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Superfly [1972]
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"Superfly" helps represent the era of the Seventies
Review date: 2007-06-29 Rating: 8 out of 10
This movie is outrageous. Gordon Parks Jr.'s "Superfly" is interesting enough with its cliches of drug pushers, users, pimps, hos, and the dismal life in the ghetto. Good performances are given by Ron O'Neal as Priest, the drug pusher who wants to do the unthinkable -- get out of the business, and Julius Harris as Scatter, Priest's former connection to "The Man". After a little "help" from his friends Priest discovers he can only trust his woman, Georgia (Shelia Frazier). But, Priest has masterminded a way to take him and Georgia away from this life to another.
A director today, for example, could never get away with making a movie like this. The movie moves along like a series of music videos, stopping periodically to insert some dialogue and characters and situations, after which it moves back into another music video. Even that sex scene in the bathtub seemed to go on forever, panning up and down and up and down and up and down the naked bodies in the tub, presumably long enough for the song to play out before we can move on to the next scene.
From a technical standpoint, the film is an absolute disaster. There's a foot-chase early in the movie during which a wire of some sort falls directly in front of the camera lens not once, but twice, the audio is numerous scenes does not even remotely match the video (the never-ending bathtub scene, for example), and the acting is abysmal.
Throughout the film, the enjoyment comes from Curtis Mayfield's superb soundtrack. It has a way of elevating what might be just another b film to a cult classic. From "Little Child Runnin' Wild" in the opening sequence to Curtis Mayfield's live performance of "Pusherman" in Scatter's club to the end credits with the title track, this is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written specifically for a film. The soundtrack album, which produced hit singles with "Freddie's Dead" and "Superfly", stands with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" as perhaps the two greatest soul albums of the 1970's.
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Reviews
Best soundtrack
Review date: 2006-11-14 Rating: 8 out of 10
Superfly is one of the best Blaxploitation films, its story of one more big deal has been done many times before and probably better but none of them have this Curtis Mayfield soundtrack. It does not get any better than this and it is worth just watching the film for the music alone. There is more to this film though than just a soundtrack, James Brown did the music for Black Caesar and it is still a hard film to watch, after Shaft this is the next film you should watch if you are interested in Blaxploitation films.
Why Fullscreen Version?
Review date: 2006-06-06 Rating: 2 out of 10
This Region 2 DVD from Warner is a pan and scan full screen version. Why this was released in this format is a mystery as the U.S. Region 1 is Widescreen and therefore the far superior disc to buy. If you have an all region player, please ignore the UK R2 and go for the R1 release to obtain this film in the original widescreen format.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Julius Harris
Carl Lee
Sheila Frazier
Ron O'Neal
Charles McGregor
Creators:
Ron O'Neal (Primary Contributor)
Carl Lee (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900111386
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-04-10
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 89 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972
Language: English (Original Language)