Joe Bullet

I can't find much information on this historically intriguing South African black wannabe addition to the "Shaft-Superfly- Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", tradition, or it's 1982 sequel. That's a pity because what went on behind the scenes is probably much more interesting than what we see. We do learn that the film was banned and unbanned in 1972 (why?) and has only just re-appeared and recognize the imposing Ken Gampu from his Jamie Uys movies "Dinkaka" and "The Gods Must be Crazy" and from "The Naked Prey" all those years back. He's a plausible action hero who could have carried a more substantial production.

The film's ambitions are minimal. The formula plot about corruption in sport has the bad hats trying to get star players Tlhotlhalemaje and Chama away from the Eagles so that the the rival Team the Falcons take the big game and the crooks get rich betting on them.

Ken comes with his own song ("he's the man who won't let you down") and wins the manager's daughter Kubeka, who does a passable musical interlude when our hero is not rescuing her from various perils. Versatile director-cameraman de Witt is most at ease covering the film's soccer matches.

The production arrives in brownish newly restored four by three, with English sub-titles rendering the poorly re-voiced English dialog.