Watch The Harder They Come For Free

That was an excellent one.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Previously, Jamaica had appeared on screen as the setting of "Dr. No". But it was in Perry Henzel's reggae-themed film "The Harder They Come" that the Caribbean island really made a splash. The movie is based on the life of Ivanhoe "Rhyging" Martin, a man who moved to Kingston in the 1940s and became a hero to Jamaica's masses through his fights against the police, and eventually got shot dead. Jimmy Cliff brings the role to the screen perfectly, capturing every aspect of day-to-day life on the island, and how Ivan has to turn to illegal activities just to survive. But the best part is without a doubt the music. This celebration of reggae is everything that any Rastafarian could want. "The Harder They Come" is one great movie, mahn! Jimmy Cliff later co-starred in Harold Ramis's innocuously silly "Club Paradise", about an ex-firefighter (Robin Williams) who establishes a resort on a Caribbean island.

I'm shocked that all the "hated it" ratings are sixes and sevens, still above average. To me, this seems a case of "the emperor has no clothes". I understand this film was produced on a very low budget in the early 70's...Regardless, it became a struggle to sit through and watch. The DVD I saw did have some subtitles, but about 75% of the speech is not subtitled. Some of it is hard to understand. The Jamaican patois was cool to hear, but you struggle not to 'tune out' after awhile. Some of the shots were nice, and the realism was there, even if some of the performances were not great.(Jimmy Cliff did a good job) The plot is not bad, but quite predictable. In the 1:43 film, the highlights are Jimmy Cliff(Ivan) singing for a scene, and a couple of shoot-outs and a fight. Probably 15 minutes or so. The rest is pretty boring. BTW, near the beginning of the film, there are some weird cuts with the Ivan character that seem like a editing mistake, which made me laugh for a bit. One reviewer said this film has been cut so many times, that there are few copies of the original 1972 theatrical version out there. The ending was kind of interesting, showing how the media from a young age influences people, it could also be a general comment on the white man's/colonialism's influence on Jamaica. Other main themes are poverty, corruption, church, ambition... In closing, the soundtrack is definitely worthwhile, the film much less.

The film follows Ivan, a young country boy with dreams of making a reggae song that will change his life. However, soon after arriving in the city he realises that finding a job and getting himself noticed as a singer will not be easy. After making his song, and being taken advantage of by his record company he is forced to deal drugs to survive, despite his growing popularity.Although the acting is all good, and the story is interesting and well laid out, the film suffers slightly from over dramatised action scenes. However, a thoroughly enjoyable portrayal of 70's Jamaica, and (if you enjoy reggae) an incredible soundtrack.

I first saw this film as a midnight movie back in the early 1980's. It has all the makings of a perfect late show fare: It's shot on a shoe string budget,in 16mm, with a cast of relative unknowns,with the exception of it's main star, Jimmy Cliff,who to this day remains a pop star in his home country of Jamaca. The plot concerns a young man with dreams of becoming a big pop star in the big city (Kingston,in this case),but gets drawn into the dark side of the bright lights & becomes a criminal on the run. The music is superlative (Reggae anyone?), and actually has an on-screen cameo by Toots & The Maytals,laying down voice tracks in the studio. Depending on how you see this film (with a clear head or whacked out of your skull on Ganga--which is a plus),'The Harder They Come' is one to see. Originally rated 'R' by the MPAA, in it's original release in 1972,this film contains profanity,violence (some of it faily bloody)& brief nudity