Fantastic!

Absolutely the worst movie.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This blaxploitation styled second filming of Ted Lewis's novel "Jack's Return Home" - filmed just the previous year as the crime classic "Get Carter" - is an acceptable diversion. It has a good cast playing a variety of seedy characters, and a lot of hip dialogue. It's anchored by the cooler than cool Bernie Casey, the former football player who segued into a respectable career as an actor. It's all familiar enough for those who've seen "Get Carter", although it comes up with some different settings for the action, such as a wildlife preserve and a dog fighting ring.Casey plays a character named Tyrone Tackett, a tough as nails dude who travels from Oakland to L.A. to investigate the death of his brother Cornell. To do this, he must navigate the criminal underworld, including the adult entertainment business, making the acquaintance of people such as porn star Gozelda (a typically radiant Pam Grier)."Hit Man" isn't anything special, but it's reasonably fun, with a script written by the movies' director, George Armitage. Produced by Roger Cormans' brother Gene (who was always more of a hands-on producer than his more famous sibling), its soundtrack (music by H.B. Barnum) is as engaging as anything else done for the blaxploitation genre. The cinematography is by future director Andrew Davis, who shot four features for Corman. There is some pretty potent violence near the end as well as a serving of female nudity.Casey, who has a solid presence on screen, is well supported by Ms. Grier, Sam Laws as used car salesman Sherwood Epps, Candy All as Tyrones' niece Rochelle, Don Diamond as white mobster Nano Zito, Ed Cambridge as porno theatre entrepreneur Theotis Oliver, Roger E. Mosley as muscle man Huey, and Marilyn Joi as the aptly named Rita Biggs. Paul Gleason, a fixture in Armitages' filmography during this time, appears uncredited as a crooked cop.Casey's Tackett does exhibit some of the same ruthlessness as Michael Caines' Jack Carter, and is overall enjoyable to watch.Six out of 10.

Blaxploitation remake of Get Carter about a man (Bernie Casey) investigating the death of his brother. Ample doses of sex, violence, and humor. Colorful language and stereotypical characters might turn easily offended viewers off. Bernie Casey makes for a solid blaxploitation protagonist: tough, cool, and magic with the ladies. Pam Grier is sexy as always and appears in all her glory. The character she plays is scummy and meets a particularly gruesome end. Lisa Moore is amusing as the motel manager with the hots for Casey and has some great lines. Marilyn Joi has a couple of brief but memorable scenes as the aptly-named Rita Biggs. Early role for Paul Gleason as a policeman/hit-man. A good movie that, like the best of the genre, rises above its gritty subject matter and manages to entertain not depress.

Hit Man starts as Tyrone Tackett (Bernie Casey) lands in L.A. for his brother Cornell's funeral, while there he also intends to find out who killed him. At first everyone tells him the same story that Cornell committed suicide but as he digs deeper he ruffles the local gangsters feathers, he uncovers a seedy world of porn & it all leads back to mob boss Nono Zito (Don Diamond). Then Cornell's daughter Rochelle (Candy All (!)) is murdered & that makes Tyrone even madder, he intends to settle the score & avenge his brother's & niece's murders...Written & directed by George Armitage this seems to be know as some sort of Blaxploitation remake of Get Carter (1974), while I admit I've never seen Get Carter I find that difficult to believe especially since Hit Man was actually based on a novel called 'Jack's Return Home' by Ted Lewis, anyway Hit Man is good for a few laughs but little else. For the first hour or so it's fairly slow going with Tyrone going around town asking about his brother, then when he finds out the action kicks in along with some sleazy porno sub plot although it's a little to late to save it. The thing I like about Hit Man is the dialogue, it's absolutely hilarious & one of the best has to be at Cornell's funeral when someone goes up to Tyrone & says 'Cornell was one fine dude', there are countless racial slurs & terms & just downright plain laugh out loud funny Blaxploitation dialogue. Hit Man is a film with so many quotable lines it puts Quentin Tarantino to shame. Unfortunately the racist, funny, un-PC foul mouthed dialogue is the only thing Hit Man has going for it because otherwise it's a dull slow moving lifeless action flick without any action.Director Armitage does alright, it looks suitably nice enough although that was probably down to cinematographer Andrew Davis who went on to be a big budget Hollyoood action film director himself with flicks including Above the Law (1998), Under Siege (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Chain Reaction (1996), A Perfect Murder (1998) & the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Collateral Damage (2002). The action scenes are mostly just shoot outs, the blood used at the end looks like bright red paint. I have to mention the fashions here as well, they are a hoot to look at as Tyrone goes around wearing a silly hat at a 45 degree angle on his head! Some of those collars are so big the people wearing the shirts might take off if there was a strong gust of wind & the colours are so garish this could only have been made in the 70's. The hair-dos are pretty funny at times as well. Sure this all adds to the fun & camp value but, well there's just not much of a film to go with it if you know what I mean. Animal lovers should beware as there is a scene set during an illegal dog fight, two pit-bulls are set against each other in a fight to the death & I know how some people get upset by cruelty to animals even if it is faked like here.Technically the film is fine, it's reasonably well made with decent production values, I'm not sure where that Lion that kills Gozelda (Pam Grier) comes from though? I didn't know Lions roamed free throughout L.A.? The acting is suitably over-the-top with Casey making a cool hero.Hit Man is an alright film if only for it's unintentionally funny dialogue & 70's fashions, it's watchable on a silly level but I doubt I'll ever want to watch it again.

I just watched this on Turner Classics Middle East, and I can tell by all the places the reviewers come from (mostly the UK) that this movie does not get airplay in the USA. Ted Turner (if he owns the overseas MGM catalog and network) has no problems showing stereotype stuff overseas but I guess he catches to much flak at his liberal cocktail parties in America to air films like this or another I just saw on TCM, "Cool Breeze". Both movies were made the same year 1972. Let me educate the European reviewers who seem to be making some observations and try to clarify why it was done. One reviewer said that the blacks dress outrageously and talk stereotypical or something along those lines. The dress is not over the top, I grew up in New York city and I'll never forget seeing an actual pimp mobile, its just like the movie "Magnum Force" had very outrageous style and in your face. The clothes did happen, of course its a movie so not everyone can afford all the nice clothes and dress and stuff but thats a movie thing, the styles are accurate for that time. As far as the speech goes, it sounded like it was OK to me as well, nothing at all outrageous about it. Blacks in America have their own dialect unlike UK blacks which although I'm sure an English person may recognize the difference, they are a lot closer than Caucasian and black Americans generally sound. Third, a lot of you UK reviewers are taking this movie waaaay to seriously. This movie was shown in a second tier type theater in the northern states (where I grew up)and probably in a predominantly black area theater in the south. It was where people went to get get wasted and drunk (usually in the theater), and have a good time with LOTS of audience ad libs thrown out in the audience. That is why the ending is "happy", this is not a movie for critical thought, it's for good times. By the way, Cool Breeze is a blaxploitation flick of The Asphalt Jungle and it to has a "happy" ending unlike the original, as well. My favorite parts of the movie are when Tyrone is driving with Sherwood and they are swigging and knockin down a quart of bourbon and getting lit up! Sherwood, played by Sam Laws was great in his small role as he was when he was in Cool Breeze. Other notable scenes that I enjoyed, Tyrone blows a hole in his landladies roof with a shotgun and shes mad that he didn't do her before he left! Pam Grier bust fans (like me) will groove to this one, she bares that great chest a good while and it's looking real fine. All in all, this honky says check this flick out its, "dyno-mite"!