Product Description

From the producer of Scarface and Carlito's Way comes the action thriller Carlito's Way: Rise to Power. Jay Hernandez (Friday Night Lights), Mario Van Peebles (Ali), Luis Guzman (Carlito's Way) and Sean Combs (Monster's Ball) star in the gripping tale of the early years of gangster legend Carlito Brigante. Seduced by the power of the brutal New York underworld, he enters a deadly circle of greed and retribution. Assisted by his two brothers in crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming Spanish Harlem's ultimate kingpin. He quickly learns, however, that the only way to survive at the top is through loyalty to his friends and respect for the rules of the street.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55257 in DVD
• Brand: COMBS,SEAN
• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
The success of Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way ensures that the straight-to-DVD release of Carlito's Way: Rise to Power will attract an eager audience among fans of urban gangland melodramas. A stellar cast provides adequate compensation as this tame, relatively bloodless prequel trots out every cliché in the book, qualifying as the 21st-century equivalent of a Warner Bros. gangster programmer from the 1930s. The well-chosen cast of new and familiar faces is caught up in a standard plot of territorial tension in Harlem between the blacks led by Hollywood Nicky (Sean Combs, adding a touch of blingy humor), the old-school Mafia led by Artie Sr. (Burt Young), and the caught-in-the-middle Puerto Ricans who are gaining control as Carlito (Jay Hernandez, in the role Al Pacino originated) and his cross-cultural gang rises to power after his recent release from prison with cellmates and partners-in-crime Earl (Mario Van Peebles) and Rocco (Michael Kelly). They're a tight trio in a climate of mistrust and deception, and Earl's hot-headed brother (Mtume Grant) sets off a series of events that force Carlito to invent a clever alliance that raises the body count while ensuring his long-term status as a dude-you-don't-mess-with. It's fun, for what it's worth (and fans of De Palma's film will enjoy connecting events from one film to the other), but there's not a shred of originality in script or direction by Michael Scott Bregman, whose father Martin produced Carlito's Way. Still, there's something to be said for a gang picture that never promises more than it can deliver. On those terms, and with enough violence and strip-joint nudity to satisfy its generic prerequisites, Rise to Power is definitely worth a look. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Couldn't Do it
This one didn't do it for me. I really wanted to like this, being such a fan of the first film. The acting in the film is okay, but it suffers so much compared to the Pacino/Penn film. The climax was very bland. The one thing I wish they would have explained better was how Carlito became friends with the Italian mobster and the African American bookie. They were both very successful people in their own circles, and Carlito was just a common care thief. Why would they cut him in as an equal partner in a tens of million dollar drug business? Also, how did all three get in one cell. This takes place in a time when racial tensions are high, and prison officials would not have put a white/African American and Hispanic in the same cell. And while everyone else in the film hates each other for being differant, these three love each other. I would have liked to see the story of how they got that way. I would steer clear of this one.

Rise to Power is Rise to Nothing
This is one of the worst films of 2005, a prequel that is almost as bad as dumb and dumberer and son of the mask, the acting is terrible especially P. Diddy's performance, the screenplay is a mess, the cinematography is ridiculous and the violence is bloody, sickening and silly.

This is not as good as al pacino was in 1993.

I Hated this film.

Nothing to do with original Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way is one of my all time favorite movies.

I didn't expect this movie to be great but with Edwin Torres and Martin Bregman involved, I thought it would be good or even just ok. I thought it would at least have something to do with the original. It doesn't.

Carlito is the only character from the original. You think he would be working with Pachanga and Lalin. He would be developing his friendship with David Kleinfeld. He isn't even dating Gail! He's trying to start a relationship with a totally different woman.

The original implied he had relationships with other gangs but he would have primarily worked with other Latinos. Here he is working directly with a black guy and an Italian.

Also Jay Hernandez just doesn't fit the role of a gangster. He doesn't seem to have the attitude or power that a top gangster would have.

I knew they were trying to capitalize on the reputation of the first one with a substandard straight to video prequel. But I thought it would at least have something to do with the original besides the name and Carlito Brigante (kind of) being the same main character.

Disappointing even with low expectations to begin with.