"Do you believe in God, son? Then you're in the wrong place."
Bucktown is a 1975 blaxploitation film directed by Arthur Marks and starring Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Thalmus Rasulala, and Carl Weathers.
After the death of his brother Ben, Duke Johnson (Williamson) arrives in Bucktown for his funeral. Duke discovers Bucktown is run roughshod over by the white police, who abuse and extort the black residents. Duke contacts his old friend Roy (Rasulasa) and his associates to help overthrow them. But once they succeed, Roy and his men are quickly corrupted by power and take over as the new oppressors.
Bucktown contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Roy after his Face–Heel Turn remains jovial and charming.
- Asshole Victim: That Roy's gang unnecessarily murder several of the Dirty Cops is used as Foreshadowing of their Face–Heel Turn, but it's hard not to say they didn't have it coming.
- Bantering Baddie Buddies: Sam and Clete, two inseparable corrupt cops who are constantly cracking wise with each other.
- Bigot with a Badge: Bucktown's police department are racist tyrants who extort and abuse the black population.
- Dirty Cop: Every cop in Bucktown is a corrupt bigot who abuse the black population with impunity and force them to pay protection money. Roy and his men over throw them - and then take over.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Chief Patterson. After being overthrown halfway through, he's shoved into a jail cell and forgotten about after Roy and his men have a Face–Heel Turn. When Duke frees Roy's prisoners at the end, he finds Patterson dead and riddled with bullets.
- Dragon with an Agenda: TJ is somewhat loyal to Roy, but decides Duke is more trouble than he's worth and starts playing them against each other so that Roy will be forced to kill him.
- The Drifter: Duke is a transient Retired Badass who arrives in the titular Wretched Hive after his brother's death and battles the Small Town Tyrants running it.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: With how prominent Chief Patterson is in the first half, it's surprising that he's Killed Offscreen early in the third act and never mentioned again.
- Drunk with Power: Roy and his men's Face–Heel Turn is brought about by this. Once they realize how much money and power Chief Patterson's racket made, they take over as Bucktown's new police.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Roy is quickly corrupted by power and greed, but he's genuinely shocked and disgusted to learn his men assaulted Harley and Aretha. Even at the climax, when he and Duke are about to fight, Roy is still adamant about setting the record straight that they didn't do it on his behalf.
- Face–Heel Turn: Once they realize how much money the police had made, Roy and his men turn from the town's liberators to the new oppressors.
- Faux Affably Evil: Chief Patterson is smiling and polite on a surface level while being an evil Smug Snake.
- Full-Circle Revolution: Bucktown's police department oppress and extort the black population. Duke, Roy and his gang heroically overthrow them, only for everyone except for Duke to give in to temptation and take over as the new, equally corrupt police.
- Knight Templar: Implied to be the case with Chief Patterson.Patterson: Just remember: we're the law. God is on our side.
- The Lancer: Roy starts off as Duke's best friend and more jovial right-hand man.
- More Despicable Minion: TJ is just as power-hungry and ruthless as Roy, but lacks his redeeming qualities and charm.
- Moving the Goalposts: Chief Patterson tells Duke he has to pay a fee before Patterson allows him to open or even sell Ben's bar, which has been left to him. Duke does so immediately, only for Clete and Sam to arrive on opening night to demand more money. They inform Duke that now he has to pay them a weekly fee of one-hundred dollars so the bar can stay open.Clete: Nigger! You wanna do business in Bucktown, you gotta pay for the privilege.
Duke: Well, you see, I already paid.
Sam: Heeey, that was just to take down the sign. - Mysterious Past: Duke and Roy had several adventures in Detroit before the film, left as murky Noodle Incidents. It's vaguely implied they were gangsters but nothing is made concrete.
- Posthumous Character: Duke's brother Ben is dead before the film opens but looms over the proceedings.
- Small-Town Tyrant: Chief Patterson, the head of Bucktown's police department, uses his power to turn the place into his own personal fiefdom where he extorts the residents with impunity. After Roy's Face–Heel Turn, he picks up where Patterson left out.
- Smug Snake: Chief Patterson is an oily, condescending man who revels in his power over Bucktown's marginalized black population.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Chief Patterson has a head full of white hair, and he's as evil as they come.