What makes it different from others?

A Disappointing Continuation

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.7/10Recommended Films: Sounder.

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.

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.

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.