"The Harder They Come", the first ever Jamaican feature film, made reggae singer Jimmy Cliff a star, and on release caused a queue at the cinema of 40,000 people. A wild tale of a country boy caught up in gangster warfare, it features many great songs like "Rivers of Babylon", "Many Rivers to Cross", and title track "Harder They Come". You'll have a lot of fun watching this and the quality of the extra features on the DVD is excellent.

Filmed on a limited budget, the print does suffer from some damage, but it's minor stuff, and often this 1972 movie looks quite good.

The 2.0 sound mix sticks to the centre speaker, but the bass levels are good and the many reggae tunes really gets the toes tapping.

A highly impressive new 'making of' documentary is included on this DVD, and it's a real treat too. Filled with interviews from minor stars right to the head of Island Records, a fascinating story unfolds of the effort behind Jamaica's first motion picture. It's clear by the end that a lot of passion went into the movie, and it shines through in this feature. Plus, if you select the interactive version, you can access scenes from the film relevant to the part of the documentary that you are watching.

Amongst all the DVDs out there overloaded with boring features, "The Harder They Come" really shines with entertainment.

Region: 2-6
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2:0
Extra Features: Scene selection, 'making of' documentary (52 mins) with interactive features, alternative ending, image gallery, animated menus and subtitles.