Damn. Julius Carry is dead. Sho'Nuff is a great great figure from my childhood. Maybe I'll start calling myself the Shogun of Harlem. Anyway, more proof that us blacks and Asians go back like sunflower seeds and quarter waters. The Last Dragon marks a break for me, it was like right after this flick hit that the city began to change. This is, like, the end of the kitchy 70s Jackson Five innocence, and the beginning of Just-Ice and "Latoya," Colors, "PSK," Eric Dickerson and Mike Tyson.
Jesus, Vanity had a some beautiful eyes. And this idea of Bruce-Leroy as the Virgin-Warrior--isn't he the patron-saint of black nerds everywhere? Isn't he who we all thought we were? Weren't we all just waiting for a doe-eyed Vanity to show us what it was like? Then we got jumped by some project niggers, got screamed on by a couple hood-rats. The city made us harder, and waiting made us weak. I think I was better for that lesson. But then I watch shit like this and get to reminiscing on 1985, right before the Crack era hit with full force, and I start thinking about what we left behind, on what all of us lost when we reached for the mask.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Ta-Nehisi:
I am just too old and too white to understand what you're talking about here. At least, I can recognize a few names -- Latoya, Eric Dickerson, and Mike Tyson. And Jesus.
RIP, Mr. Carry. Wow, Bernie, then Isaac, and now one from my childhood. The three's strike again.
I still love that movie, and I quote Mr. 'Nuff at least once a week. He was the best mo'fo, low down, around that town. And the one and only mastah.
RIP, Bowler. With you dies my hope that they would one day bring back "Brisco County, Jr." for an exciting television movie event.
Nerds everywhere mourn your passing.
Aw, man. Not a good month for black entertainers. Sho'nuff was one of the best movie characters ever. I rooted for him over that punk ass Bruce Leroy, most because of lines like this:
Sho'nuff: Keep your money. You just get that sucker to the designated place at the designated time, and I will gladly designate his ass... for dismemberment!
Is it me or are public figures or semi public figures dying everyday now?
Ok, I'm black and I think I have a few years on you. As a die hard Bruce Lee fan I never really took this movie seriously. To me, when it comes to martial arts Bruce Lee is the MAN. I dont care what race or nationality he is. He is a martial arts masterpiece, a symbol of physical excellence and mastery, and just plain cool. As old as I am I still have a poster - a small one - of him in my office. So you can imagine why my regard Bruce Leroy is not very high.
Man what a rough month, all I know is that Ben Vereen, Mr.T, and John Amos better get their check-ups...
"Maybe I'll start calling myself the Shogun of Harlem."
It's mumbo jumbo like that and skinny little lizards like you thinkin' they the Last Dragon that gives kung-fu a bad name!
(couldn't resist)
LOL Janine.
Lady Wesley,
You are neither too old nor too white--I doubt my son or my Dad would understand either. The essence of it all is the general notion of boys moving into the machismo of adolescence. But in this specific case it is the mid-80s when crack hit the cities and machismo went on steriods in our neck of the woods. Last Dragon is a film that reminds me of the calm just before the crack-cocaine era commenced. It was a good time. And I was sorry to see it go.
RIP Sho Nuff...
You've got to admire a guy who could pull off wearing headgear as shoulder pads...
I dont know about this whole calm before the storm stuff. The hood was always no picnic but I agree the crack era did make an already bad situation much worse. It's almost comical to think that this was a hood classic at one point. Can you imagine a similar movie being this being as popular now? It's the definition of corny but I loved it as a kid.
Props on the Last Dragon vid, I had a serious crush on Vanity. And anytime I hear 80's music I get nostalgic so I feel where you're coming from here. RIP Sho'nuff.
I remember that movie pretty well. It was back when we had to rent the VCR and movie at the same time. Bruce Leroy a hero for the ages and I remember that I had a M.U.C.S.L.E. figure that I called the Shogun of Harlem. Sad to hear.
I think I went to the theater to see this movie at least once a week the whole time it was featured.
Taimak as Leroy -- whatever happend to him?
Vanity as Laura -- ah, the stuff early pubescent dreams are made of.
Leo O'brian as Richie -- break dancing his way out of those ropes. Classic.
Julius Cary as Sho'nuff -- RIP to the meanest, the prettiest, the baddest mo'fo lowdown around this town.
For me, the best part of The Last Dragon is the theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWVhiIisH30
Beyond classic.
A couple of years ago, I sat down and watched "The Last Dragon" with some kinfolk and, really, it occurred to me that we (the people) don't even make movies this funny or fun anymore. Not to sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I miss the days of "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka," "Hollywood Shuffle" and even "Boomerang."
Anyway, if they do a remake of the movie, I'm making a public call for Busta Rhymes to play Shogun. Can't you see him saying "Kiss my Converse" with the right amount of authority?
Coates,
Man, I hate the freekin' pervasive use of phony names used on blogs. If posters feel they must be anonymous, then how can they be responsible for what they write? How many posters are simply mindless provocateurs? Anonymity cloaked by fear is the pathetic.
Ta-Nehesi, when you have to explain to "Lady Wesley" or your son [unless he is 3 and your Dad is deceased] what you were writing about, I think you have to take a look at your narrative and context. I really like your stuff. I think you have great potential. I would love it if you continue to reach more people.
Every once in awhile the DD stuff gets by me, but at least I know what it is. I'm old enough to be your father, and most people would say I am 'white', but I think explaining your stuff is not something you want to do. Grouchy Crouchy has done a great job of staying true to his deal without being so far ahead of his audience that he falls drop down into the abyss.
All in all, I like your work, will follow it, and wish you luck over the coming years.
Adin
Deleted. If you're interested in how I'm paid, e-mail me. I'll gladly explain.
T.
I felt strangely deflated upon finding out Taimak is now a fitness expert and F-grade actor.
(His Myspace page just reminded me-yet again-that I wasn't the only person who didn't grow up to be the greatest martial artist of all time.)
And now Sho'Nuff, too? Why do we have to lose so many heroes?
I see at least one commenter here remembers Lord Bowler. I am surprised that the obituary mentions "Doctor, Doctor" -- a show nobody remembers -- but omits "Brisco County Jr" (which probably has a larger cult following than "The Last Dragon" given the power of Bruce Campbell).
On the DVD commentary of Brisco, he seemed very upset with the cancelation of the series, and that it was the high point of his career.
John Henry,
Bruce Lee set a pretty high bar, no question. Enter the Dragon was IMO the best martial arts movie of the '70s. What would you say were the best since? I'd go for Bloodsport (which featured one of the actors from EtD) as the best of the '80s, and maybe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the best of this decade. I'm drawing a blank on the 90s right now.
Andre,
"I felt strangely deflated upon finding out Taimak is now a fitness expert and F-grade actor."
So is Billy Blanks, and he dominated tournament karate for years.
Mike
"No posts in 36 hours. You get paid anyway though?"
Ta-Nehisi seems to be the most prolific Atlantic blogger right now. If he's lapping Megan and other bloggers, I don't think he has to worry about his output.
Dave--branch out a bit--ANYTHING by Jet Li could qualify as "best of the 90s"...Once Upon a Time in China, Tai Chi Master, etc etc...
So Bruce Campbell uses the orb goes back in time and saves him again, right?
Email me if you want me to know. Or just make it public, I'd say. As a replacement for Matt, a 36-hour blank spot on pre-convention weekend is fairly remarkable.
T-N C:
I hope it goes without saying that the only reason I would give a shit if you leave off for two days is that I dig your stuff.
From Bruce to Last Dragon was quite a journey, but a wonderful one. Having that referent in the kung fu lexicon, along with Drunken Master 1 and 2 and Tai Chi Master made the young adult and teen years.
For Tri-State folk, am I the only person who remembers the kung fu movie spot near Penn Station in New York? Is it still there?
Here is a great visual, in the South Side of Chicago and Hyde Park there was a brother who dressed like the Last Dragon--full attire--and would quote kung fu and martial arts flicks verbatim on the Stony Island and Jackson Park/Jeffery Express bus. It was a great strategy because it made him a 'hood celebrity and therefore invulnerable to robbery or harrassment.
Ahh the cultural zeitgeist of the Last Dragon--so infectious.
Chauncey DeVega
For those that don't know about "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon" you're missing your context, OK? And I'm sad that you whiffed on it.
Chances are if you weren't a black kid in DC seeing "The Last Dragon" at the old Ontario theatre in Adams Morgan, you may have been a white kid lusting after Elisabeth Shue's lucsious pre-pubescent mammary glands in......"The Karate Kid" out at White Flint Mall in Rockville....or you could've been a kid that went to see both no matter who you were.
"The Karate Kid's" Daniel-san was basically Bruce Leroy, to a degree in that he was the fish out of water in the flick. Daniel Lorusso was the East Coast kid having the "Cruel Summer" in LA amongst the rich kids with their karate lessons beating his @ss. Leroy was the black kid from the 'hood rockin' slippers, a gi and a sanpan hat eatin' popcorn with chopsticks and claiming to be the one. Billy Zabka's Johnny of the Cobra Kai was his movie's Sho 'Nuff, but not nearly as scary becasue Sho 'Nuff was a grown-ass man, dawg. The other central character is, of course, the sage. The stock character of ALL martial arts movies. But that role was downplayed in "TLD" but Miyagi was integral to "The Karate Kid." A teenage Elisabeth Shue up against Vanity as the love interest? Come on, now. And I loved looking at Miss Shue's heaving bosoms, but she didn't have the pure sexual heat of Vanity's reassuring purr to Bruce Leroy when she said, "You sure look like a Master to me....."
Soundtracks? Tough call for this youngster from the 1980's. Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" was so classic that even Ace of Base looped it. Factor in "You're the Best (Around)" during the karate tournament montage, and even "Rythym of the Night" by DeBarge has its hands full.
Both movies had something for "both sides," but most of my white friends in the DC Metro saw both and liked both flicks.
For those sniffing at "The Last Dragon," it's a worthy rental on Netflix. Now, don't expect "The Seven Samurai" or "Enter the Dragon." Berry Gordy wasn't going for that. It's a popcorn flick. If anything, the flick is worthy of rental because of the presence of hip-hop comic Barry Sobel as one of Sho'Nuff's heavies and the movie debut of Keshia Knight-Pulliam. For those that didn't see "The Last Dragon" if you don't know who Rudy from "The Cosby Show" is, then please crawl out from under your rock because you missed the 1980's AND the 1990's. Next thing you'll be saying you didn't see "The Cosby Show" and didn't rent "Angel Heart" so you could see Denise Huxtable doin' the mo' betta. ;-)
Sorry for the thread hi-jack there, Ta-Nehisi.
Courage.
Oh, and on the "Brisco County, Jr." tip: wasn't that an early Fox show when the network was really beginning to hit its stride?
It was a hard show to miss. Back then, Fox's line-up was specifically set up to catch folks that are our age now.
"Parker Lewis Can't Lose" was a small screen rip-off of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
"21 Jumpstreet" brought us Holly Robinson and Johnny Depp. Teen narcos bringing the heat at your local HS. Nice plot. Peter DeLuise and Dustin Nguyen rounded out the cast of teen heartthrobs.
There was also another show on Fox that featured a black father of two who remarried a white lady with a daughter and the two families did the Brady Bunch thing. I believe Cleavon Little started out as the father on the show and then he passed on and Frankie Faison took over (he was the landlord from "Coming to America" or, if you didn't like that type of movie, he was Barney, the orderly at Hannibal Lecter's asylum, in "The Silence of the Lambs."
Of course, there was "The Simpsons" which remains the only show out of that line-up which has survived.
Regarding the Last Dragon versus the Karate Kid comparison, I'd say that's a false white-black dichotomy. Plenty of black kids and white kids grew up watching dubbed martial arts flicks with Asian actors, and going back to Enter the Dragon you had a racially diverse cast of characters/fighters. I was never a comic book collector growing up, but a black friend of mine was, and there was the same diverse cast of characters in the kung fu comic books he had.
This thread reminds me of a great Kung Fu movie from the 1970s that has been on satellite recently (maybe one of the Showtime channels): The Master of the Flying Guillotine. Classic. They don't make 'em like that any more.
@ DaveinHackensack,
Like I said in my post, and it was for the folk that had NOT seen "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon": don't expect one of Bruce Lee's best movies from the Berry Gordy flick.
You can't compare, even the great "Karate Kid" (just a smidge of sarcasm there) and "The Last Dragon" and compare it to any serious martial arts flick like "Shogun Assassin" or "The Seven Samurai" or anything like that. "The Seven Samurai" beget "The Magnificent Seven" which George Lucas named as an inspiration to the "Star Wars" series. He encapsulated some of those Asian themes from "Samurai" into his science fiction classic.
Mr. Miyagi saying "Daniel-San, close-a eye" and rubbing his hands together or Bruce Leroy seeking "the glow" wasn't quite the same thing as the sprituality within the martial art that the best of the old martial arts films were trying to impart.
I also left the race angle open. An earlier poster said she was "too white" to know about "The Last Dragon" or something to that effect. So I attempted to give her a teensy bit of context into a currency that she may be able to handle. Maybe she was too "old" for either movie to be relevant. But if she about the same age as the folks that liked BOTH movies, there was a chance to get her to understand. Both "Dragon" and "Karate Kid" talked about themes that most kids could relate to: not fitting in, bullies, the opposite sex, acceptance thru self-protection, friends, etc.