Product Description

Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle) leads an all-star cast including Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones and Bill Cosby in this laugh-out-loud, feel-good comic fantasy about a reluctant superhero on a crusade to save his neighborhood. Move over, Superman! Spineless Jefferson Reed (Townsend) has just discovered his backbone and it's stronger than steel! Amild-mannered substitute teacher, Jefferson would rather run than fight until he's hit by a strangegreen meteor that gives him superhuman abilities. And when a gang led by a powerful drug lord begins terrorizing his family and neighbors, Jefferson has no choice but to don his homemade spandex suitand take it on in a war of cunning, wit and super-powered, super-modeling prowess'to save his 'hood!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27076 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-18
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
• Dubbed in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
Robert Townsend has managed to build an entire career on the basis of one funny movie (The Hollywood Shuffle)--even though he hasn't had one that was anywhere near as funny since. Case in point: This would-be comedy about an unwilling black superhero. Townsend plays a schoolteacher in a bad Washington, D.C., neighborhood that is controlled by a vicious drug gang (recognizable by their blonde-dyed hair). Then he is hit by a meteor and suddenly finds that he has super strength and can fly (and can read the minds of dogs). But Townsend's writing is surprisingly weak and, despite a cast that includes a mugging Bill Cosby, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, and sadly miscast James Earl Jones, this movie is never able to get off the ground. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

One of my Favs.
I Thought this movie was good maybe not the best but i thought it was good. many cameo appearances many celebs. Even though some people thought the movie wasnt that funny i thought it was. Especially the last scene. I cant wait til it comes out on dvd february 18th. Im definetly getting it and i think you should too.

No Better Movie about Robert Townsend as a Superhero Exists
I've seen this movie get some harsh reviews. I think people are just taking it too seriously. Either that or they end up expecting hilarity, and they get disppointed, too. Of course we can plainly see that it's ludicrously contrived, but who cares?

My problem with the movie is that it was butchered before its release. I read the novelization before i saw the movie, and the book was based on the uneditied screenplay, so I got to see what might have been. What's missing? Most importantly, the ending! The ending was hugely important, and it's completely lost. A lot of things seem horribly unsolved with the movie's "ending," and I'd love to see a director's cut someday. There were also a lot of less significant scenes cut. i.e. In the edited version, we find out that Jeff has a fear of heights. Then, BAM, it's gone. In the real version, we actually get to see what happened to make him lose that fear.

OK, perhaps I'm less than convincing. What I really want to say is that this movie is neither serious nor a complete joke, so if you just appreciate it for whatever it really is, it's pretty darn good.

I enjoyed it
I enjoyed the movie when i saw the it years ago. But i wasn't expecting to knocked off my feet laughing hillariously. There's very few movies that does that anyway. I seen some of the reviews and i guess people see one movie of Robert Townsend's and they want every movie of his to be just alike, all gut ripping comedies.I consider this movie more of a fantasy thats very entertaining.