Rockers vs. Harder They Come
PrimeCutsLtd
jersey fresh 2,632 Posts
I got to go with rockers. Shot much better. The dj scene in the hotel night club was Can't forget Burning Spear singing accapella on the side of the hill as well. It's been awhile since I seen Harder they come but I got to say advantage Rockers.
Comments
cosign.
Rockers just puts me in a better mood
for some reason that made me laugh.
yes i, rockers is de one, as well as de lion of judah bicycle....respect
The harder they come record sleeve has a rasta on a bike as well. It's no horsemouth though.
Harder They Come is fuckin GANGSTER. Dude was like the Jamaican Scarface, but before Scarface. This is OG shit.
A movie about a bike? I could not give less of a fuck about this dude's bike. The DJ scene to me was pretty cringe-inducing
Music is way better in Harder They Come. .. acapella on a hillside? bored me. Start shooting people or dealing drugs..
Dude, , that shit is the bomb diggity. 'Rrrremova Ya!' Best line ever of any film, period! The 1st time I saw that shit I was rolling on the floor, the shit is so goddamn right on. That's what my parties at Rubulad are named from. Besides, that DJ scene I think is reminscent of what was happening then, you had people dancing to disco, and you had your rastafari roots heads, coexisting. Look at all the dope reggae disco shit out there...which give me an idear for a thread.
Both films are great but I lean towards rockers. The cameos of reggae heads are outta control in that movie. Jacob Miller singing Tenement Yard, , and who's the audience in the movie? A bunch of tourists. Classic.
Besides, drugs deals and murder doesn't necessarily make a better movie. Sure it can help, but I enjoyed the 'robin hood' premise in Rockers, especially in the end where they discover not only his bike but a bunch of other stolen goods, and then hand them out to people in the hood...again, for lack of a better , classic.
But I'm not fronting on the Harder They Come...Jimmy Cliff, for his very good and sometimes cheesy rekkids, is most definitely street in that film. The knife fight where he cuts the dudes hands, brutal. And I liked the bookends, the beginning when they're in the movietheater, watching some western where the dude gets blown away, and at the end of the movie, when it happens to him in the real.
$??
Plus, you've got SUBTITLES.
WHAT IS THAT DISCO SONG????!!!!!!????!!!!!?????
This shit has been buggin me for years.
Not talking about Vicky Sue Robbinson.
Subtitles are soft -- Harder They Come is straight gutter. And the soundtrack is second to none. No diss to the Rockers soundtrack -- "Police and Thieves" IS a classic, but drop the needle on "Draw Your Brakes" and it's
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You need to watch some samurai movies if you think subtitles are soft...
Drop the needle on "Draw Your Brakes" and people will recognize the song (That's where the Beasties got that?)but that shit is way too slow for anything.
Now drop the needle on Tenament Yard, Man in the Street, Police and Thieves....
I like to think of Rockers as a glimpse at the real life of the people in Jamaica lawn parties, hustling records, rastafarians, crime, tourist trade, record producing, sound systems...
The Harder they Come is basically a Blaxploitation film located in Jamaica. Which is cool. But when you put the two head to head, Rockers comes out ahead (for me).
and the crazy dancing (dude in the record store!) and the fashion style (track suit, sweater vest and tie!)
That's a bit IMO. In the case of samurai movies, subtitles are necessary, but in the case of Rockers and Harder They Come, I feel they're more of a crutch. Maybe it's just me, but I preferred seeing Harder They Come just as it would have been seen in Jamaica.
And I think you need to re-listen to "Draw Your Brakes" if you think that shit is too slow to do anything to. I wouldn't even consider that down-tempo, but if it was, I would have to say that for me, it's those slower tunes where the Jamaican rhythms truly shine, with the ill, stuttering bass-lines and guitar chops. But we're all different, right?
we can't all speak patois. on a 2nd or 3rd viewing, perhaps the subtitle are less necessary, but I ain't mad that they are there.
But "Rockers" all day long over "The Harder They Come." To take nothing away from the latter, the former is just grittier and has a superior soundtrack. The scene where Ras Kiddus records "Graduation in Zion" alone is worth it.
Now, am I gonna hafta send K in Canada a VHS of this movie so that he can finally view it and weigh in? Or does the cottage not have a VCR?
I'm not saying I don't like "Draw Your Brakes". In fact I like that song a lot. I used to try to drop it into mini reggae sets, but no one was able to dance to it. But, hey, I'm not a real dj, I just spin at my friends' houses for free and everyone is nice and ignore it when I have trainwrecks or get too fucked up and lift the needle on the record that's playing instead of the one that just stopped....
It wasn't overblown like Fred Williamson killing off italian mob bosses in Black Ceasar.Actually the gunman portrayed by Jimmy Cliff was based off a real gunman here in the late 60's.
No problem,you might get me back on another occasion.
the rasclot cut me!