Super Fly T.N.T.

Super Fly T.N.T. (1973)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Ron O'Neal

Starring: Ron O'Neal, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheila Frazier, Robert Guillaume, Jacques Sernas

From: Paramount

Here is a super rare movie that I was able to see thanx to the El Rey Network. It's only average, although at least it is interesting. My Letterboxd review is below: 

I figured I should be the first one to give this film a review on Letterboxd. Not that I am surprised it's had not that many people say they've viewed it and as of now only 5 people even gave it a rating; except for a late 90's VHS release it hasn't been for public consumption and whether it's the legal streaming options or the illegal ones, the film is impossible to find; not even the super-obscure sites have it. That is why the few VHS copies out there go for quite a bit of cash. I know someone last year who paid for a VHS copy; he hasn't said anything about it but I imagine he was not happy when he found out that this past weekend the El Rey Network started showing the movie. If it's any solace to him, the print shown was pretty much as “good” picture-wise as something on VHS. As it hasn't been remastered I'll presume that it means it won't be coming to disc anytime soon or even some place like Amazon Video or Paramount's YouTube channel The Paramount Vault. Even though the El Rey Network had even worse/more awkward commercial break placement than usual (I mean, cutting people off mid-sentence!), I had no choice but to see it this way.

The plot has Youngblood Priest in Rome, obviously doing well for himself as not only does he have his girl, but he drives a Lamborghini Miura, which is a very beautiful vehicle. Their pad has some strange lopsided shelves that are supposed to be that way. Actually, the money is starting to run out; maybe those shelves were expensive... anyhow, he meets up with a revolutionary who tries to convince him to run guns to a fictitious African country and due to his past he feels guilty (plus he's browbeaten by Roscoe Lee Browne) so he wants to help that country overthrow colonial rule.

This movie is not as good as the original, which I only rated at 3 stars and that was due in part to the incredible Curtis Mayfield score. This is just average in every which way, from the script to the meandering plot to the performances to how star/co-writer/director Ron O'Neal does things. Although, the fact that ALEX HALEY (yes, the Roots guy) also played a hand in the script is astounding to me. I am not quite sure how Super Fly became so famous that Roscoe Lee Browne goes to him for a major operation.

The thing is, the idea of a movie like this being set and filmed in Rome then actually filming in Africa (Senegal was the stand-in for the fake country of Umbia), I am down for that. To me things got real interesting once they got to Senegal and we got to see what the country looked like, how its natives dressed, what they did during the day, the city and the country, etc. The country was introduced via a great montage. I definitely won't complain about that. The idea of Priest looking for redemption is a good one, as is trying to help out those in Africa escape tyranny. Priest is whipped at one point, the connotations there obvious. It's just the execution that isn't always great.

While it's not as awesome as the Mayfield score from the original, Osibisa's score here is still great stuff. They were a band based in London but was made up of musicians from several different cultures, about half of which were from Ghana. So, it was appropriate for this film to have music with an African flavor from it. And as for all blaxploitation, there's some hilarious clothing; my favorite was a cowskin pattern shirt and matching giant fury boots!

I am not sure why this film is so hard to track down; unless there's the always dreaded “rights issues”, it should be available for streaming and also on Blu. It's not a must-see for the genre but it's not so terrible that it's something which should be forgotten.