Rockers

After being totally burnt out on election coverage overkill, depressed by the economic woes and debating changing careers, my wife suggested we put on a movie and escape for a while.

She surprised me by pulling out "ROCKERS" one of my favorite movies of all time, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't watched it once this year (i usually watch bi-annually)

Wow! its amazing that this movie holds up on every level, after the first 5 minutes I completely forgot all my problems and was absorbed into the conflict of Horsemouth, The acapella of Burning Spear and of course The RASTA takeover by Dirty HArry. REMOVE YA!!!

As a filmmaker I can only aspire to do a movie with such impact wit and simplicity. The music the story, the locations and who can beat the wardrobe. To the cast and crew I fully salute and thank you for making a truly classic picture!!

You don't have to be a reggae fan to enjoy this film (it's not a concert film); the scene compositions are unobtrusively beautiful and thoughtful, and sucked me in. This might seem unsurprising since the director has an art photography background, but he achieves in his directorial debut what most directors only dream about. The plot, acting and music combine to make a very fun, laid back movie and a pleasure to watch. It's a shame it's the director's only film.

I saw this movie when it premiered in 1977. Its as good today as it was then. If you're a reggae fan then this film will have you grinning the entire time.

Its great to see all my favorite reggae artists. People like Robbie Shakespeare, Dirty Harry Hall, Gregory Issacs, Jacob Miller and Jack Ruby in a robin hood type film. The acting isn't great, but its still charming. The music is wonderful and the performance clips are a lot of fun.

I suggest seeing the 25th anniversary edition of this film. A lot of cool things in it!

REMOVE YA! --Dirty Harry

Basically devoid of anything as utterly redundant as a plot, storyline or a script (bah!) we dive into everyday life of rastas, their music and challenges they face. Instead of setting out a story we muse the town hustling with drumming legend Horsemouth (almost everyone here plays themselves and several scenes even go as far as to break the fourth wall), as he borrows money, buy a bike, starts distributing CDs, gets robbed, recaptures his bike, gets beaten and finally enacts sweet Robin Hood-esque vengeance on the big boys responsible.

Accompanying by a crew of rasta's of worldwide fame, like Jacob Miller, Gregory Isaacs, Robbie Shakespeare and so forth he has Jah on his side and enough laid back love attitude to capture the hearts and minds of unsuspecting viewers. At times utterly hilarious, else just fascinating, even if half the time is spent on deciphering Jamaican patois (which is actually vastly enjoyable in itself) into something slightly recognisable. Features a classic scene, where Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall occupies a DJ booth and then resists Babilon with true rastafari class.

Techincally astute with some beautiful shots, as well as some classy laid-back artistry. Essential watching as a world cinema cinematographic gem. Especially if you want to end up all gushy-gooey feel-good after viewing, sight?

As others have mentioned, this isn't a "story-telling" movie. The thin plot concerns Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace's purchase and loss of a motorbike, but the real value of this movie is as a snapshot of real life in Jamaica, outside of the tourist resorts. Most of the movie takes place in an urban setting (presumably Kingston, although part of the movie seems to take place in Ocho Rios) and this is really one of the closest looks you're ever going to get at the life of Jamaica's poor, working class musicians without going to Kingston in person. The musical performances are top-notch (especially a stunning a capella rendition of "Jah No Dead" by Burning Spear) and Horsemouth actually makes a pretty good actor, filled with righteous indignation as he goes after the "Mafia boy" who "t'ief" his bike. A must-see for any fan of Jamaican music or admirer or Jamaican culture.