Drop Squad
Drop Squad
R | 28 October 1994 (USA)
Drop Squad Trailers

Controversial film about an underground organization that kidnaps and 'deprograms' African Americans who sell out or deny their cultural heritage. Spike Lee is the Executive Producer.

Reviews
Violet Weed

I liked the good actors in the movie, but the movie itself was just another racist movie. Trying to blame American Whites for the stupidity, race-genocide and lack of progress of American Blacks. I fought my way to survive in the world from the age of 12 when I moved from home to a big city and became a programmer. That was 52 years ago. I fought for the rights of WOMEN, no matter their ace. I still remember what it was like to take off that !@$@!!! girdle and wire-rimmed bra and throw them into the garbage, never again to wear such contrivances until my 50s when my b**bies 'requested' support, but then I was smart enough not to wear wire-rimmed bras but 'sports' bras.So the guy is an ad executive and that somehow is a crime. He wouldn't have pushed stereotyping if the customers didn't want it.But for years now I have known the truth about racism. It is American Blacks who perpetuate it by blaming whites for things WE never did. WE do not hold back blacks, WE do not MURDER blacks, WE do not impregnate black women and 'force' them to go on welfare. If I can survive on my own from 12 on, so can ANYbody. Granted I'm smarter than 99.5% of the world, oh well, still God gifts His/Her children equally, in one way or the other. Get over your 'poor little me' agenda, we ALL face stereotyping and prejudices, the worst one is pretending that MEN rule the world. NO ONE rules the world, the world 'just is' and we are nothing more than parasites living on its crust.

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ebolaisafraid

As a proud White American I must say that this movie is a powerful structure that requires a tremendous amount of understanding for another culture while swallowing a little pride of my own.For those who think this movie is racist only proves that more movies like this one need to be made. You can't tell a race of people to just move forward if they are not sure where they come from. You can't just say, "Slavery is over! Now go out and be successful," without understanding the conditioning slavery left behind. Economically and internally. Not to mention when African Americans try to reconnect with their past they are constantly bombarded by some of the same Whites who at times, seem a little bit too concerned with keeping this connection at bay, as if it were a threat of some sort. Meanwhile our toddlers are at school learning about their distant past great leaders like Caesar. Thus, encouraging them to be great leaders. While the black toddlers are learning about slavery and their minor, more modern American accomplishments like the creation of peanut butter or the civil rights movement, making their steps of stride smaller, surviving from day to day, check to check, with hopes of purchasing an apartment or a car as a major accomplishment.Why are we afraid for African Americans to learn they're history? Is it because there were some Black leaders greater than Whites. Is it because most of our history might be tainted with a lot of lies and cover up? If we Whites really want to be Equal (and not just announce it all the time) then we will encourage more Blacks to become one with their distant past. And if it puts some of Europeans most powerful parts in history to the background then so what? We didn't have a problem when we where in the forefront, so why would it matter now if we're in the background? If we truly aren't racist, it shouldn't matter at all. One thing Hollywood and our school system shows us is that Europeans have done great things. But not all great things. And maybe, not even the greatest. But that in itself proposes a powerful question. What if Africans have done greater things, would we be willing to accept that? The truth is, we all know we won't. Does the psychological scar of racism really cuts that deep?

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gurochuck

I believe this film was made w/ its creators knowing that it would be shot down by various "types" of people who'll just simply refuse to look at it objectively. In my opinion, it is a "must see" for everyone aimed particularly at the Black bourgeois. I like the fact that not only does the DROP Squad address the problems of Blacks self-exploiting racial stereotypes for personal financial gain, it also questions the tactics that must be enacted to solve these problems. The aim of the DROP Squad is very provocative but I especially like the human aspect whereas the "Rocky" character debates w/ "XB" and "Garvey" on how to deal w/ the captive individuals to be "dropped." Rocky has a more diplomatic approach that seems to have been more effective back in earlier times around when the group was founded. Seemingly as time has passed and the situation has evolved to crazier proportions, XB and Garvey have resorted to more drastic tactics in order to "get their attention first." I believe what many people fail to realize is that this picture is asking the question "Which, if any, of these methods are more appropriate to addressing this problem?" The tone of the film gets "crazier" as time moves on and the problem gets worse, thus developing the drama where the Squad questions itself altogether. Whether you like this movie or not, you've got to admit that it serves its purpose and that's to "incite dialogue" and not racism.

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Rid.X

In Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin In The Sun", the character of Beneatha describes so-called "assimilationist negroes", or black men that have immersed themselves in a dominant culture while neglecting their African roots. Suffice it to say that this description can be applied to Bruford Jamison, the lead character of David Clark Johnson's "DROP Squad". Here's a movie that takes a provocative, timely idea, and completely buries it with muddled execution.Eriq La Salle ("ER"'s Dr. Benton) plays Bruford, an advertising executive determined to ascend up the corporate ladder. This involves demeaning advertising campaigns, including a satirical television spot for fried chicken that boasts a gospel choir, napkins with bible verses, and Spike Lee, who's also executive producer of this film. Along the way, he manages to ignore his cousin, Flip, who's out of work and incessantly asking for a favor from his favorite cousin.These factors prompt Bruford's sister Lenora to call on the DROP (Deprogramming and Restoration of Pride) Squad, a group of militant brothers who work to bring "fallen" blacks back down to earth. The squad, whose past targets include a politician and man of the cloth, kidnap Bruford, strap him to a chair, and proceed to torture him for several weeks.And it's at this point that the film's message is lost completely. There were moments that had punch; in particular, the friction between Bruford and squad member Garvey, played with ferocity by Ving Rhames. There's one brutal exchange when Bruford chides Garvey for not being able to make it in the real world that nearly rises above everything else onscreen. But all the while, as Bruford is being verbally and physically assaulted by the squad, it's disturbing that his civil rights never come into the equation. And since when did this kind of violence ever become productive, given their cause?All in all, a movie with a topic more deserving of stronger execution.

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