Ben Aris, Britt Ekland, Ian Hendry

A crime film which follows a steel-hard guy, Carter, as he heads north to the bleak, ghost-town locales of Newcastle for his brother''s funeral. After meeting up with his brother''s daughter, he begin...( read more  read more... )s to believe thathis brother''s death was not an accident. Along the way he has a fling and slams into a viper''s nest of pornographers and thugs, lorded over by a venomous, shady-type named Kinnear.

Flixster Users

84% liked it

12,834 ratings

Critics

90% liked it

21 critics

R, 111 min.

Directed by: Mike Hodges

Release Date: January 1, 1971

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DVD Release Date: October 2, 2001

Stats: 895 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (895)


  • October 14, 2009
    A film that becomes more exciting the further you watch. A great character played by Michael Caine and an enjoyable storyline. Some fairly suggestive material for a film of it?s age, considering the time, give it chance to warm up a little and you?ll find it an enjoyable classi...( read more)c British film.
  • September 29, 2009
    It?s gritty, it?s honest. Its 1000 times better than anything made since. No CGI, no explosions, just a great cast, good story, great direction and a killer soundtrack. A great film and a British classic!
  • March 1, 2009
    Good revenge flick. A little slow to start off but the second half pays off. Recommended.
  • July 31, 2008
    Sordid and mean spirited pulp with a classic score, and probably the british gangster film par excellence. Michael Caine, in a brutal but cool performance, plays the avenger Jack Carter, a London racketeer who goes to the foggy Newcastle trying to get the people who killed his br...( read more)other. Seriously nihilistic, bleak and vividly detailed.
  • April 22, 2008
    "You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow."


    Get Carter is a classic 1970s British crime film that is good, but far from great.

    Having seen the remake of the film first I had high expectations for this

    ...( read more) one. Unfortunately my expectations weren't entirely met, and I was mildly disappointed.

    Michael Caine plays the principal role of Jack Carter; a malicious London gangster. Carter travels to Newcastle for the funeral of his recently deceased brother. Upon arrival in Newcastle he begins asking questions about the death of his brother and suspects that it was no accident, but foul play was involved. Carter begins interviewing people who were associated with his brother and starts putting together the pieces of the puzzle to solve the crime.

    As Carter is slowly getting somewhere with his personal investigation, the underworld crime bosses wish to get him out of the picture to avoid the truth being uncovered.

    Regrettably, you will have to be a mind reader to understand the inscrutable conversations between the central characters. Even though watching the movie closely, I was none the wiser until the characters finally spelt it all out in the concluding 15 minutes.

    Unfortunately the film's slow pacing dramatically affects its overall value. And the final showdown was quite unsatisfying. It was unexpected, sure, but the ending is one of the many factors that affect the quality of the experience.

    Michael Caine was cool and charismatic in the title role. He is quite the ladies man, and displays this with the endless amount of women he ends up sleeping with throughout the movie.

    Which brings me onto my next point - the film contains too much sexual content for my taste. Not that it was overly distasteful, but every time Carter sleeps with another girl the audience gets the sense of "here we go again". It got highly tedious towards the end as well as getting quite discomforting.

    For a 1970s production there was a shocking amount of nudity. It's not overly graphic but it has its fair share of bare breasts, bottoms and bed scenes. For its time I'm sure it would have raised a few eyebrows because said scenes certainly raised mine. And the violence undoubtedly packs one heck of a wallop.

    The atmosphere of the movie was quite superb for a British film. The authentic locations give the audience a sense of dread and decay. Especially with scenes set during overcast or rainy weather. The film has been made quite well, with effective cinematography and a valuable score that solidifies its solid atmosphere.

    Kudos to the director as well, who added to this atmosphere of such despair. On top of this the film has more to offer: brutal, hard-hitting action as well as a high level of violence.

    Get Carter is far from being a masterpiece due to its flaws, but sits amongst some of the finest films to be imported from Britain.
  • November 5, 2009
    I was suprised of Michael Caine acting like this, an antihero movie from the earlies 70s. Was a nice surprise...
  • October 3, 2009
    Not what I was expecting which was kind of both good and bad. The story was quite complicated and I didn't understand exactly what was going on. Allthough the movie is slow it builds up it
  • September 14, 2009
    ok good on that missionary scenes.....
  • September 12, 2009
    maybe i watched it overtired but i found this flick to be a HUGE disappointment. I was underwhelmed throughout and only found minor interest near the end. I ACTUALLY PREFER the Stallone remake!!! I have to give it another chance down the road one day. Michael Caine is still e...( read more)xcellent no matter what.
  • September 4, 2009
    good & real about revenge & getting killed too...

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