Sylvester Stallone considers the prequel to Taylor Sheridan’s Tulsa King to be one of his failures

When we discuss Hollywood flops, it’s important to emphasize that the term “flop” has nothing to do with the quality of the film. We are talking exclusively about the extraordinary financial failure of the film. Francis Ford Coppola “One of a Heart” was a colossal failure, but more than 40 years later, many consider it an artistic triumph (something to remember as we move away from the destruction of Megapolis in 2024). Brian De Palma “The Joke of War” was an expensive bombshell for the legendary director, but the film received rave reviews at the time and remains one of the greatest Vietnam War films. And so far “Hudson’s Hawk” by Michael Lehman might damage the commercial reputation of Bruce Willis, people of refined taste recognized his anarchic genius.

When a non-franchise movie flops, my initial instinct is to find a way to prop it up, even if it falls a little short artistically. The world is a better place for such fiascos as Town and Country, Cutthroat Island, and Jupiter Ascending. So when I learned that Sylvester Stallone had recently named one of his underrated “gangster” flops as a prequel to his role as Dwight Manfredi in the Taylor Sheridan-created Paramount+ series “Tulsa King”, I was worried. All in all, it’s not a perfect film, but John Landis’ Oscar has a finesse and plenty of great performances from the likes of Tim Curry, Don Ameche, and Marisa Tomei. I didn’t quite see the connection, but Stallone has been bringing up all sorts of questionable associations lately; at least this one will bring attention to an almost forgotten film.

Alas, he did not mean the Oscar.

Another term that is too often used as a judgment is “remake”. Whenever a proposed remake of any movie, hit or flop, is announced, the people who like to bemoan Hollywood’s lack of originality bare their swords. How quickly they forget that some of the greatest films of all time, such as Howard Hawks’s His Girl Friday, John Carpenter’s Stob, and The Fly by David Cronenberg alike are remakes. Of course, there are sometimes strong grounds for sharp skepticism, if not outright harshness, about some remakes. When accused sexual harassment (and notoriously untalented) Brett Ratner signed on to remake Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, which had already been adapted by Michael Mann into a classic thriller called Manhunter, it was right to assume , that there was a film on the way, completely devoid of value.

When first-time feature director Stephen Kay teamed up with Sylvester Stallone to remake Mike Hodges’ British gangster classic Get Carter , it was a pretty tough one.

Right off the bat, we knew we shouldn’t expect dirty revenge on par with the original, which boasts a memorable scene where a completely naked Michael Caine takes a would-be assailant outside his apartment with a shotgun. Hodges’ film was a spicy sandwich of hard-hitting 70s crime cinema. A Hollywood remake isn’t likely to be that heavy (although American History X screenwriter David McKenna’s script showed some promise).

There was also the matter of the production company of the film. Franchise Pictures, owned by star dry cleaner Eli Samahi, was notorious for financing the vanity projects of vanished stars. When “Get Carter” was announced, the company was already a joke for having invested a lot of money in John Travolta’s Scientology dream project, an adaptation of the sci-fi novel by L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth (a failure that is also a total abomination). Samaha was in awe of Stallone and therefore likely supported him in any creative disputes. (Sly is avid tinkerer with scenarios, and not always for the better.)

So how did it come about, and how is this a prequel to Tulsa King?

The best thing that can be said about Kay’s “Get Carter” is that it is literally soaked in atmosphere. Set in Seattle, Washington, you experience the rain and cold of the city in a way that could be captured in several movies. This is something. It is also worth noting the menacing image of Mickey Rourke’s badass bandit, who wins a fight with Stallone.

Unfortunately, Kaye decides to pay homage to the original by casting Michael Caine as the loan shark, while composer Tyler Bates mimics Roy Budd’s idiosyncratic score. These elements only serve to remind the viewer that they are not watching a Hodges film, and as a result hinder the new film’s efforts to stand out. Worst of all, there’s a happy ending that flies in the face of the tale’s essential nihilism.

Budgeted at $63.6 million, Get Carter failed to gross $19.4 million worldwide. The poor showing overseas was a major blow to Stallone’s reputation for being bankable internationally. Cop Land by James Mangold though three years ago revived critical interest in Sly’s career, they largely wrote off the remake as a pale, pointless imitation of a much better film.

What is the place of “Tulsa King” here? Stallone announced this on his Instagram:

“It’s interesting that 25 years ago I was in one of my BEST movies, the underrated Catching Carter, and now that I look back on it, it seems like I was subconsciously preparing to play ‘Dwight Manfredi’ in The Tulsa King. “Let’s call it a prequel in 25 years!”

The obvious similarity is that Carter and Manfredi are fish out of water, shaking up towns they don’t know with their brutal, unrelenting way of doing illegal business. But while Manfredi is eager to put down roots and build in Tulsa, Carter just wants to avenge his brother’s murder and get out of town (even if it leaves him a marked man for the rest of his life). If you haven’t seen Kay’s Get Carter, the best I can say is it’s not “Rhinestone” or “Stop! Or my mom’s gonna shoot.” You won’t regret watching it, but I doubt it will deepen your appreciation for The Tulsa King.