Badlands [1973]

What sets the film apart from others of its genre is Malick's complicated approach. Gorgeous, impenetrable images contrast sharply with Spacek's nostalgically artless narration, serving as ironic counterpoints, blurring concrete meaning and stressing that nothing this horrific is simple. Malick observes, rather than analyses, the couple in a manner as detached and apathetic as the couple's shocking actions. No judgment or definitive motivations are offered, though Malick's empathy often leans toward his senseless protagonists, rather than the star-struck society that makes killers famous. Compared with the interchangeable uniform cops who hunt them and the film's other nameless characters stuck in suburban banality, the couple are presented like tarnished, warped andfrustrated results of squelched individuality.

Badlands, on one level, views America's suffocating homogeneity and, conversely, its continued obsession with celebrities (individuals considered different but adored) as hypocritical. Ambiguous and bold, the movie hints that society may be as guilty as the killers. --Dave McCoy

Amazon.co.uk Review
Terrence Malick's Badlands has become a cornerstone in American cinema. Although not a success at the box office at the time of its release in 1973, its influence can be seen years later in the Tarantino-penned Natural Born Killers and True Romance among others, and it remains arguably one of the finest debuts by a director in Hollywood history. Astonishingly, Malick has only made two movies since: Days of Heaven (1979) and The Thin Red Line (1998). Badlands also brought Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek to the notice of Hollywood for the first time. Shot on a low budget, the film (based on Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate's 1958 killing spree) portrays a loved-up couple on the run from the law who embark on a series of killings motivated by their need to survive.

The film has become a classic, partly due to Tak Fujimoto's cinematography and partly due to the detached attitude the couple adopt towards murder. Like Tarantino's later anti-heroes and heroines, Kit and Holly are killers without conscience. Holly's naive teenage mentality makes her passive attitude seem even more shocking, and her only comment that leads us to believe she has any grasp of the situation is when she mentions that Kit may be a little crazy. Yet there is also an innocent, "young love" side to the couple's actions which the audience cannot fail to feel pity for, greatly helped by the pairing of Sheen and Spacek as well as Malick's gift for drawing the finest and most sensitive performances from his actors.

On the DVD: Badlands has been cleaned up nicely with a 1.85:1 widescreen print and 5.1 surround sound. Although seemingly short of extras the one included on the disc is a real gem: "Absence of Malick" offers insight into this notoriously publicity-shy director from the cast and crew and the reason why he ended up acting in his own movie. --Nikki Disney

Sissy Spacek and especially Martin Sheen given the performances of their careers. So much is conveyed by the dialogue, sparse though it may be. Every sentence Sheen utters is at once profound, inconsequential, natural and stylised but, above all, engrossing.

The film is beautifully shot and the DVD transfer does justice to the cinematography, giving a sense of the scale of the landscape through which Kit and Holly drive on the run. Sissy Spacek's voice over gives the story a perspective in the way that the commentary in Y Tu Mama Tambien was to do nearly 30 years later.

However, the film's greatest achievement is the soundtrack. The predominance of Carl Orff and Eric Satie seems initally at odds with the setting and subject matter of the film but it complements the uniqueness of Malick's approach and amplifies the visual beauty of the film. And when Kit and Holly dance to Nat King Cole's "The Dream Has Ended", the transience of the young lovers' freedom is all too palpable.

This is a film to return to again and again.


AN AMAZING DIRECTORIAL DEBUT...   March 31, 2003
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

This is an amazing directorial debut, as the film works on so many fronts. It is both a love story and a crime drama, with sneak peaks at what makes the two main protagonists tick. It remains for the audience to decide who is the more chilling and disturbed of the two characters, twenty five year old Kit (Martin Sheen) or fifteen year old Holly (Sissy Spacek).

This is a film in which two unlikely characters become lovers. Kit, a James Dean-like loser, espies the fresh-faced Holly twirling her baton one day and is smitten. He approaches her and, despite her initial reluctance, she begins to see him against her protective father's wishes. Kit is ten years older than Holly, a high school drop out from the wrong side of the tracks, who is unable to maintain a job and appears to have a limited future. He falls in love with Holly and wants her to be his exclusively. Eventually, they become lovers. While it is Kit who does all the actual killing, it is, to my mind, Holly who is the more complex and frightening character. Her prosaic and banal conversation, as well as a lack of empathy in the most heinous and disturbing of circumstances, is most unsettling. This is reinforced in the film through a voiced-over, almost toneless, detached narration by Holly of the events that took place. It is a masterpiece of point and counterpoint, chilling in its very telling and understated irony. When they are eventually caught, Holly remains impassive, while Kit relishes his celebrity and oozes charm, winning over his captors. Martin Sheen's performance is nothing short of brilliant, while Sissy Spacek is mesmerizing with her ability to chill the viewer.

This is an expertly crafted film with an ingenious use of music. The director even manages to utilize the music of Erik Satie (Gymnopedies 3) most effectively, however unlikely it may seem. Like the music of Erik Satie, the film is multi-textured and deceptively complex. Bravo!


Deeply disturbing movie   August 26, 2002
Pieter (Johannesburg)
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is a deeply disturbing film made even more so by the sometimes beautiful scenery and the desolate expanses of the badlands. The worst scene is where the two young lovers kill their friends for no apparent reason. The eerie music and Spacek's narration also lends another dimension to the tragic tale, making it a type of psychological study of innocence turned evil...


Disturbing yet dinamic   January 22, 2004
5 out of 12 found this review helpful

'Badlands' is an interesting and enjoyable film. However, at the same time I could not help but be disturbed by the sheer bluntness of the story. I found the entire plot quite disconcerting and worrying which I found to be facinating rather than crude. The acting, cinematography and dialogue are all superb which combines to give a film of excellent quality almost scoring a full five stars.

Martin Sheen is on fine form giving the lead performance both passion and style. However, this superb performance would have been wasted were it not perfectly complimented by Sissy Spacek. These actors seem to gel perfectly to bring a powerful vibrancy to the film. The simple story of two people falling in love turns into several murders and a lot of destruction which will have you sitting on the edge of your seat as much from distress as excitement.

I think this is a superb film with an excellent cast but it just falls short of being worth the money. If you get the chance I would advise anyone to watch this film but, unless it sounds the a movie you'd love, I wouldn't but it on DVD.


Love on a killing spree.   February 11, 2001
frank@northumbriandawn.com (Northumbria)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

Martin Sheen and Cissy Spacek in the movie that melted Quentin Tarantino's heart. If you loved True Romance (I did) then you should see the film that inspired it. Two young lovers go riding round the mid west in a cool car shooting everyone they meet. Beautiful film, and haunting soundtrack. The narration by Cissy is achingly touching.