The Harder They Come (1972)
"With a Piece in His Hand He Takes on the Man!"
ThumbScore
👍 76%audience score Estimated from TMDB user ratings and critic scores, calibrated to Google's former audience score. Google stopped publishing it in 2026.
Critics Score
🎬 84%
(RT: 92%, MC: 77) RT = Rotten Tomatoes (critic reviews). MC = Metacritic (weighted critic average). Critics Score is the average of both.
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Where to Watch
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Subtitles on OpenSubtitles.com: English · Español · Español (Latinoamérica) · Español (España)
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Cast
Jimmy Cliff as Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin
Janet Bartley as Elsa
Carl Bradshaw as Jose
Ras Daniel Hartman as Pedro
Basil Keane as Preacher
Bob Charlton as Hilton
Winston Stona as Detective Ray Jones
Lucia White as Mother
Is The Harder They Come good?
Most people think so. 76% audience score, estimated from 131 TMDB ratings. Critics agree, scoring it 84%.
Where it ranks on ThumbScore
Overview
Ivanhoe Martin arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, looking for work and, after some initial struggles, lands a recording contract as a reggae singer. He records his first song, "The Harder They Come," but after a bitter dispute with a manipulative producer named Hilton, soon finds himself resorting to petty crime in order to pay the bills. He deals marijuana, kills some abusive cops and earns local folk hero status. Meanwhile, his record is topping the charts. Wikipedia ↗
