Welcome II the Terrordome (1995)

Information

Siskoid
If Malcolm X had made movies, they might be like Welcome II the Terrordome (which indeed, uses his speeches as part of its text). A powerful expression of rage that still speaks to what's happening today, it has several sequences that are very hard to watch, its outrage unflinching. But at the same time, it has an interesting lyrical element, presenting its dystopian ghetto as a half-way realm for lost souls, tying into the stories of slaves walking into the sea to die and transit to the afterlife and perhaps never making it. And so it is with black history. A story of a displaced people, their roots cut off, and in a way, whatever astral umbilical ties them to their culture severed. The Terrordome is here, is now, is a sequel to the oppression of the past (that's the Roman II in the title), and its hope is that it is a purgatory from which one can eventually escape and reach one's ancestral shores. Much of the film feels like a gangster rap video, and I like both its soundtrack and futuristic score. Wouldn't be surprised either if Born in Flames were one of its ur-texts, as similarities abound. 3 years 3 months ago