in every room, and can snort a half a piece of dope everyday? Freddie attempts to escape and is killed when he runs in front of a car. We're out here building a new nation for black people. Although Joseph Sistrom is listed as producer in various contemporary sources, the SAB at >>. Militant: Dig it, dope peddler. The brightly littered Manhattan streets, the cozy squalor of the bars and drug dens, even the cruddiness of the apartments: All fuse into a bombed-out yet strangely liberated mood that lets you know why the hero would choose the life of a cocaine kingpin, because its the only way he has to leave behind the racist prison of a jive job with chump change, day after day. The atmosphere told the story, and so did Curtis Mayfields music (Im a pusher man), and so did Ron ONeals suavely furious performance. The website's critical consensus reads, "Superfly updates the blaxploitation original with a stylish remake that's exciting and visually arresting enough to offer its own slickly staged action rewards, but disappointingly short on social subtext. In his flattened long hair and wide collars and designer sideburns, he may have looked like a coke-spoon version of DArtagnan, but his need to claw his way out to use the drug game to defeat the man suffused every scene. Priest is then picked up by the lieutenant and taken to the waterfront, where he is confronted by Reardon. He had done several fashion shows prior to Super Fly. Priest explains that he hired contract killers to murder Reardon and his entire family should anything happen to him. So he didnt spend as much time rehearsing this, but hes a pro. Priest, so-called because the tip of the cross he wears is fasioned in the shape of a spoon, with which he frequently samples his wares, yearns to leave the life and go straight, despite the money he makes. The first film titled Super Fly (two words instead of one) was a low-budget affair with a gritty look and a claustrophobic feel. Another quality that distinguishes Super Fly from other blaxploitation films was the technical crew, the majority of which was non-white, constituting the largest non-white technical crew in its time. After the announcement, Warner Bros. issued an apology for its erroneous submission of the song for consideration. "Scatter" Stephens Was A Cleveland Street Legend & The Real Superfly 2 years ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. Within the recent wave of gender-flipped casting, its fascinating to see Morrison portray the sort of scum cop who is never, in the movies, a woman. In addition, the picture marked the first screenplay written by Philip Fenty. Producer Sig Shore, who plays Deputy Commissioner Reardon, is billed in the cast credits as Mike Richards. You'll all be hit if I die. American Film Institute 2021 North Western Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027-1657. Youngblood Priest: Look what would I do? Photo Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert. Which isnt to say that the film lacks for racial consciousness. That night, after picking up the kilo from Scatter, Priest and Eddie are apprehended by several policemen. Super Fly, Miracle Workers, Black Lightning, Ozark, and Avengers", "Future Unveils 'Superfly' Soundtrack Track List", "Film News Roundup: Sony Opening Crime Thriller 'Superfly' Two Days Earlier", "At $2.5B To Date, Summer's B.O. Priest demands his half of their profits from Eddie. Its comments on the lack of legitimate opportunity for African Americans in the inner city remains relevant -- relevant enough to bring on a remake of the movie 46 years after the original film's release. Georgia: Look maybe you should get out now now before something really bad happens. Now man I ain't puttin you down. The new Superfly transplants the tale to the swank environs of contemporary upscale Atlanta, and it gives its hero the 21st-century equivalent of ONeals processed-pimp look. According to an Oct 1972 LAT article, Var had reported that by Sep 1972, Super Fly was third behind The Godfather and Play It Again, Sam (see above for both) in the list of top-grossing films of 1972. Lex Scott Davis and Trevor Jackson in Superfly, a remake of a 1972 classic about power and corruption. The hot-tempered Eddie threatens Scatter, demanding that he reveal his source if he will not supply them, but Scatter disarms Eddie and holds him at gunpoint. That peace starts fragmenting early in the picture, outside a nightclub, where an indolently truculent Snow Patrol member, Juju (Kaalan Rashad Walker), takes a shot at Priest and instead hits a bystander. Although this plan was much discussed throughout the mid-1970s, it was not implemented. Nothing, nothing better happen to one hair on my gorgeous head. Diawara, Manthia. These days, it seems, the phrase is often used ironically. Yet this conflict is actually secondary to the main story: Priest arrives at an estimate of the vast fortune that he needs to accumulate in order to quit the drug racket; he wants to do so in just a few months, by getting and selling a large stock of cocaine. Deputy Commissioner: Who the f*** do you think you're talking to? . If you chose to provide an email address, it will only be used to contact you about your comment. Remember, blacks just got into films. The article supported his viewpoint, asserting: Since mid-1970, at least 51 films about blacks have been released. "Superfly" (one word) the remake and the original "Super Fly" (two words, from 1972) are in many respects similar. Theres no spiritual dimension, no sense of genuine civic aspiration. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. Youngblood Priest: Man, you white around the nose as a Georgia mule. But you kill me, and you and your whole f***in' family die. The powerless Reardon then watches as Priest stalks off, giving the policemen one final glare before driving off to join Georgia. Gritty, mature cop story with violence and nudity. Their stuff isnt even carried in the U.S. but its really well made, very slim and lean. Some violence, including one of the characters getting struck and killed by a car. Youngblood Priest is a young cocaine kingpin from Atlanta, Georgia, working the streets since he was brought in by his mentor Scatter at age eleven. Theres a learning process. He blackmails the mayor with a sex tape and promises the mayor will win the upcoming election. He lacks Parkss canny compositional wit, his sense of the dramatic power of practical attention to time and space. It holds your attention yet leaves you with nothing. All these corrupt agents of the law are white; Priest and his circle, as well as the entire Snow Patrol, are black; and, clearly and bitterly, Superfly puts ingrained American racism and its resulting inequities, injustices, and outrages at the center of the filmmost conspicuously, in its depiction of the ease with which white police officers can get away with summarily executing black people and even be celebrated for doing so. The look for the Snow Patrol was scripted, says Messam, describing the rival gang that prides itself on dressing in all-white. It's time for you to start payin some dues, nigga! Eddie argues that crime is the only option left to them by "The Man." What does it mean, and how is Super Fly an example of the genre? I could be happy with a plain life, a poor one if only you were. I wanted Georgia to have a maturity about her. He was an actor and writer, known for Super Fly (1972), The Connection (1961) and The Doctors and the Nurses (1962). Filming took place from January to mid-April 1972 in New York City. According to some reviews of the film, the term super fly was slang for high-quality cocaine, while other reviews stated that it meant the pusher himself, or meant a superlative adjective that could be applied to anything. But the experience of watching these movies is very differentas different as night and day. Although a Sep 1971 HR article listed Shores company Plaza Productions as the films intended production company, Superfly, Ltd. is listed onscreen and by copyright materials. There's a complexity to the character revealed through body language and facial expression in his reactions to everyone around him. The remake runs twenty minutes longer than the originaltwenty minutes that detail Priests audacious maneuverings and their grim effects in milieux left unexplored by the earlier film. O'Neal reprised his role as Youngblood Priest in the 1973 film Super Fly T.N.T., which he also directed. Ad Choices, Nancy Reviewed: A Complex, Untapped Story of a Womans Desperate Hoax, The Tale, Reviewed: A Filmmakers Daring Excavation of Her Own Memories of Sexual Abuse. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him.BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/details/movie/superfly-2018-2018/MMV03DF2F54CD1C96B7C04778B9249D9045C?cmp=Movieclips_YT_DescriptionWatch the best Superfly scenes \u0026 clips:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqpnyrFQ3OaPQQz-oIebzeAO#superfly#trevorjacksonFILM DESCRIPTION:Cocaine kingpin Youngblood Priest realizes that it's time to get out of the game after surviving a violent attack from a crazed rival. Your privacy is important to us. Greed and corruption are themselves the magnetic fields that pull together would-be players white, Latino and African-American. Priest meets Franklin and beats him to avenge Freddie's murder. Director X was very hands on with the look, she recalls. The film opens as the name ROCKY pans across the screen, filling the frame. Super Fly is a 1972 Blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks Jr. (son of Shaft director Gordon Parks) starring Ron O'Neal, Carl Lee and Julius Harris. Charles McGregor, who plays Fat Freddie, was released from prison before the film's production. Big Bank Black as Q, the pragmatic leader of Snow Patrol. Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Chase Michael Jordan for Nike in First Air Trailer, A Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon Movie in the Works at Universal, The Popes Exorcist Finds Russell Crowe as the Vaticans Demon Slayer. He died on 17 April 1986 in New York City, New York, USA. Its initial success transcended the African American audience it was made for at a time when African American actors were hardly ever given lead roles in movies. thecredits-expanded-wt. Deputy Commissioner: You're working for me until I tell you to quit. As an explanation for his desire to get out of the drug life, he says, All the power in the world cant stop a bullet. [5] The film made $1.2 million on its first day,[9] $938,583 on its second and $1.8 million on its third. When he finds out from his partner Eddie (Carl Lee) that they have $300,000, Priest proposes that they take that money to buy 30 kilos of the best cocaine money can buy, sell it, and end up with a million dollars. The article also reported that the distribution arm of Shores company, Plaza Pictures, would distribute Super Fly, but in mid-Apr 1972, Var reported that neither Plaza company would be involved with the film. In the middle of the film, a sequence of still photographs, taken by director Gordon Parks, Jr., illustrates how the thirty kilos of cocaine purchased by Youngblood Priest and Eddie is prepared, distributed and used. The Harlem community backed Super Fly financially, and a number of black businesses helped with the production costs. 26 Jan 2023 07:44:06 . "Super Fly Quotes." So maybe its heartening, in a way, that Super Fly once meant something and that the new Superfly, for what its worth, means next to nothing. Priest overcomes his foes using karate, then reveals that he knows exactly who Reardon is. Why do you think Hollywood often seems to prefer putting out remakes of old movies rather than releasing something new? He still owns many of the suits, shoes and fedora hats. Adalberto threatens Priest, telling him that he can never get out of the game. But theyre not particularly distinctive; perhaps thats why a couple of Mayfield songs are brought back to serve here. Priest turns to Scatter (Julius Harris), an older and retired dealer who now runs a popular bar and grill, for help in getting Scatter's supplier. Both enraged and scared, Priest gives the information on Reardon and an envelope of cash to two mafia men and takes out a $100,000 contract on "the Man's" life. To me that movie felt like an accurate portrayal of Harlem during that period. [7], The film was released on digital and iTunes on August 28, 2018 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. That night, Eddie and Priest approach Scatter, a retired dealer who started Priest in the business. If Priests stratagems in the original seem like the moves of a chess master, his new ones resemble the work of a grandmaster of simultaneous blindfold-chess, for whom, through information technology, distant nodes of power are instantaneously connected (the last image of the film is even a kinga white kingbeing tipped over on a chess board). In the Jan 1973 LAT article, Parks, Jr. defended the film by asserting that black audiences, critics and filmgoers needed to support black artists while they attempted to break into the white-dominated motion picture industry, even if their initial efforts were not completely acceptable to all audiences. [1], The soundtrack for the film was curated by American rapper Future, who also acted as a producer on the film. In mid-Apr 1972, Var reported that the films low-key, successful location shooting in Harlem was due to its being a non-union effort, thus the lack of production publicity and ease of using all-black technicians. The article added that after raising the required funds, the filmmakers agreed to their backers request that as many blacks as possible [be employed] in front and behind the camera, although the financiers agreed to allow white producer Shore oversee the project. Is More Colossal Than Ever Imagined; Dinos Still Rule With $60M+ Second Weekend", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Superfly_(2018_film)&oldid=1140373587, Fictional portrayals of the Atlanta Police Department, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [11], After an initial gross of $24.8 million, the film was re-released in 1973 and earned $2 million in US and Canada rentals. Kaalan "KR" Walker as Juju, a member of the Snow Patrol, a rival drug outfit, who takes an immediate dislike to Priest and plots to kill him. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. She very classic with a bit of glam, dressing in fur coats and elegant, sexy pantsuits. The new HBO film dramatizes the effect of culture and politics on the most intimate extremes of a persons lifeand how particularly distorting and damaging this collective power has been for women. [8], In the United States and Canada, Superfly was projected to gross $712 million from 2,200 theaters over its five-day opening weekend. All rights reserved. The lieutenant tells them they can have as much weight, or kilos of cocaine, as they want, and will be extended both credit and protection.