I'm not sure "remake" is the word - I've seen remakes of films which are *radically* different (e.g. McTiernan's ghastly attempt to improve on Jewison's Rollerball) and remakes which take the same basic concept but explore it in different ways (e.g. McTiernan's excellent reinterpretation of Jewison's The Thomas Crowne Affair) but this looks like the original script just fell through a computer program which replaced the dialogue with "hip blaxploitation" type dialogue, simplified a couple of the finer points of the plot for the hard of thinking, and then ran it out with little attempt at finesse. This is scene for scene, plot for plot, location for location, the same as Get Carter, right down to the final chase on big mining equipment near the beach, with a single exception - the last ten seconds of the film - and the change here makes no sense
(here's where the spoiler hits, folks, stop reading now if you don't want to know)
In the original, the hit-man shoots Carter on the beach. Here, the shooter unaccountably decides to leave our hero alive on hearing that the gang boss is dead. This leaves the watcher thinking "hey, our hero got away with it". But he didn't, how can he? He, like Carter, has left a trail of bodies across the county with no attempt to hide evidence or conceal his involvement. However much the plot justifies him doing this, he's still going down for murder. The hit-man's bullet is the cleanest exit.
On a lesser note, the sound track I found strange, music typical to the age and style of the film, but uncannily reminiscent of Steve Austin's "running faster than the bad guy's car" theme from Six Million Dollar Man. Esp in the scene where our hero is running away from the bad guys' car.
I'm also baffled by the shooting scenes - the "stage blood" is the worst I've ever seen, so bad I have to wonder if it's intended to be some sort of "stylised" representation. Marvelous stuff though - doesn't turn the water in the jacuzzi cloudy-pink even after the gunman turns the pumps on.
Basically, I just can't see the point. If you want to watch a crisp, tight thriller with this plot, watch Get Carter (i mean the 1971 version with Michael Caine) and be happy.
(here's where the spoiler hits, folks, stop reading now if you don't want to know)
In the original, the hit-man shoots Carter on the beach. Here, the shooter unaccountably decides to leave our hero alive on hearing that the gang boss is dead. This leaves the watcher thinking "hey, our hero got away with it". But he didn't, how can he? He, like Carter, has left a trail of bodies across the county with no attempt to hide evidence or conceal his involvement. However much the plot justifies him doing this, he's still going down for murder. The hit-man's bullet is the cleanest exit.
On a lesser note, the sound track I found strange, music typical to the age and style of the film, but uncannily reminiscent of Steve Austin's "running faster than the bad guy's car" theme from Six Million Dollar Man. Esp in the scene where our hero is running away from the bad guys' car.
I'm also baffled by the shooting scenes - the "stage blood" is the worst I've ever seen, so bad I have to wonder if it's intended to be some sort of "stylised" representation. Marvelous stuff though - doesn't turn the water in the jacuzzi cloudy-pink even after the gunman turns the pumps on.
Basically, I just can't see the point. If you want to watch a crisp, tight thriller with this plot, watch Get Carter (i mean the 1971 version with Michael Caine) and be happy.