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Three the Hard Way

Three the Hard Way is a 1974 film from the USA, directed by Gordon Parks Jr., running 89 minutes. reelscum files it under blaxploitation.

Poster for Three the Hard Way
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Year
1974 · 1970s films
Country
USA
Runtime
89 min
Director
Gordon Parks Jr.
Updated
30 Oct 2026
Obscurity
obscure (59/100)

Defined in the glossary: Blaxploitation

Brown, Williamson and Kelly against a plot to poison the water supply.

The three biggest action stars of the cycle, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly, team up against a white-supremacist plot to poison the water supply of Black neighbourhoods with a targeted toxin. Gordon Parks Jr directs it as a straight-faced action spectacular.

The premise is lurid pulp, but the film delivers exactly what the poster promises: three charismatic leads, big set pieces, and a villainy broad enough to make the heroes uncomplicated. It is comfort-food action.

A team-up movie that understands the assignment.

Something else

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Legal options in USA

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Written about

  • Blaxploitation, 1971 to 1975

    Melvin Van Peebles caught gonorrhea on his own set, filed a workers' comp claim, and bought more film stock with the settlement. Four years later the studios had mined the audience out and moved on.

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