Gloria Hendry was in this film also
MOVIE REVIEW â COSMIC VIXEN (1974)
By Darnell Booker, Entertainment Editor â The Nubian Star
Hold on to your platform boots, space cadetsâ
Cosmic Vixen is the intergalactic funk-fueled ride we didnât know we needed, and now we canât live without it. Gloria Hendry
owns the screen as Apollonia Jones, a no-nonsense astro-bounty hunter from the ruins of post-apocalyptic Detroit, turned rebel queen of the Solar Uprising.
Directed by Marvin Harrisson and presented in all its technicolor glory by Paramount Pictures,
Cosmic Vixen delivers everything you want in a Blaxploitation sci-fi epic: spaced-out soul, laser shootouts, groovy alien dance clubs, and a Black heroine who ainât afraid to throw a punch or ignite a revolution.
Spoilers aheadâread on at your own risk, baby.
The film opens with Apollonia crash-landing her starcruiser
The Black Phoenix on the prison-moon of Terok Nine, where sheâs been framed for sabotaging a peace treaty between Earth and the Andron Syndicate. From the get-go, Hendryâs performance is electricâequal parts Pam Grierâs fire and Nichelle Nicholsâ class.
With the help of her trusty sidekick, a reprogrammed android named CL-44 (played by Claude, in a surprisingly moving performance), Apollonia escapes captivity, liberates a colony of enslaved miners, and uncovers a deep conspiracy: Earthâs corrupt Council of Nine has been selling out the solar system to the mutant overlord Zarnok in exchange for immortality serum harvested from Black Martian bodies. Let that sink in.
The second act is wall-to-wall action. Apollonia leads a rebellion, flying a stolen battle cruiser into the heart of the Andron capital, where she faces off against Zarnok himself. In a now-iconic scene, she whips off her cape and says, âYou picked the wrong sister to enslave,â before blasting the villain with her gold-plated ray cannon.
The final showdown takes place aboard Earthâs orbital capital. Apollonia, rocking a chrome afro helmet and wielding twin photon sabers, defeats the Council in a fiery battle while Funkadelicâs âCosmic Slopâ blares triumphantly. By the end, sheâs not just a bounty hunterâsheâs the Empress of the Free Planets.
Cosmic Vixen is more than a movieâitâs a declaration. Itâs a fist raised to the stars. It tells young Black girls, âYou can be the hero. You
are the future.â And it tells the rest of us to never stop fighting for freedom, no matter what planet weâre on.
Five afro-picks out of five. See it twice. See it high. Just see it.
