A biker race fight develops when Eddie (Robert Howard) is killed by white bikers for dating a white girl. The claim to fame for this film is that it has six NFL stars in the feature with Joe Greene being the most recognized name in the modern era. Outside of Gene Washington, the speaking roles for the players were limited as their acting was as bad as their white counterparts in the film.Guide: Brief nudity (Rosalind Miles)

Start with a trite script, add a no-talent cast, mix in a white director who clearly did not understand Blaxploitation, and you have THE BLACK 6. Or as I call it, "The Anti-Shaft."Eddie Daniels is a Black high school senior with a white girlfriend. When her brother Moose (yes, Moose) and his biker pals beat Eddie to death, his brother Bubba (yes, Bubba) comes to town with his own biker pals. Bubba's there mainly to see his mother and sister but takes the law into his own hands when the police show no interest in solving the murder.The title characters were all played by NFL stars. As actors, they were great football players. Not that the rest of the cast is any better--especially the nice old lady who hires the men as temporary farm workers, and the hysterical white woman whose diner they trash when its racist clientele insults them. Then there's Bubba's humorless, militant sister with an Afro that would have embarrassed Angela Davis. Or as one of the Black 6 puts it, "Man, you got one heavy little sister." (She's not fat.) And Bubba's old girlfriend, who's now a hooker, delivers a monologue that's beyond belief.Finally, the ending doesn't make a damned bit of sense. I watched the final scene three times but still couldn't figure out what happened. At first, I thought the Black 6 had all been killed, but then a message appears on-screen: HONKY...LOOK OUT...HASSLE A BROTHER...AND THE BLACK 6 WILL RETURN!!! All I know is, the cataclysm entailed chains, flares, explosions, dozens of loud motorcycles, and a whole lot of dead bikers. And yet, the cops never show up. Must have been their night off.

After his younger brother is beaten to death "Eddie Daniels" (Robert Howard) decides to return to his hometown and find out who was responsible for it. With him are 5 friends who served in Vietnam with him. Although none of them want trouble they believe they can handle whatever comes. What they don't realize is just how bad things really are where they're headed. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie is a combination of a biker film and a blaxploitation picture rolled into one. It also had the distinction of casting quite a few NFL players in prominent supporting roles. Unfortunately, the script was weak and the acting was pretty basic as well which resulted in a pretty tame effort all things considered. In any case, the fact of the matter is that regardless of the effort to combine two notable sub-genres, the effort was a dismal failure as this wasn't a good movie by any measurement. Accordingly, I have to rate it as below average.

The Black 6 (1973) ** (out of 4) Blaxploitation flick about a black kid who is killed by a white motorcycle gang after they catch him with a white woman. Soon after his brother Bubba (Gene Washington) shows up with his five friends to get to the bottom of the crime and soon realize that they're going to have to take down quite a few honky's. THE BLACK 6 isn't a classic movie in the same field as THE DEFIANT ONES but who in their right mind is going to come into this thing expecting greatness? If you're looking for an ultra-cheap, silly and poorly made film that at least keeps you entertained then this here offers that. Again, there's no question that the film doesn't offer up anything of real quality but if that's what you're expecting then it's best to just stay away to begin with. The film's big point to get people to watch it is that the six black guys are all played by NFL players with the two biggest names being Joe Greene and Mercury Morris who most people will know from being on ESPN each year whenever the last undefeated team finally loses a game and protects his Dolphins only perfect season. None of the six NFL players can act but this really doesn't take anything away from the picture. The other motorcycle gang really can't act either so I guess you could say that everyone is on a level playing field. I really thought the story here was pretty predictable and it's certainly nothing we haven't seen before yet it kept me interested in the characters and there's no doubt that the six bikers were fun to watch. There's a very funny sequence towards the start of the picture where the six black guys are taking care of an elderly white woman, which I'm sure was meant to show that they didn't hate white people, just the ones that harmed them. This is followed up by another funny scene where a racist couple refuses to serve them so they literally tear down the building. THE BLACK 6 isn't as bad as its reputation as long as you go into it not expecting it to be something it's not.