Reviews

SUPERFLY, starring the late RON O'NEAL is a film about a cocaine dealer who wants to leave his life of crime and retire, but not before making one last score. The film is gritty and not pretty and glossy. It is obviously low budget but this seems to work for this film because it brings a degree of realism. There are a lot of ironies in this film, one in particular is the fact that the main character's name is Priest and he uses a cross which doubles as a necklace and a coke spoon.

The seriously underrated RON O'NEAL is brilliant in his brooding performance as Priest. It's criminal that 1) He wasn't nominated for an acting award, 2) That he was not offered better subsequent roles-roles that were worthy of his talent. RON O'NEAL amazes me every time I watch this film. In less capable hands, the character Priest could have easily become a caricature. RON O'NEAL masterfully makes the character sympathetic, he personalizes PRIEST in a way that at times I could see myself in him. Equally criminal is Curtis Mayfield's music score which is probably that best I've ever heard, only being nominated for a Grammy and not an Oscar and not even winning the Grammy Award.

SUPERFLY is a GREAT film that deserves better recognition than it has gotten. Although it is considered a "blaxploitation" film, I think that is unfortunate because the term serves to discredit and marginalize the film.

SUPERFLY is an important film and has become one of my all time favorite films. It is in my permanent film collection and it should be in yours.

This is not a well-written film, but the acting is phenomenal. Brando and Magnani have really great chemistry and that's what carries the film. It is the acting of these two that make me want to watch this film time and time again. I didn't necessarily like Joanne Woodward in her role, it just didn't seem to fit her. It seemed like she was trying too hard or something, so I just tuned her out. But I was always tuned into Brando--its just something about him that just pulls you in--wondering what he'll do next in the scene. Anyway, The cinematography is great and adds to the moodiness of the film. Overall, the movie isn't necessarily Brando's greatest film, but it's by no means one of his worst. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to work with as far as the script, so the acting had to carry the film.

Morituri is by no means a flawless masterpiece, but it is a good film. The problem is, because of a somewhat intricate plot you have to watch it a couple of times to understand it. Some parts of the film are dull, especially some of the engine room scenes where there is relative silence--only the noise of the engine room is heard, but it is also gripping at times. I decided to give this film another shot-and I'm glad I did. I found that it is quite interesting, after you watch it a couple of times you understand the purpose of Brando's character in the film. He is great in this film, his accent is flawless and he looks just great--I wish he would have done more action-oriented films. The cinematography is also great, and I absolutely loved the musical score. Hopefully, people will give this movie a chance and see that Brando did do a few good films in the 60's and stop giving him a bum rap.