition, too. The only extra is a commentary
ported over from the AB release featuring Crowe and Dafoe as they talk about
the production of the movie. Dafoe explains how he was the first actor cast
in the film and how the cast and crew worked under the unstable weather conditions.
It's too bad Shout! didn't include more extras (the old disc of this film had
a vintage featurette and trailer included) but the entertaining commentary is
worth it alone. (Kyle
McElravy)