Hit Man Blu Ray Review (Warner Archive Collection)

Hit Man is a 1972 crime film written and directed by George Armitage (Grosse Pointe Blank, The Big Bounce, Private Duty Nurses, Hot Rod, Miami Blues, and Vigilante Force). It’s based on the novel “Jack’s Return Home” from author Ted Lewis (Get Carter, Yellow Submarine, and The Snake). It was produced by Gene Corman (Night of the Blood Beast, The Big Red One, The Premature Burial, The Intruder, F.I.S.T., I Escaped from Devil’s Island, Vigilante Force, and Private Parts). It’s a remake of Get Carter. It grossed $1,060,982 at the box office in the U.S. and Canada. Tyrone Tackett’s brother wasn’t the kind of man to throw his life away for nothing. Somebody murdered him, plain and simple for some mysterious reason.Tyrone (played by: Bernie Casey from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Revenge of the Nerds franchise, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Never Say Never Again, In the Mouth of Madness, Another 48 Hours, Under Siege, and Cleopatra Jones) investigates in L.A. and he pieces together the unforgettable crime, anyone involved is about to pay for it. From Watts to the West Side, from porno parlors to a high-rise, from motel dives to a crime kingpin’s sprawling pleasure dome, from corner hangouts to a wildlife preserve, Tyrone covers a lot of real estate and he busts a lot of heads to find out the real truth!!!! Hit Man is the Blaxploitation version of the classic Get Carter. A dangerous man is brought back into the life that he escaped when his brother is killed. Veteran director George Armitage was behind the camera for this reboot and he added his own style to the production. Former NFL player Bernie Casey is Tyrone Tackett. He ended up having a great career in acting after his football days were done. This might be his best performance and it’s definitely one of his biggest projects. He is great as the brother trying to find out what happened to his sibling. The legendary Pam Grier (Coffy, Foxy Brown, Jackie Brown, Above the Law, The Big Doll House, Friday Foster, Escape from L.A., and Original Gangstas) shows up as Gozelda. She’s a porn star that knows all the wrong people in this situation. Yes, she isn’t shy at all here and she shows off her body. The supporting cast includes Lisa Moore (Act of Vengeance), Sam Laws (Truck Turner), Candy All (Friday Foster), Don Diamond (Zorro), Ed Cambridge (Trouble Man), Bob Harris (Black Girl), Rudy Challenger (Detroit 9000), Marilyn Joi (Cheerleaders Wild Weekend), Christipher Joy (Up in Smoke), Roger E. Mosley (Magnum, P.I.), Carmen Argenziano (Broken Arrow), Paul Gleason (The Breakfast Club), John Daniels (Black Shampoo), and Timothy Brown (M*A*S*H). Hit Man has most of the known themes from Get Carter but it puts it’s own vibe to the story. There’s some solid action, violence, nudity, drama, crime , and revenge in Hit Man. It’s more of a detective narrative than straight up action. I think lots of people forgot about this version of Get Carter so maybe this brand new home video release will give it a new life after all these years. Hit Man keeps itself slick, fun, stylish, and entertaining. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and a special feature from the Warner Archive Collection! This 1080p (1.85:1) unrated transfer is from a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. I’ve only seen this before but this felt like watching it for the very first time. It’s never looked this good on home video, everything is much sharper now. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track on the disc. This isn’t a non stop action film like it appears but it does have plenty of explosive moments during it. All of the dialogue is crisp, the revenge is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. The only extra on this release is the “Trailer” for Hit Man. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!