Brother Future (1991 TV Movie) User Reviews (7)

an excellent history lesson masquerading as fantasy

[johnnyb-10 · 7/10 · 12 December 2000]

Petty street hustler T.J. finds himself transported from present-day Detroit to 1822 Charleston, South Carolina. He is captured and sold at a slave auction to a plantation owner "Master Cooper."

T.J. is at first arrogant and blissfully ignorant of the struggle for freedom that African-Americans valiantly faced and overcame, and the legacy the brave souls who put their lives on the line (and who sometimes lost those lives) left to those who still fight the ongoing battle for civil rights and equal opportunity.

That all changes after T.J. unintentionally gets a young slave he has befriended beaten brutally for one of his own backfired stunts. He helps the young slave learn to read and write and then helps the young man and his wife-to-be escape the Cooper Plantation. Although it is never stated, I got the distinct impression these young runaways were T.J.'s direct ancestors.

In his humbling experience/history lesson, T.J. also meets real-life hero Denmark Vesey, a freed former slave who leads a slave revolt, and is hanged with his co-conspirators, becoming a martyr to the cause of freedom.

Gifted comic actor Phill Lewis ("City Slickers") is both funny and touching as T.J. Carl Lumbly ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "Men of Honor") was properly dignified as the unforgettable Vesey. Lumbley's real-life wife, Vonetta McGee, sparkles as the house slave and psychic Motilla, who turns out to be T.J.'s spiritual guide through his surreal and harrowing experience. Frank Converse, who has made a career playing corrupt cops, crime bosses and other unsympathetic types, was properly cast as Master Cooper, who despite his brutality, was probably a more compassionate slave owner than most.

This is an excellent history lesson masquerading as fantasy, and should be a staple in junior high and high schools for Black History Month.

Kind Of Cheesy At Times, But Teaches You An Important Life Lesson (SPOILERS)

[I_Am_The_Taylrus · 7/10 · 20 April 2007]

SPOILERS

At times this film can be boring and it is a little too long, but this tells you how it was for the slaves. I do not think a lot of the children out there know how it was to be a slave, but this film tells you a bit about what their life was like. Anyway, about the film. At first the film seemed cheesy, especially the opening, but when T.J goes to the times of the slaves, everything changes. The film changes to a very dark direction. The acting in this film is average, the music is pretty good, but can be a bit silly, and some scenes are actually beautifully directed, like the scene when T.J is whipped.

Here is the plot. A street teenage punk named T.J is all of a sudden hit by a car and is magically transported to the time of the slaves. What I mean by magically transported is that he is knocked unconscious. Anyway, T.J is mistaken for a slave and sold to a man named Cooper. At Cooper's he meets fellow slaves Josias and his girlfriend Caroline. He also meets Denmark Vessy, who is planning an attack. At Cooper's T.J is whipped by a man named Zeek, and he teaches Josias how to read, thus getting him in trouble. He also learns that he has to help slaves to escape to get back to his own time. Cooper then has a party at his house. T.J, Caroline, and Josias escape. T.J helps them escape, but he is shot. He is then transported back to his own time, but has learned a lesson.

Overall, this is a very interesting and somewhat disturbing movie, but, like I said before, you can learn about this movie. The only complaint I have is that the first ten minutes are a bit childish and then there is a dark and disturbing twist of when T.J is transported. That was a big turn, there. The title of this movie is also kind of bizarre at first, but kind of starts to make sense during the last forty-five minutes of the movie. Anyway, this is a well-done film that is somewhat average but still is entertaining.

7/10

Recommended Films: Sounder.

Powerful

[SPZMaxinema · 7/10 · 23 October 2022]

I watched this in middle school with my class and again in college on my own and I think that it's a powerful film for young individuals to watch. It's good education on that time in America when certain people had next to no rights. I think that's it's quite a story for a black individual from (what was then) the present time going back to the times of slavery to learn what it was like and to also enlighten those from the past on what things would eventually be like. The part where the main character discussed Martin Luther King Jr was profound. It's not the most well-made film but still a good one to watch!

Street punk goes back in time

[helpless_dancer · 8/10 · 9 December 2000]

A street smart Detroit rapper suffers a trauma which sends him back to the year 1822 in the deep south. He falls into the hands of slavers and is sold as a fieldhand, receiving a first hand education in life as an indentured worker. A funny yet grim look at early America.

Stunning

[richard.fuller1 · 17 July 2004]

Excellent story. It's been a while since I have seen it, but my brother has it on tape when it first aired.

It is definitely a story ingrained in my memory, and some day I may borrow it and watch it again.

Very educational and enlightening and well done.

It wasn't afraid of tackling this subject and adressing it without some repercussions of political correctness.

Could have had more to it, definitely, but this could serve as a possible prototype to future stories dealing with history and time travel, a Hollywood fave.

Men like Denmark, cannot and should not, ever be forgotten!

[arce97 · 10/10 · 2 October 2006]

deleted, edited, erased, etc.,! If (negative) history is not to be repeated... it must not be forgot! *

Steve M. Arce Semper Fidelis...

Nemo me

*The Vesey rebellion Perhaps inspired by the revolutionary spirit and actions of slaves in Saint Domingue (known today as the Haitian Revolution), Vesey is alleged to have planned what would have been the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history. His insurrection, which was to take place on Bastille Day, July 14, 1822, became known by about 9,000 slaves and throughout Charleston. The plan called for Vesey and his group of slaves and free blacks to take over the city of Charleston and by some accounts to inflict atrocities and killings on the local white population. After the rebellion was to have taken place, Vesey and his followers planned on fleeing to Haiti to escape retaliation. The plot was leaked by two slaves opposed to Vesey's movement, and 131 people were charged with conspiracy by Charleston authorities. In total, 67 men were convicted and 35 hanged, including Denmark Vesey.

One of his sons, Sandy Vesey, was transported, probably to Cuba, and his last wife, Susan, later emigrated to Liberia. Another son, Robert Vesey, survived to rebuild the city's AME Church in 1865.

Fantastic well done movie!

[karenpflieger · 10/10 · 15 March 2021]

I thoroughly enjoyed working as an assistant hairstylist for a short period on set ..the production team and movie was fantastic very impressed and a pleasure working with Nancy and Tony!