Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

juliaarea First viewing of this 70s movie: I was impressed with the depth of the characterizations. One feels in tune with each of the group's well defined personalities, in examining their weaknesses, strengths and limitations. It was if you knew the individual personally, what made them tick. As you grow with them, you believe as do they, that ordinary people can accomplish what they purpose. This diverse group of people brought shading and depth to the plot, drawing you into the events as they played out in an international setting. Tension and suspense is palpable with every individual character's actions. You feel the adrenaline and excitement as the plot builds to multiple crescendoes. Yes, plural! Timing becomes critical. A touch black hero-ish, a bit dated (hence a 9 rather than a 10)but so very well acted and clever that it holds one's attention throughout. Yes, it would benefit from a better format.

charleslennonbaker the plot is awful but the premise is heart felt. Substitute heroine for any vice or society's many ills and that's the "bag guy(s)" in this movie.The Hit! takes a little from each previous genre during the '70's and late '60's and twists them to such an extent that if the movie was made 40 years prior to it's release date or 30 years after, it would, could and still stands up to the test of time. You can see elements of the dirty dozen/guns of the Naverone themes. James Bond/"Get Carter" char. Shaft/inner city turmoil etc.I initially saw bits of this movie at 0'dark thirty on USA channel about 13-14 years ago. It was just before the plan's 'plot' implementation. But What kept me spellbound was seeing Billy Dee holding what I believe was a Swedish K or M-36 "pulverizer" submachine gun! I mean Billy Dee?!? Mr. Cool!?! I'd never even seen him look mean! Forget about being a assassin. But their he was.After 5 minutes I was hooked. I tried finding the movie in the stores but to no avail. I asked every retailer I could find if they had the movie. Most thought I was DELUSIONAL. They'd never heard of the movie or couldn't order it.Finally 5 years ago the movie came on AMC of all places and I could finally watch the movie in it's entirety. I wasn't disappointed. A sequel or a remake would be perfect write about now.

Killakai This si the blaxploitation version of the French Connection.A gov't agent's is devastated when his niece dies at age 15 of heroin overdose. As he pummels the dealer who sold it, (accompanied by the boyfriend who gave it to her whom he does nothing to), the dealer blabbers something about him being the low man on the totem pole, etc. Billy Dee agrees, doesn't kill him and decides to set his sights higher up the chain of command, in fact he sets the all the way at the top. Not a bad premise, but the execution and plot in general is poor. This movie is 2 hours long and it is literally over an hour before this story begins to develop. He gathers a team of people who have had drugs affect their lives and he pulls some kind of bribe on all of them to have them participate in his scheme (a scheme which is left extremely vague until the end).They travel to France where their plan is pulled off without a hitch, all of France's Heroin kingpins are murdered in various fashions. the good guys win, and we assume the US heroin trade has taken a major major hit.This could have been a good movie, were it not for so much wasted time between the plan and the execution. With some reworking this could have been really good. The acting of all of the major players was really good even when their behavior seemed unrealistic, the actors did well. A movie like Gordon's War has a better plot, and better execution, and although Hit! is the more serious film with better acting, I'd say Gordon's War has much more replay value. Partly because Hit! is a more drama than action film, I expected it to be more realistic and it certainly was not. And there is no reason why 30 minutes could not have been cut out of this film, there are so many extra scenes in this movie that are redundant or don't push the story forward.

Sturgeon54 I had prepared a long in-depth comparison between this film and Steven Soderbergh's vastly overrated 2001 film - two films with similar subject matter of the U.S. War on Drugs, but unfortunately that review got erased. My basic point was that Soderbergh's film purported to be a serious, realistic saga on the conflict between the U.S government and the illegal Mexican drug system, but was in fact a collection of pretentious, meandering plot lines, with the plot line involving the U.S. Drug Czar's cocaine-addict honor student daughter being the most ridiculous. That film also reached no definite conclusion about the U.S.'s War on Drugs.Conversely, the now-obscure film "Hit!" on the surface appears to be one of many blaxploitation/vigilante movies from the 1970s but successfully rises above its pulp origins to become a semi-serious commentary on U.S. drug policies with stellar acting from Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Warren Kemmerling, and virtually everyone else. Williams carefully organizes a diverse "A-Team"-like group of misfits to destroy the French heroin cartel and its importation into the U.S. following the death of his daughter from a fatal overdose. Though often witty, this film never loses sight of the seriousness of the drug problem, and in fact reaches a very definite conclusion: the U.S. government really could stop the drug trade if it wised-up, went after the people at the top rather than small-time pushers, and "got off its ass," as a resigned Williams states at the end.Though other reviews criticize the film's length (which is just over two hours), I enjoyed director's Furie's decision to carefully develop all the minor characters here. This movie has excellent production values. As usual, Furie is a master at setting up scenes visually, and the final assassinations prove to be very suspenseful and impressive. This is a film that deserves a second look, and has earned my recommendation.