The Meteor Man | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Townsend [1] |
Written by | Robert Townsend |
Produced by | Robert Townsend Loretha C. Jones |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
Edited by | Adam Bernardi Richard Candib Robaire W. Estel Andrew London Pam Wise |
Music by | Cliff Eidelman |
Production companies | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Tinsel Townsend Studios |
Distributed by | MGM/UA Distribution Co. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million [2] |
Box office | $8 million (domestic) [3] |
The Meteor Man is a 1993 American superhero comedy film written, directed, co-produced and starring Robert Townsend with supporting roles by Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, and Another Bad Creation. The film also features special appearances by Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Naughty by Nature, Cypress Hill, and Big Daddy Kane. Townsend stars as a mild-mannered schoolteacher who becomes a superhero after his neighborhood in Washington, D.C. is terrorized by street gangs. [4] [5]
It is one of the earliest superhero films to feature an African-American in a starring role.
Jefferson Reed (Robert Townsend) is a mild-mannered school teacher in Washington, D.C. His neighborhood is terrorized by a local gang called The Golden Lords, led by Simon Caine (Roy Fegan) and allied with drug lord Anthony Byers (Frank Gorshin).
One night, Jeff steps in to rescue a woman from the gang only to end up running from them himself. Hiding in a garbage dumpster, he manages to escape. As he climbs out, he is struck down by a glowing green meteorite. His spine is crushed and he receives severe burns. A small fragment of the meteor was left over and taken by a vagrant named Marvin (Bill Cosby). Reed awakens several days later in the hospital. When his bandages are taken off, he is miraculously healed of all injuries.
Jeff soon discovered that the meteorite had left him with spectacular superpowers such as flight, x-ray vision, laser vision, superhuman strength, speed, and hearing, invulnerability, healing powers, the ability to absorb a book's content by touch, super breath, telepathy with dogs (which he uses to communicate with his own dog Ellington), and telekinesis. Confiding this to his parents Ted (Robert Guillaume) and Maxine (Marla Gibbs), they convince him to use his powers to help the community. His mother designs a costume and as the Meteor Man, he takes on the Golden Lords. He shuts down 15 crack houses, stops 11 robberies, brings peace between the police, the Crips (Cypress Hill), and the Bloods (Naughty by Nature) where they begin to work together to rebuild the community they destroyed, and plants a giant garden in the middle of the ghetto.
The Golden Lords learn Meteor Man's secret identity and his slowly diminishing powers. As the violence gets out of hand and the Golden Lords continue their attacks, the community members plan to make a deal with them. Jeff instead teaches them about fighting for their beliefs. A now-powerless Jeff fights Simon and is beaten up. Simon points his gun at Jeff, but Jeff's neighbor Earnest Moses (James Earl Jones) throws a record at him, successfully knocking the gun out of Simon's hand. Suddenly, Marvin uses the meteor fragment to strip the Golden Lords of their guns. This enables the locals to stand up to the Golden Lords as they fight them alongside Marvin's dogs. Marvin accidentally drops the meteor and both Jeff and Simon grab the rock from both sides, gaining superpowers, and engage in a brawl.
When Simon is about to throw a dumpster at Jeff, he hears Ellington barking, telling Jeff that he can win. Simon throws the dumpster at Ellington instead, seriously injuring him. This angers Jeff and he disappears and returns as Meteor Man. They continue with their brawl with Meteor Man winning and draining Simon of his powers by absorbing them. He then defeats the rest of the Golden Lords. The locals all gather around Ellington who is now lying on the street, whimpering in pain. Jeff uses his x-ray vision to see that Ellington's ribs are broken. Before Jeff can do anything, his powers fade away again. Just then, Marvin comes over and uses the last of his powers from the meteor fragment to heal Ellington's injuries, thus saving Ellington's life. The locals all applaud.
Anthony Byers and his gang then confront Meteor Man, but are out-numbered by the Bloods and the Crips who show up to protect Meteor Man. Anthony Byers and his gang are then arrested by the police after attempting to "take a vacation to the Bahamas".
Although Washington was the setting, the movie was actually shot in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland.[ citation needed ]
Marvel Comics produced an adaptation (Meteor Man: The Movie) and a sequel in the form of the six-issue limited series titled Meteor Man written by Bert Hubbard and Dwight Coye, and illustrated by Robert Walker and Jon Holdredge. In the comic, set in the mainstream Marvel Universe, Meteor Man met Spider-Man and Night Thrasher. Many years later, the Golden Lords reappeared on the pages of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #5.
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 29% based on 17 critic reviews. [6]
Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times compares the film to "a fairly clunky sitcom" with its sense of righteous do-goodism, and although the film intends to inspire, it instead sends the message that it would take a superhero to clean up inner-city gang violence. [7] Stephen Holden of The New York Times opined that "the movie collapses on its own confusing and contradictory impulses. On the one hand, it would like to create a valid superhero for Black children. On the other, it is much more concerned with sending up the superhero genre. And the heroics and spoofing thoroughly undercut each other." [8] Desson Howe of The Washington Post wrote that "diehard Townsend fans will probably have a good time with it. But they should probably stop reading from here: This review has nothing positive to add. For those who considered Townsend's Five Heartbeats at least four too many, this movie is only slightly less excruciating. Slower than a stationary bullet, about as powerful as a . . . a loganberry, capable of running into buildings in a single bound, it's a bust, it's a shame, it's super dull." [9] Ty Burr gave it a C-grade in Entertainment Weekly and said it was "very much like its writer-director-star: self-effacingly funny, kind of confused, but really, really nice." [10] Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 (out of 4) stars, writing "The movie contains big laughs and moments of genuine feeling, but it seems to be put together out of assorted inspirations that were never assembled into one coherent story line....Kids may like the film and anyone can enjoy the moments of inspiration, but 'The Meteor Man' could have been better if it had tried to do less, more carefully." [11]
The film gained some cult followings. [12]
The film received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Science Fiction Film, but lost to Jurassic Park .
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Kid Eternity is a fictional character, a comic book superhero that premiered in Hit Comics #25 written by Otto Binder, drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, and published by American company Quality Comics in December 1942. All of Quality's intellectual properties were sold to DC Comics in 1956, including Kid Eternity. The character has continued to appear in DC comic books since his revival in the 1970s.
Marla Gibbs is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades. Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons (1975–1985), for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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Robert Townsend is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), The Meteor Man (1993), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his portrayal of The WB's sitcom The Parent 'Hood 's main character Robert Peterson, the series he created and directed select episodes of ran from 1995 to 1999. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald "Duck" Matthews in his 1991 film The Five Heartbeats. He later wrote, directed and produced Making the Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films Playin' for Love, In the Hive and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Townsend has worked with talent including Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Chris Tucker, Beyoncé, Denzel Washington, Ayo Edebiri, and many more.
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Meteor Man may refer to:
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Meteor Man is a comic book sequel of the 1993 MGM film The Meteor Man. Marvel Comics produced a six-issue limited series which ran from July 1993 to January 1994. It was written by Bert B Hubbard and Dwight D Coye, and illustrated by Robert Walker and Jon Holdredge, where Meteor Man met Spider-Man and Night Thrasher. The fictional superhero was created by director/actor/writer, Robert Townsend.
Donald Gene Reed is an American actor, writer, producer, director and comedian.
American comedian, actor, author, director, and producer Bill Cosby is known for his performances in film, television, and stand-up comedy, and is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of the family patriarch Dr. Cliff Huxtable in the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992).
Townsend Entertainment is an American entertainment company, involved primarily in the production of films and television programs. Townsend Entertainment was founded by actor, producer, director and writer Robert Townsend. Its headquarters are located in Beverly Hills, California.