Ambushed | |
---|---|
Written by | Andrew Miles |
Directed by | Ernest Dickerson |
Starring | Courtney B. Vance |
Composer | Terry Plumeri |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Bill Bromiley |
Producers | Ric Rondell, Dave Thomas, Jonathan Josell |
Cinematography | Phil Oetiker |
Running time | 109 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | HBO |
Release | June 26, 1998 |
Ambushed is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Ernest Dickerson and starring Courtney B. Vance. [1] The film has also been classified as African American noir. [2]
The leader of a Ku Klux Klan lodge is shot dead and his son is taken into police custody for protection. The police car taking him to a safe house is ambushed and three police officers are shot dead. Officer Jerry Robinson is accused of the murders. [3]
Filming for Ambushed took place in North Carolina, with some filming occurring at the Orton Plantation. [4]
Ambushed premiered on HBO on June 26, 1998. [5]
William Covey has classified this film, along with Across 110th Street, Deep Cover, Detroit 9000, The Glass Shield, and Devil in a Blue Dress as examples of films that "locate crime and criminality within white culture, while the moral center of each film is marked by black male heroism." [6]
Ambushed received reviews from The Chucks Connection and TV Guide, the latter of which called it " boisterous but none too convincing. ... Short on logic and long on polemics, this pumped-up action pic dashes to a predictable, preordained conclusion." [7] [8] The Guardian was more favorable, noting that "his unfussy, effective approach augurs well for his directorial career". [9]