Blaxploitation films featured African-American heroes and predominantly African-American casts. This was unusual at the time, since blacks before then were often relegated to demeaning supporting roles.
Blaxploitation films were targeted at an urban audience; they were set in big cities, their characters were often poor, and the villains were often white policemen or politicians.
The music on blaxploitation films often featured funk or soul tracks, which were often closely associated with the genre.
True to its name, many blaxploitation films featured prurient stereotypes such as pimps or drug dealers. The genre often came under fire from other members of the African-American community for lionizing such figures.
Even in the early days, blaxploitation films had an impact on more mainstream movies. For example, 1973's James Bond film "Live and Let Die" had strong blaxploitation themes, and subsequent filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino have borrowed liberally from the genre as well.