Wild in the Streets - a pure window into 1968

[Riddick]

Just picked up "Wild in the Streets" out of the $5 bin at WalMart and DAMN was I impressed.

This movie was an absolute window into the 1968 youth culture (or so my Dad tells me. He saw it when it came out.) The opening song "52%" as well as "14 or fight" definitely echo the Doors' song "Five to One" about the (rather stupid) revelation that the majority of citizens are young (Duh).

I think Richard Pryor's role clearly qualifies for El Diablo's "before they were stars" thread. He was a complete unknown then, and this was a pretty big movie. When I saw him I was like "Dang I didnt know he was in this."

The star, Christopher Jones, disappeared after this movie, kind of went into a Peter Green-esque state of disillusion and was never seen again, until Quentin Tarantino, the ultimate film nerd, searched him out in Northern Cali and offered him Travolta's role in Pulp Fiction. Jones turned it down.

Awesome movie, well worth the 5 dollars. It looks as though a remake is due in 2007. Given the state of pop culture, that should completely suck. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[mrbaseball]

I remember seeing that when it came out (at the drive-in!). I have seen it again since then but not in the last 25 years. My recollection is it was ridiculously stupid.