Priest meets Franklin and beats him to avenge Freddie's murder. Jacob Ming-Trent as Frederick "Fat Freddie" Davis, one of Priest's oldest colleagues. Jackson is only 21 (ONeal, when he played Priest, was 34), but he beats the holy crap out of people, fires pistols with gangsta heartlessness, and at one point even dodges a bullet, never losing his cool. Prior to the opening credits, the following written statement appears onscreen: "This >>, In the onscreen credits, actor S. Z. Sakall's name is incorrectly spelled "S. K. Why do you think Hollywood often seems to prefer putting out remakes of old movies rather than releasing something new? "Super Fly Quotes." Eddie: Look, I know it's a rotten game, but it's the only one The Man left us to play. Reardon threatens Priest that he must continue selling drugs as long as he is ordered to, but when Priest replies defiantly, the policemen begin to beat him. 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. After the announcement, Warner Bros. issued an apology for its erroneous submission of the song for consideration. in every room, and can snort a half a piece of dope everyday? 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. And he was there a week ahead of time doing the work and getting the choreography down. On the original release and videocassette, the film end credits roll with a shot of the top of the Empire State Building and the title track ("Superfly") plays. All Rights Reserved. It was like the fastest production ever!, says the Jamaican-born designer. Cynthia: [after refusing a snort of coke because Priest is going to leave rather than stay for sex] Some things go better with coke. Priest and Eddie are joined by Freddie, who turns over the money he stole. What does it mean, and how is Super Fly an example of the genre? Its kind of hilarious take on the extremes of gangs showing their power in color alone. The mainspring of the action is a shooting. SuperFly (2018) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Director X. When Eddie states that they have $300,000, Priest reveals his plan to buy thirty kilos of high-quality cocaine, which they can sell for $1,000,000 within four months. After Super Flys release, Filmfacts reported that the picture turned out to be the most commercially successful black film to dateas well as the most controversial. Reviews of the picture were mixed, with some critics praising its authenticity and others decrying it as exploitive and poorly made. Priest (Ron O'Neal), a suave top-rung New York City drug dealer, decides that he wants to get out of his dangerous trade. Fat Freddie: Listen, Priest, that's my wife you're talking about, man. To engineer that score, he screws over his mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), the veteran dealer who discovered him on the streets. [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. After Priest leaves with the cash, Eddie betrays him by phoning the lieutenant. I had a VHS copy in my collection of Blaxploitation films, which I loved to watch because I loved the fashion. A remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic trades in its drug-dealer-as-outlaw-capitalist mythology for a glossy, slammed-together genre flick. Superfly is a 2018 American action crime thriller film and a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. Production began in December 2017, with Future announcing the project and confirming Director X as director. I am new in PyTorch and I have faced one issue, namely I cannot get my torch_sparse module properly installed. [1] It dropped to $3.4 million in its second weekend, finishing eighth, and after being pulled from 1,064 theaters in its third week made $1.3 million, finishing 12th. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies a member of Priests family of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. [10][11], On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 102 reviews, and an average rating of 5.3/10. African-Americans were a part of the process as well, with Gordon Parks Jr. as director and Phillip Fenty as screenwriter. Messam put together the wardrobe guided by Director X, who previously shot music videos for Rihanna, Drake and Kendrick Lamar before rebooting the 1972 blaxpoitation classic. Classic '70s drama with drugs, violence, cursing. 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. Hugh Hart has covered movies, television and design for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wired and Fast Company. The hot-tempered . The powerless Reardon then watches as Priest walks away free, giving the policemen one final glare before driving off to join Georgia. Both depict a criminal with peaceful dreams, who took to crime in lieu of the kind of legal business from which circumstances excluded him. The new films twists and turns are strongly, if fleetingly, absorbingeven if Director X delivers them in a mainly decorative mode that merely conveys them without expanding them. The movie generated roughly $4 million in profits. Shot in a functional, slammed-together manner thats less sensually stylish than youd expect from a music-video auteur, the film is a competent yet glossy and hermetic street-hustle drug thriller, less a new urban myth than a lavishly concocted episode. Remember, blacks just got into films. The article supported his viewpoint, asserting: Since mid-1970, at least 51 films about blacks have been released. Freddie attempts to escape and is killed when he runs in front of a car. The more Priest tries to wriggle out of the life, the more it wraps its tentacles around him. [8], In the United States and Canada, Superfly was projected to gross $712 million from 2,200 theaters over its five-day opening weekend. In the movie, that underworld comes to the surface of society mainly in the form of media representations (such as television-news accounts)which are themselves part of the story, and part of the sleek glow with which Director X endows his film. Scatter reveals that the real head of the operation is Deputy Commissioner Reardon, who is trying to kill him for quitting. He died on 17 April 1986 in New York City, New York, USA. A standard definition DVD was released by Warner Brothers on January 14, 2004the day its star, Ron O'Neal, died after battling cancer. 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. .st1{display:none;fill:#FFFFFF;} Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, Trailers from Hell Presents: The Movies That Made Me: Alex Tse, hair stylist: second unit (as Steven A. Battaglia), key hair stylist (as Talya R. Melvey) / key hair stylist, production supervisor: second unit / second unit, second second assistant director: second unit, assistant property master / property master: 2nd unit, assistant property master: 2nd unit (as Suzu Tran) / props buyer (as Suzu Tran), second boom operator / sound mixer: splinter unit, re-recording mixer / supervising sound editor, visual effects executive producer: Southbay, assistant visual effects editor: Outpost VFX / roto/prep artist: Outpost VFX, visual effects executive producer: VFX Legion, compositing lead: Southbay (as Aaron Gerard Chiesa), visual effects executive producer: Crafty Apes, visual effects production manager: Southbay, 3d artist: Crafty Apes (as Patrick Sullivan), visual effects production manager: VFX Legion, visual effects artist: Southbay (uncredited), visual effects editor: Outpost VFX (uncredited), digital compositor: VFX Legion (uncredited), executive vfx supervisor: southbay CCO (uncredited), stunt double: Brian F. Durkin (uncredited) / stunt driver (uncredited), precision driver/precision car coordinator (uncredited), covering stunt coordinator (uncredited) / stunts (uncredited), stunt performer/stunt driving double: Trevor Jackson (uncredited), stunt double: Lex Scott Davis (uncredited), stunt driver: camera bike rider (uncredited), stunt double: Jason Mitchell/Jacob Latimore (uncredited), stunt driver (uncredited) / stunt driving double: Trevor Jackson (uncredited), stunt double: Dominique Madison (uncredited), first assistant camera "a" camera: second unit, camera operator: "a" camera (as Kirk Gardner) / steadicam operator (as Kirk Gardner), assistant chief lighting technician / best boy electric, first assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit, additional set lighting technician (as Mark Sunderland), assistant colorist: Company 3 (uncredited), key assistant location manager: second unit, production assistant / promotional services, key set production assistant: second unit, stand in: Jared Losano / stand in: Kevin Young / stand in: Kurt Yue, production coordinator: title sequence design, production assistant / set production assistant: 2nd unit. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. | Producer Sig Shore, who plays Deputy Commissioner Reardon, is billed in the cast credits as Mike Richards. Note that you can actually plug a . Police rough up one of the lead characters, punching him repeatedly during an interrogation. 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. In 1972, at a preview for the original Super Fly held in Philadelphia, the theater quickly filled up, and some of the people who were shut out tried to break into a side door. Controls how far light can scatter through the surface. 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. Scatter, who now runs a popular restaurant, initially refuses to help Priest, but Priest plays on his emotions, claiming that he wants to get out while he is young and before he has to endure the extreme hardships faced by Scatter. For all its tossed-off flash, Superfly goes beyond the mere intricacy of its audacious plotting to suggest the cruelty, the horror, and the deceit at the heart of the American body politic. Its a death-steeped drama, but no major character falls victim to gun violence. Soon after, Priest and Eddie are joined by one of their low-level dealers and Freddie, who turns over the money he stole and agrees that the beef between the men is settled. Essential drama about violent chapter in U.S. history. 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. How are remakes similar to and different from the originals? Super Fly also marked the first effort as a motion picture producer for Shore (19192006), . Director X has a larger budget and a more expansive milieu to deal with here. Super Fly also marked the first effort as a motion picture producer for Shore (19192006), who went on to produce the two sequels to Super Fly. With such a big score, they will be able to retire comfortably and find other employment, although Eddie protests that crime is the only option left to them by The Man. Priest is determined, however, and that night, approaches Scatter, a retired dealer who started Priest in the business. 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. Despite the controversy surrounding Super Fly's drug use, the production of the film made significant advances for African-Americans. The film was shot by director of photography James Signorelli, who would go on to become the film segment director for Saturday Night Live. But one of those minions, Juju (Kaalan KR Walker), seethes with resentmenthe wants to do away with Priest and take over his business, and, without Qs permission, takes a shot at Priest outside the club, but instead hits a bystander. Why do you think that is, and how does it heighten the action? There is a 2018 remake of this movie. Deputy Commissioner: Who the f*** do you think you're talking to? At one point I do give him a jacket that has color in it, to show his confidence. [8] Several California organized crime veterans, including drug trafficker "Freeway" Rick Ross, have cited the film as an influence in their decision to take up drug dealing and gang violence. What are some other movies with unforgettable soundtracks? Having settled his business obligations, and with his enemies either dead or in custody, Priest and Georgia relax on a cruise in Montenegro. Orson Welles's onscreen credit >>, The working titles of this film were The Difference and The Persuader. (Even the weapons in their armamentarium of machine guns and handguns are encased in sleek white ornamental sheaths.) 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. He confides to a lieutenant, Eddie (Jason Mitchell), that he wants out. It is a useful complement to Pandas, and like Pandas, is a very feature-rich library which can produce a large variety of plots, charts, maps, and other visualisations. He lacks Parkss canny compositional wit, his sense of the dramatic power of practical attention to time and space. No car can outrun fate. He voices his sense of vulnerability from the heights of his terrace overlooking the city: This can all be taken away for stupid shit. He hammers the movie home in a one-liner reserved for the end, but to quote it is to make the whole plot unravel. He is murdered after being forced to reveal information about Priest to Mason. We also have the scene at a strip club where Georgias wearing a micro mini, but when shes in her gallery with the mayor, there needs to be a feeling of strength there: I am the owner of this gallery and not just a club girl. K. C.s only other motion picture appearance was in the 1972 United Artists release Across 110th Street (see above), which was also filmed on location in New York City. He was an actor and writer, known for Super Fly (1972), The Connection (1961) and The Doctors and the Nurses (1962). [3] Principal photography started in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2018. Adalberto is disowned by his mother, and executed at her order after she receives proof that he framed his brother for a crime. ', Jason Mitchells Eddie, a Player on the Make, We first see Eddie wearing a Diesel tee shirt, Messam says. 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. Youngblood Priest: I ain't givin' you sh*t! He died in 1986 of an overdose. The hero of Superfly certainly has the right to be a stud, but the difference between the two movies is that the new version, directed by the Canadian-born hip-hop video veteran Julian Christian Lutz (who bills himself as Director X, a moniker that seems caught between black nationalism and Whats My Line?), has no resonance, no real atmosphere, and almost no social context. (screenplay by) Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification Produced by Music by Josh Atchley Cinematography by Amir Mokri Film Editing by Joel Negron Casting By Tamara-Lee Notcutt Production Design by Speaking from Toronto, Messam shared insights about the hip looks that help sell the story of drug dealer Priest (Trevor Jackson) and his crew. Keep up with The Credits for the latest in film, television, and streaming. We won't share this comment without your permission. Director X was very hands on with the look, she recalls. The film was directed by Director X, written by Alex Tse and stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison. After getting mugged by two junkies, he realizes that his profession will eventually only end in death or prison, so he decides it's time to call it quits. The film is well known for its soundtrack, written and produced by soul musician Curtis Mayfield. If you go back and . Controversy continued to swirl around the Academys decision to exclude the song, with the executive committee of the music branch convening to discuss the songs ineligibility. One day, Priest confronts Fat Freddie, one of his clients, about money that Freddie owes and threatens to force Freddies wife into prostitution unless he robs a competitor. He needs one big score to do it. In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3]. Taking design cues from Pharrell Williams fashion line Billionaires Boys Club, she dressed one Snow Patrol member, played by rapper Big Bank, in fluffy fur coat and fedora. What the F*CK are you gunna do except hustle? Theres another crucial difference between the two films, a difference that marks virtually every encounter, every scene, every moment: firepower. (screenplay by) Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification Produced by Music by Curtis Mayfield Cinematography by James Signorelli . BUY THE MOVIE:. Priests white mistress, Cynthia, also sells to her friends, although she is dismayed to learn that Priest does not return her love and is planning on quitting the business. For Scatter, I wanted a silhouette that was a little more elevated than a traditional two-piece Adidas track suit., Boxraw contacted Messam after seeing her contributions to Ryan Coogler-directed 2015 boxing movie Creed. Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. As the lead character Youngblood Priest, the late Ron O'Neal brought a fresh take on the "man of few words" cinema archetype.
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