Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Jonathon Dabell Fred Williamson directs himself for the first time in Mean Johnny Barrows, a mercifully brief actioner which has a far better cast than it deserves. The plus points include the terrific soul-funk soundtrack (even if it is poured a little too thoughtlessly over the on-screen events), a memorable cameo appearance from Elliot Gould, and a handful of decently handled action sequences. The negatives would probably take too long to list in full, but chief amongst them are the general air of dispiritedness that hangs over the film, the hopelessly weak script and the largely listless acting. Folks like Roddy McDowall, Stuart Whitman and Luther Adler are capable of much more than is required of them here – their performances are lazy and unconvincing.Vietnam vet Johnny Barrows (Fred Williamson) returns from 'Nam with a dishonourable discharge after striking his commanding officer (the C.O. did deserve it though, having let Johnny step on a live land-mine as a prank). Johnny returns to his home town but finds it tough getting by. Jobs are few; crime and mugging is aplenty; and the cops seem more part of the problem than the solution. Johnny is approached by gangster Mario Racconi (Stuart Whitman), who offers him a job as a well-paid hired heavy, carrying out beatings and killings for the powerful Racconi family. Johnny refuses point blank, taking up an honest job at a petrol station instead. Meanwhile, gang warfare erupts between the Racconis and a new Mob family-in-town, the Da Vinces. Johnny tries to remain impartial to the violence, but when Mario's girlfriend Nancy (Jenny Sherman) is taken prisoner by the da Vinces he finally snaps. Seems Johnny has developed a soft spot for Nancy and won't stand for her coming to any harm. He finally relents and agrees to go after the da Vinces, working through the entire family, including the youngest son, Tony (Roddy McDowall).There's a plot twist towards the end which doesn't make much sense, including a particularly bizarre final scene involving a land-mine (presumably intended to link things back to the opening scene?) The relationship between Nancy and Johnny – so important to the plot, since it governs his ultimate decision to start killing people after spending most of the film trying to go straight – is hopelessly under-developed. Sherman is too bland as Nancy anyway, making it hard to understand exactly what draws Johnny to her in the first place. There are a few flashes of neatly choreographed, violent action, but all in all Mean Johnny Barrows is a pretty lacklustre offering which isn't worth making any effort to see.

Coventry Either I have been misinterpreting and misusing the word "mean" throughout my entire life, or this movie's title is completely misleading. Fred Williamson's title character, Johnny Barrows, is about everything but mean in this movie. He's dull, and incredibly indecisive citizen who remains frustratingly honorable even though life is repeatedly stabbing him in the back. Barrows is a decorated Vietnam veteran, but after his discharge from the army (for righteously punching a superior in the face) he quickly becomes homeless, unemployed and has to start digging for food in garbage bins. His mafia buddy Mario Racconi offers him a job as hit man numerous times, especially since a rival clan moved into their territory, but Johnny Barrows prefers to clean toilets at a gas station for $21 per month because that's an honest profession. Yeah right. Only one full hour and one dead godfather later, Johnny finally gets a bit mean and accepts the job to protect a woman who doesn't even fancy him. The film ends with the message: "this movie is dedicated to all veterans who traded the front line for the unemployment line". Oh, okay, so this is an attempt at social criticism? Let me assure you there are numerous of gritty and violent 70's movies out there dealing with re-integration issues of Vietnam veterans, and practically all of them are better than "Mean Johnny Barrows". This is just a boring Fred Williamson vehicle, his directorial debut by the way, with only a couple of notable moments in the last fifteen minutes. Roddy McDowell's role is hardly worth mentioning and Elliot Gould merely just makes a cameo.

curtis martin I wish someone would put Fred's directorial debut out in a decent widescreen DVD. The pan and scan versions out there now are so tightly cropped that they add a quality of hilarity even when the film is actually hitting some pretty serious notes (the pan and scan job is so bad it is almost like some kind of Austin Powers gag). But that said, I'm sure that much of the film would still be hilariously inept in any aspect ratio. In fact, the climax features THE most unintentionally comical Kung Fu fight ever put to film. I mean how often have you seen an actor start a butt-kicking by suddenly making snake moves with his hands and going "ASsssssssssshhhhhhhhsh sh sh sh"?But there are some very effective moments as well, especially a brief cameo from Elliot Gould, who must have hit upon VERY hard times in the five years between MASH and this. And the sequence in which Johhny lets loose his anger by blasting and summarily cremating a mob boss almost seems like it's from another, much better, movie.Anyway, it's a crazy hodgepodge, but I'd still like to see it in the original widescreen. Fred rules!

nuport ...I liked it though , but this film won't be seen as a high point in the infamous genre thats for sure. I'd say they had a great enough story idea ,but probably not the right budget to bring this to life. The best parts of the flick are as follows :We have a young ,black non-commisioned officer in the U.S.Army ,who during a training mission is set up with a booby trap ,by other white racist officers. In anger the black guy lashes out,striking one them ,he is then railroaded into a dishonerable discharge and released from the military. Of course ,as we've seen in real life, chances of getting decent employment ,are limited when you're black ,near impossible with a bad discharge from uncle sams army. Johnny wanders the streets in a beautiful, though contrived looking montage sequence. The music is telling the story here ,and is wonderful considering the overall poor sound quality used in the film. Naturally he has run-ins with the local white racist pig -cops. Though he really does'nt want no trouble ,he's convinced by the local mafia that his bad fortunes will be turned around if he accepts "employment" with them. All he's gotta do ,of course is what the government trained him to...kill. With that, its all rather dull and uninspired action scenes we've seen hundreds ,if not millions of times before. The stodgy directing slows the action scenes down to a virtual crawl.Fred looks good in this,I mean ,I love to see the guy put in work ,especially the '70s Black action flix but this is a sleeper .