Get Carter is a 2000 American action crime thriller directed by Steven Kay and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the remake of the classic 1971 gangster film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine. Caine has a small role in this film as well.
As in the original, Carter is a veteran, big-city gangster who returns to his old hometown to avenge the death of his estranged brother.
Warner Bros., which released this version, has owned the rights to the 1971 version since 1996.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Carter survives the entire ordeal and leaves for Las Vegas after avenging his brother's death and saying goodbye to Doreen.
- Adaptational Heroism: The film forces Carter into being a good guy, a stark contrast to how the original Carter was a brutal thug who never sought redemption, but rather brutal vengeance.
- Adaptational Name Change: Carter's brother's name is changed from Frank to Richie, while Paice and Kinnear's respective first names are changed from Eric and Cyril to Cyrus and Jeremy, and Glenda is renamed Geraldine.
- Canon Foreigner: The film features the widow of Carter's brother.
- Car Chase: Carter endures two of these.
- Car Cushion: This happens to a bouncer named Eddie.
- Composite Character: The remake's version of Eddie is given Albert Swift's personality and fate.
- Death by Adaptation:
- Carter kills Brumby by shooting him in the back in a car park for trying to steal a video disc.
- Con McCarty dies in a car chase.
- Foreign Remake: The remake transports the British story to America.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: Carter's boss, Fletcher, is never seen in face. We only hear his voice.
- Imagine Spot: Jack's fight with Con in the elevator. Before throwing down, Jack works out several scenarios in his head, trying to estimate whether Con has enough time to draw his gun and shoot him at point blank range before Jack can fight back, or the likelihood that he'll just put the gun to Jack's head if Jack tries to go for the other guy.
- Inelegant Blubbering: A weeping Kinnear begs for his life when Carter interrogates him about Richie's death in the forest.
- Killed Offscreen: Paice is killed by Carter but the details remain unknown. The last we see of him is when Carter points a gun on him after having him brutally beaten, but we don't know for sure if Paice is already dead for the beatings or Carter shot him offscreen.
- Not on the List: Jack punches a bouncer who says he's isn't on the list, and remarks "Nobody likes the list guy."
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Ends on this note with Carter driving back to Las Vegas after avenging his brother's death.
- Setting Update: From the UK in The '70s to the USA in The '90s.
- Shout-Out: Doreen asks Carter why he went away for so long, and he responds, "That's a long story." To which she replies, "It's a long ride back." These lines were also spoken in Rambo: First Blood Part II when Rambo was speaking with Co-Bao.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Con McCarty.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Carter survives at the end after killing nearly everyone involved in his brother's murder.
- Talk About the Weather: When Doreen asks Jack if he ever shot anybody, he gives a Non-Answer by saying, "How about this weather?"
