The Meteor Man (film)

----Infobox Film
name = The Meteor Man


image_size =
caption = Theatrical one-sheet for "The Meteor Man"
director = Robert Townsend
producer = Robert Townsend Loretha C. Jones
writer = Robert Townsend
narrator =
starring = Robert Townsend Marla Gibbs Eddie Griffin Robert Guillaume James Earl Jones
Roy Fegan
Don Cheadle
Bill Cosby
Big Daddy Kane
Frank Gorshin
Sinbad
Luther Vandross
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister
John Witherspoon
music = Cliff Eidelman
cinematography = John A. Alonzo
editing = Adam Bernardi
Richard Candib
Robaire W. Estel
Andrew London
Pam Wise
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = August 6, 1993 (USA)
runtime = 100 min
country = USA
language = English
budget = Unknown
gross = $8,023,147 (USA)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:32351
imdb_id = 0107563

"The Meteor Man" is a 1993 film by director, writer, and star Robert Townsend about a superhero.

Plot

Jefferson Reed is a mild mannered school teacher in Washington D.C. His neighborhood is plagued by a local gang, The Golden Lords, drug dealers who terrorize the locals. 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, but as he climbs out of it, he is struck down by a glowing green meteorite which crashes down from the sky. His spine is crushed and he receives severe burns. A small fragment of the meteor was left over and was taken by a silent vagrant (Bill Cosby). He awakens several days later in the hospital, but when his bandages are taken off, he is miraculously healed from all his injuries.

Jeff soon discovers the meteorite has left him with other abilities too, such as flight and superhuman strength. Confiding this to his parents (Robert Guillaume and Marla Gibbs), he is convinced by them to use his powers to try and help his community. His mother designs a costume for him, and as The Meteor Man, he takes on the Golden Lords and their leader Simon Caine (Roy Fegan). He puts down a crack house, stops a robbery, and unites the Crips and Bloods.

The Golden Lords learn of his identity and the loss of his powers. The gang ruins the neighborhood. As the community members plan to make a deal with them, Jeff jumps in and teaches them about fighting for their beliefs. A powerless Jeff fights Simon and gets beaten in the process. Simon raises his gun up towards Jeff, planning to shoot him until Jeff's neighbor (James Earl Jones) throws a record at him and successfully knocks the gun out of Simon's hand. At this point the neighborhood fights back and the same man who picked up the small meteor fragment uses it to strip the Golden Lords of their guns. The man accidentally drops the meteor on the ground and Jeff and Simon notice this. They both get a fragment of the meteor and engage in a brawl, with Meteor Man as the victor.

Trivia

*Although the movie was set in Washington, it was mostly filmed in Baltimore.
*Marvel Comics produced a 6-issue limited series spin-off titled simply "Meteor Man"
*The title theme song was performed by Big Hat Ray Ray (aka Raymond Smith).
*Robert Townsend would go on to direct and star in another superhero film: The Disney Channel movie "Up, Up and Away". While Marla Gibbs plays Meteor Man's mother in this film, her "The Jeffersons" co-star and on-screen enemy Sherman Hemsley plays Townsend's father in the Disney Channel film.
*The movie is rumored to have gone through many re-writes and changes while in production, resulting in many plot holes including the exact abilities Meteor Man has as well as sub plots involving Jeff his fears and his personal life.
*Many scenes appeared in the script and possibly could have been filmed but did not appear in the final film. These scenes include Simon asking Meteor Man to join him while they are both trying to get to the meteor, with Meteor Man saying never. A scene where Jeff,losing his powers, attempts to save a cat but can't fly. When he finally gets off the ground he catches the cat but falls. This is witnessed by Squirrel and Dre who are about to tell this information to the Golden Lords but is then stopped by Jeff. Also a scene where Jeff gets over his fear of heights and a sub plot involving Jeff's relationship with his ex Stacy is missing.
*The original ending had a more confident Jeff standing up for himself and his community and using his role as a teacher to better everyone's life. He then gets approached by Michael who tells him that an even bigger piece of the meteor that hit him was found in Arizona. The two then agree to buy plane tickets so that Jeff can get his powers back and once again become Meteor Man. This is followed by Michael trying to talk him into letting him get some power from the meteor so he can be his sidekick. It then ends with Michael throwing out names to him, such as Comet Boy, Chocolate Thunder, and the Flying Wonder.
*Robert Townsend named his characters real identity, Jefferson Reed, after one of his childhood heroes, his favorite teacher.

Cast

*Robert Townsend - Jefferson Reed/The Meteor Man
*Marla Gibbs - Maxine Reed
*Eddie Griffin - Michael
*Robert Guillaume - Ted Reed
*James Earl Jones - Earnest Moses
*Roy Fegan - Simon Caine
*Don Cheadle - Goldilocks
*Bobby McGee - Uzi
*Bill Cosby - Marvin
*Big Daddy Kane - Pirate
*Frank Gorshin - Byers
*Sinbad - Malik
*Nancy Wilson - Principal Laws
*Luther Vandross - Jamison
*Another Bad Creation - Jr. Lords
*Tommy 'Tiny' Lister - Digit
*Jenifer Lewis - Mrs. Williams
*Vinnie - Bloods
*Anthony 'Treach' Criss - Bloods
*Kier Gist - Bloods
*Cypress Hill - Crips
*Beverly Johnson - Woman Doctor
*LaWanda Page - Old Nurse
*Lela Rochon - Vanessa the Pretty Nurse
*Wallace Shawn - Mr. Little
*John Witherspoon - Clarence James Carter III

oundtrack

# "It's for You" - Shanice
# "Don't Waste My Time" - Lisa Taylor
# "You Turn Me On" - Hi-Five
# "Who Can?"
# "Your Future Is Our Future" - Daryl Coley & Frank McComb
# "I Say a Prayer" - Howard Hewett
# "Is It Just Too Much" - Keith Washington
# "Somebody Cares for You" - Frank McComb
# "Good Love" - Elaine Stepter
# "Ain't Nobody Bad (Like Meteor Man)"

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107563/ The Meteor Man] on IMDB