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.
