I suppose the only reason this movie is still in the cultural memory is because of Curtis Mayfield's awesome soundtrack. And it is an awesome soundtrack. Superfly didn't deserve to have such sweet tunes. That's not to say it's a bad movie. As far as exploitation movies go, it's probably above par. Or maybe just par. It is certainly capably made, doesn't plod along endlessly like a myriad of other low budget 70's flicks, characters behave in a reasonable manner in the world, and a story gets told. So yeah, my bar is pretty low for these kinds of movies. It's kind of a fun movie in the sense that it's ineffective in several ways. First of all, we're supposed to be impressed with the wealth of Youngblood Priest. In fact, I've heard critics of the film say it glorifies drug dealing... but Priest seems to live in my Aunt's house. And he looks like... well, he looks silly as hell. Moreso that most other blaxploitation characters. The acting is closer to over dramatic rather than the usual mumbling, stilted stuff we see so the movie is often just fun to watch. The movie is actually a really good starter Blaxploitation, I suppose. It carries the pros and cons of the genre but is easier to watch than many others and you get the Mayfield bonus.
Look out! It's Ron: The FLYEST DEALER IN NYC!
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