MovieChat Forums > The Harder They Come (1976) Discussion > Dreadful film

Dreadful film

posted 14 years ago by ThePhantomJipper
13 replies | jump to latest

I must admit I found the accents a little difficult to comprehend but thats the least of this films problems. The acting was piss poor and the storyline was so minimalist as to be non existent. A man goes to the city, fiddles with a bike, makes a record and runs around with a gun...is this the pinnacle of storytelling all of a sudden. As for the sountrack, playing two songs repetitively wears a bit thin after a while. I find it slightly patronising that because this is a low budget Caribbean production that it ought not be held to the same standards that we'd demand of any other movie, it doesn't even have anything interesting to say about the social context in which the events occur..utter *beep* 2/10

"Ah da da dah, like this in the background. What the *beep* is it with you?"- Christian Bale

[–] McGonigle 14 years ago

Thanks for writing.

I know I'm shouting, I like to shout.

[–] cobram-1 14 years ago

This movie isn't for everyone. "Doesn't even hae anything interesting ... social context", huh? The movie follows and honest law abiding naive "country boy", and shows the innocense and decency beat out of him by an indifferent and corrupt society every step of the way. The sountrack is awesome and introduced entire generations to Jamaican and Island music. The story telling is involved and far from your simplistic take on it. These are facts, I won't comment on matters of opinion, suffice it to say I completely disagree with yours.

This film holds it own nicely against films with much larger budgets, and when held to the same standard as "any other movie" it's far ahead of most fare put out on celluloid over the years.

Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.

[–] ThePhantomJipper 14 years ago

Indifferent and corrupt society? I think you're pushing your argument to breaking point there. He slashes a guys face to bits because he won't give him his bike back, and goes on a killing spree because he loves the attention; hardly a comprehensive analysis of social inequality is it? It didn't work on either level for me, as crime drama or some sort of insight into the lives of 'ordinary Jamaicans', if the latter was what they were going for, well then it was a particularly inept effort. If I save anyone the tedium of watching this, then it will have been worth the effort.

"Ah da da dah, like this in the background. What the *beep* is it with you?"- Christian Bale

[–] BwlBoy 14 years ago

My motivation for watching this was its entry in a book of 1001 films to see before you die. There are a number of dreadful entries in the book but I wouldn't rank this as one of them. The film is amateurish but it is what it is and is something completely different. The previous poster is over analysing it and I would urge people not to be led by the comments.

[–] McGonigle 14 years ago

That's OK, I'm sure the reputation of this classic can survive the assault by ThePhantomJipper.

I know I'm shouting, I like to shout.

[–] f-ascaso 14 years ago

There's no accounting for taste, and there shouldn't be. I find it interesting when people can judge a film without even trying to understand it's subtext and the circumstances and times it represents.

There are several generations that matured watching this on the midnight movie circuit, and I personally introduced it to a rather loyal following as a Saturday night movie "event" in my college years, along with "Dawn of the Dead" and of course, "Rocky Horror."

Those that can watch and enjoy this today as they did the first time they discovered it know this film still exerts it's power on the audience. We have no trouble looking beyond petty production value gripes to see the underlying masterpiece, which is still being discussed, taught, and fondly remembered today.

I hope this someday gets the BluRay treatment it deserves, that will be quite the treat for those of us who remember the grainy 16mm transfer we used to watch on Saturday nights as a respite from the creeping responsibilities and expectations we were growing into. If only we knew, we would have grabbed life a little more like Ivanhoe Martin before the hammer of reality started beating us down.

"if it was any good they'd have made an American version by now." Hank Hill

[–] ThePhantomJipper 13 years ago

I have no problem with small budgets, minimalist direction, gritty storylines etc but nostalgia is all this film appears to have going for it and people hyping this up couldnt be doing it a bigger disservice because this film just doesnt hold up if you go in watching it with the kind of expectations I had. On reflection, it still feels like a waste of time.

"Ah da da dah, like this in the background. What the *beep* is it with you?"- Christian Bale

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

One of the issues the film did tackle but not as head on as expected was the corruption in the music industry in Jamaica and how musicians got ripped off or were dealing with gangsters.

It's that man again!!

[–] MorePeasPlease 14 years ago

That's OK, I'm sure the reputation of this classic can survive the assault by ThePhantomJipper.

We can only pray...

[–] heelmaster2000 13 years ago

I will say this. It was not awful but it wasn't all that great either.

[–] Cobram 13 years ago

There are only so many liberties a film maker can take (well, make that SHOULD take based on some of the "based on real facts" out there.) Ivanhoe "Rhyging" Martin was a real anti-hero in Jamaica who was killed at the same spot they filmed the end scene in THTC. THTC is the telling of his story in the setting of a modern Jamaica of the time. The musical aspect was artistic license, but it's the most memorable parts of the film for most people.

Man without relatives is man without troubles. Charlie Chan

[–] id-entity 13 years ago

Who actually watches blaxploitation films besides racists? What do they get out of it?

[–] 13 years ago

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