Sun Ra - Space is the Place

Starring: Sun Ra

RS: 3of 4 Stars

A straight documentary on free-jazz avatar Sun Ra could never do justice to the vision of this Egyptian-robed emissary from Saturn and bandleader of the ineffable Intergalactic Myth-Science Solar Arkestra. But then, no fictional film can, either. So while the plot of this 1974 low-budget sci-fi blaxploitation Biblical-allegory musical is also free jazz, it boils down to this: Will Sun Ra escape the clutches of The Man (i.e., the FBI and NASA), repatriate Afro-America to another planet with his spaceship and make it to the show on time?

GAYLORD FIELDS
(October 22, 2003)