Mean Johnny Barrows (1976)

Cast:

Fred "The HAMMER" Williamson is Johnny Barrows
Roddy "Great vampire hunter from Fright Night" McDowall is Tony Da Vince
Stuart "I battled giant bunnies in Night of the Lepus" Whitman is Mario Racconi
Luther Adler is Don Racconi
R.G. Armstrong is Richard
Elliott "Devil and Max Devlin" Gould is Prof. Theodore Rasputin Waterhouse

What the box says:

Johnny Barrows (Fred Williamson) returns home after being unjustly Dishonerably Discharged during the Vietnam War. While working as a gas station attendant, a gangster wants to hire him as a hitman because of his military training. Soon Johnny finds himself in a bloody gang war between rival families. Costarring Roddy McDowell, Stuart Whitman, Jenny Sherman and Luther Adler - with Elliot Gould.

Plot:

Soldiers led by Johnny Barrows are in a mine training field.

Ok, who wants to live forever?!?!? Johnny is distracted by an superior officer. He gets mad enough to punch the guy. Unfortunately, he is busted out of the service.

Back at home, Johnny gets mugged. The cops arrive to late to help but automatically assume he's drunk and is arrested. At the station, he is let out when the duty sergeant realizes that Johnny Barrows was a football hero who was in the army and awarded a Silver Star.

Trying to get a meal at a restuarant, Johnny meets Mario Racconi who offers him a "job." Johnny realies that Mario is in the mob and the "job" because of his military experience. He refuses and heads onto the street for the job search montage. On the street, he has to put up with hunger and Elliott Gould?

What do you mean Bill Cosby is the devil and I'm Max Devlin?

The other mob family: the Da Vincis, are setting up their new enterprise and planning to take out the Racconis at the same time.

Later, Johnny is taken to meet Mario and Mario's father.

Ever get the feeling that you're being watched? They try to recruit him again as hitman for them to no avail. Nancy, Mario's assistant talks with him.

Finally, a gas station oner hires Johnny. Cut to the Fred "The Hammer" Williamson cleaning and working monage.

Anyone makes a joke about me and Goober Pyle, is gona need a shallow grave... The station owner is lording over Johnny. Mario pulls up and offers the job again. Johnny keeps refusing it.

The Racconis need to strike against the Da Vincis. Mario's dad decides to hire an out of town hitman. The Da Vincis kill him. Mario and his dad don't want to get involved in the Da Vinci dope deal. At their meeting, the Da Vincis use enough ammo to impress Rambo.

The station owner is lording over Johnny and barely pays him. They get into a fight right before the police arrive and arrest Johnny.

Mario is in the hospital. He has Nancy bring Johnny to him. Mario offers him $100,000 and land to eliminate the Da Vincis. Johnny learns the Da Vincis are bringing drugs into the poor neighborhoods.

The Da Vincis plan to go after Nancy. Tony, one of the Da Vinci sons, volunteers to that job. It turns out that Tony and Nancy are planning to wipe out both of the families and take over. Nancy calls Johnny and tells him that the Da Vincis came after her.

Funky Johnny starts dispatching the Da Vincis with whatever weapons he can get ahold of.

I don't need to do a Dirty Harry impression to be bad...

Tony decides to head to Mexico on a boat. Johnny sneaks aboard and forces Tony overboard.

May not be Richard Roundtree but Fred "The HAMMER" Williamson is enough... Too bad, Tony can't swim...

Da Vinci dad wants Mario killed.

Johnny calls Nancy for the information on his next hit. After their meet, some guy tries to run him down.

Why is anyone using a throwing star in a non-Ninja movie? Johnny manages to escape.

Johnny manages to sneak into the Da Vinci mansion. With his shotgun, he finishes off the rest of the Da Vincis.

Double barrelled vengeance!

Driving away, Johnny spots that someone is following him. Kung fuin' Johnny versus the Da Vinci hitman ensues.

Been waiting for a good martial arts smackdown battle.

Afterwards, Johnny calls Nancy. They take a walk.

Goodbye, Mr. Bond.... Nancy pulls a gun and shoots him for killing Tony whom she loved. She reveals that she lied about Tony raping her. Walking away, Nancy steps on a landmine and explodes.

What I say:

After the past couple of weeks of horror movies of Madmen of Mandoras and Tormented, was thinking my Ten of fans may be wanting something a bit different. It has been a quite a while since reviewed any 1970s Blaxsploitation movies. Most people have about the idea of Blaxsploitation movies like an NFL player would of particle physics. For B-movie fans who know anything about the 1970s Blaxsploitation, movies like Shaft come to mind or even Williamson's other 1970s movies like Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem.

Johnny Barrows is a soldier is unjustly dishonerably discharged. Back home, he can barely survive when almost everyone is against him. Getting any job is a miracle even if the boss continually insults you. After being discharged, everyone starts to look down on him. Mean Johnny Barows becomes the story of a guy who doesn't want to get involved but keeps getting pushed until he has to fight. That sort of plot is almost in every martial arts movie.

Can't expect for everything to tie up into a coherent plot line in low budget action movies. I can't help but think the "entire soldier returning home message on top of a movie where a soldier being hired a s a hitman to go after a mob family" doesn't fit. The returning vet struggling to find any kind of job was used more in 1970s movies. With most of Johnny's problems, he sort of shuts himself out of the world and refuses to answer questions. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson also directed Mean Johnny Barrows.

The movie with the honerable mob family that doesn't want to get involved in drugs. With the other family dealing that allows Johnny to get mean at them and layeth the smackdown on them in 1970s glory. Having one of the officers that was involved in the fight with Johnny at the beginning somehow becoming the mob hitman after at the end is shark-jumping in pure Fonzerelli style (AKA jumping the shark ( this was pre-Nuking the Fridge time)). It's a shame that a Fred "The Hammer" Williamson wasn't wearing a white suit on Fantasy Island. He'd have been a cool Mr. Roarke along with Tattoo..

It was more than a cameo but less than a supporting role. Elliott Gould just pops up for a scene and then disappears. OK, I'll admit I didn't recognize Roddy McDowall at first. The late 60s and through the 70s had him in the monkey makeup through the Planet of the Apes.

Quotable Dialogue
"There's no jobs for Johnny when he comes marching home."
"She's looking for that turkey."
"Yeah, but, it's honest."
"Destroy yourself, use your own gun."
Morals of the Story
Movies should have "Special Guest Stars."
Drug smuggling through florist shops is easy.
Retired professors need walking canes.
Shruikens make Fred "The Hammer" Williamson" angry.