Director: Gordon Parks, Jr.Stars: Ron O'Neal, Julius Harris
Genre: Crime, Blaxploitation
Super Fly is pure blaxploitation. It doesn't get any more black than this.
The film is about a drug dealer, Priest, who wants to get out of the drug business. But with his partner and some new business associates and the police breathing down his neck getting out proves to be harder than it seems.
I was pretty disappointed with Super Fly. It's a pretty dull, boring film. It's really only notable for being an early blaxploitation film (though not the first). I suppose it did form many of the genre's stereotypes, like the pimp image and the pimpmobile.
It's, simply put, a bad movie. The acting is fairly mediocre; Ron O'Neal wasn't terrible though. The cliches are abundant, the 70s camp is ever present. The plot is boringly simple, the characters are forgettable.
There was a pretty cool chase scene in the beginning of the movie, unfortunately not much happened after that. There was a really odd sex scene thrown in there too...which I'll admit was pretty nice.
The film is kind of stylish in its own right. Mostly do to the 70s atmosphere and the extravagant costumes. I feel like the film's poster is the coolest part though.
The one good thing about Super Fly, no, the one great thing about Super Fly, is its soundtrack which was created by Curtis Mayfield. One of the greatest film soundtracks of all-time and I mean that quite literally. Super Fly is one of the few films to be outgrossed by its soundtrack. Rightfully so, Curtis Mayfield is a damn talented man and is music is awesome.
Buy the soundtrack and maybe give the film a watch but its passable. There were also two sequels, Super Fly T.N.T. in 1973 and The Return of Superfly in 1990.
Recommended for: fans of blaxploitation, Curtis Mayfield fans
Purchase Super Fly on Amazon: DVD - Stream - Soundtrack CD / MP3
I'm watching it now, which is what prompted me to look at the reviews. Yeah, It's THAT bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm a quarter of the way through it which is more than charitable. Enough social experimentation, I'm done with this crap. I just feel sorry for the actually talented actors that never got the same shot at a movie deal as these useless hacks (I wouldn't care if they were blue)