Saturday, June 2, 2012

Classic Material: Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather (Full Movie)


Every Saturday night I gather up the kids, make a fresh batch of popcorn (with hot butter on it), and sit in front of the laptop and head over to EgoTrip for movie night. Then, I usually jack their movie night post for NationOfMillions because it's always dope as fuck. This weeks is the dopest.

When it came time for Run DMC to follow up THE GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM EVER MADE, Raising Hell, they decided to not only drop an album but also a movie to go with it. Chuck D often refers to Run DMC the "Beatles of Hip-Hop" and this movie was a page right out of the Fab 4's play book. Tougher Than Leather came out in 1988 to a lot of criticism and not much else. Rain Man it was not, but to me it didn't matter because my heroes were on the big screen. Not even bad acting, a bad plot, and a low budget was able to ruin this movie for me. On top of that, there are cameos by Slick Rick (performing "Treat Em Like A Prostitute"), and the Beastie Boys (performing "Desperado") which set off my 25 year quest to get my hands on a good copy of that record (still haven't found one). Check the video below to see what I am talking about. That cameo alone makes this film classic as fuck in my books. In fact, fuck Rain Man, Tougher Than Leather had my vote back in '88 for the Academy Award's Movie of the Year!

I suggest poppin' that popcorn (with the hot butter), sitting back, and just taking the movie in as it comes, but if you want a quick breakdown of what the flick is about this comes straight of the YouTube page...

"Legendary hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. stars in this cross between a blaxploitation film and a spaghetti western. They must find and punish the evil drug lord-record company executive who murdered their friend. Along the way, they encounter racist bikers, blonde bimbos, and the
Beastie Boys!"