rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1973
Directed by Terrence Malick; produced by Terrence Malick; written by Terrence Malick
Starring Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint, Gary Littlejohn
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
This is the first movie directed by Terrence Malick, who only made three
movies up until now. All three movies are good, but the other two ('Days of
Heaven' and 'The Thin Red Line') are not as good as this one, although
especially 'The Thin Red Line' has some extraordinary moments. 'Badlands'
tells the story of Kit (Martin Sheen) and Holly (Sissy Spacek) who travel
from South Dakota to the badlands of Montana, fleeing the police because Kit
killed Holly's father. On their way Kit kills a lot more.
Holly is only fifteen years old, a very naive girl who falls in love with
the James Dean named Kit who is ten years older. Holly's father does not
approve their love and therefore Kit murders the man. After this he has no
trouble killing more, and Holly doesn't really disapprove since she believes
him when he says that it was necessary.
Malick tells this story in a great way, and for some reason you almost
sympathize with Kit, although you do not like or even understand some of his
actions. The ending, that plays a little like 'Natural Born Killers' and
gives us the same message, is terrific. Especially in these scenes Sheen is
perfect. He does a great job anyway. He seems like a normal cool guy, but
there is always something there, beneath his cool appearance that is a
little freaky. Spacek does a fine job as well. Much older than fifteen she
perfectly portrays the naive young girl who doesn't understand the real
world. All this, a score that inspired the 'True Romance' score (like
'Natural Born Killers' written by Quentin Tarantino) and a cinematography
that makes sure the movie looks good make this a very good movie. For a
first-time director Malick has done a more than wonderful job.