Badlands Reviews and Ratings


  • Phonex
    December 16, 2009
    Phonex
    badlands" is a subdued treat to the eye for baring the poetic inland america, and middle-east states could be quite enchanting with a simplistic allure which is originally american, and as the audience, i feel the grusome aspect of those spree-killings is shielded out of a vacuum...( read more) of outlandish reveries within the core of the protagonists' hearts which are filled with every bit of purity and candidness in world which wouldn't take individuality into its frigid consideration as if life's a fast-living dream and at next moment you die in an electric chair after slumbering over a melodic tune of nat kind cole's..after all, the world ain't for dreamers!

    By V.K.
  • groaningbitch
    December 14, 2009
    groaningbitch
    1973 "badlands" is an idyllic film about a young couple whose lives have been led astry by fate's mishappenings...strangely, "badlands" is supposed to be a horrific story about morbid trigger-happy young fellows who have caused the deaths of a couple of innocent people due to mo...( read more)mentary spur. but it is not, it's a lyrically romantic tale about a naive but hell-bent first love of a guileless young girl, and the killings done during the movie all seem to be forced by the circumstances despite the girl narrates "he's the most trigger-happy person i've ever seen in my whole life"...

    now it comes to my routine reciting of the scenario: a plain-jane type of young girl meets a somehow handsome proletariat young man who lives on the wrong side of the track..pleasantly they conversed on the sidewalk, and she knows he's just a petite garbage-man.. but when he requests to see her again, she silently assents...then they see each other more and more in their exclusive retreat..someday the girl's father discover this romance and wanna forbid it, but the boy insists on eloping with the girl so he breaks into the girl's house and starts packing for her...spotted by the girl's father, the boy shoots the father dead after being provoked with criminal charges and the jail sentences. all of a sudden, our anti-hero grabs his girl on the road after setting the house aflame...on the way of their fierce escape, they dwell into a wooden nest by the lake of cottonwoods, dining on raw chickens and fishes like two people in oblivion of civilization until some intrusive bounty-hunter invade into their sanctuary of wilderness..so our anti-hero shoots every single man and keeps on rolling...a spree of killing occur when our protagonist gets anxiety-stricken under the fright of getting caught...at last, the couple set their way within the desolate desert heading the borderline of montana, living in an even more primitively exclusive way like eating grass until one day the girl awakens to realize that this man ain't for her...

    as for why it's romantic? i suppose, in a way, both characters have a residue of innocence within them, particularly the childlike detachment sissy spacek holds, her character is like that sort of person you feel comfort in getting along with even you may not notice her that much, she seems like that sort of person who won't pass a judgemental contempt to you no matter what you have done, she just quietly does her own thinking without casting a disturbance on anyone like a misanthropic child who just enjoys galloping in the forest on her own...martin sheen, in that stage of his career, appears fresh-lookingly handsome with an undercurrent rebellious temperament, a freewheeling youthful air infuses a light-headed charisma into him..his character is more like wondrous man who accidentally commits a horrible crime but he continues doing it just to see whether he could make a freeman out of himself again by killing off all the witnesses because he's an adventurist who's willing to take all the risks... he's also a romanticist who would stop the cadillac in the middle of barren desert at dark night to dance with his girlfriend along the melody of nat king cole spontaneously flowing from radio, whose ultimate fear of death is just that he doesn't wish to die alone without a girl to scream his name out, who's poetic by soul to be in awe with the grand sight of tangerine sunset with clouds etwined like a gigantic castle....eventually he surrenders to the police under the pretense of flat tire because he doesn't wish to carry on alone with the girl by his side, and also he voluteers to keep the girl's records clean before he's sentenced into the electric chair..

    sissy specek's narratives just feel so self-absorbed like someone's reciting her own precious diaries, and the movie takes the woman's visage to move on, and the tone of her voice sounds apathetically introspective..she doesn't seem to be happy or particularly sad, and far from angst-ridden..she simply exists and encounters a gorgeous boy who looks like james dean, who seems to appreciate her as what she is, for that, she's gratified even he's the murderer of her father and he seems to have a hidden violent streak. but strangely she tends to live along with that fine as if her senses are buried into an autistic universe of naive wonderments for the world until she starts to acknowledge the consequences of things at last, so farewell to girlhood and puberty!

    "badlands" is a subdued treat to the eye for baring the poetic inland america, and middle-east states could be quite enchanting with a simplistic allure which is originally american, and as the audience, i feel the grusome aspect of those spree-killings is shielded out of a vacuum of outlandish reveries within the core of the protagonists' hearts which are filled with every bit of purity and candidness in a society which wouldn't take individuality into its frigid consideration as if life's a fast-living dream and at next moment you die in an electric chair after slumbering over a melodic tune of nat kind cole's..after all, the world ain't for dreamers!
  • KESSLER72
    December 6, 2009
    KESSLER72
    i expected a hell of a lot more out of BADLANDS and man i didn't get it. Barely passable.
  • addienairzan
    December 4, 2009
    addienairzan
    kill-kill, bore-bore.
  • rajiv23gooners
    November 14, 2009
    rajiv23gooners
    this is for me the worst malick's film, but you know, when i said malick's worst, it could be someone's masterpiece, this is actually a really good film, an accomplished one, but my problem is just as simply as this film is different from other malick's film, this is not as insig...( read more)htful as the thin red line, not as beautiful as days of heaven, and not as epic as the new world, but considering this is his debut, i forgive him, at least this film showed malick's potential, with that interesting narration, which later become malick's trademark.,
    the important things from this movie are, this movie inspires many modern movies like natural born killer, and true romance (quite big inspiration for tarantino, eh?), and Kit Carruthers could be one of the most interesting characters in cinema..
  • Steel20
    October 26, 2009
    Steel20
    This movie was daring and made to stand the test of time and that it has accomplished. The rebel without a cause was one of the reasons this movie was put out there. He had nowhere to fit in and started out a path of his own, only wanting to be remembered. A twisted yet very crea...( read more)tive film.
  • wrongrobot
    October 24, 2009
    wrongrobot
    i love this film, its so clever
  • jturner083
    October 15, 2009
    jturner083
    A true telling of the Stark weather serial killings in the Dakotas. Violent and suspenseful with young Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. They were young and in love; she was reckless and slutty, he was a murdering psychopath. Ah, romantic.
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    This is Malick at his best. Often copied (True Romance) but never matched. This is an American classic, not to be missed!
  • rushemjo
    September 11, 2009
    rushemjo
    Mmm I like Sissy Spacek will have to watch it
  • AD917
    September 2, 2009
    AD917
    Amazing performances from Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, and some really beautiful cinematography. A good portion of Tarantino?s script for ?True Romance? was obviously inspired by (or a rip off of) this movie. The theme songs/scores are even almost identical.
  • kubrickian
    August 16, 2009
    kubrickian
    Kit Carruthers could be one of the most interesting characters in cinema.
  • cinemikeinfrance
    July 29, 2009
    cinemikeinfrance
    Poetry arrives at the door of the cinema...
  • KateBerger
    July 6, 2009
    KateBerger
    Love the neutral tone it takes..feels almost like a pre-cursor to the Cohens.
  • babyinametalsuit
    June 26, 2009
    babyinametalsuit
    This is one of those rare occasion in which I am forced to call into question my powers of taste...eration. What I mean to say is, this is a movie that I know I should love, but for whatever reason I could never really get emotionally involved in the story. My brain was like YES ...( read more)but my body was like eh. I realize the story and the storytelling are both complex and nobody is supposed to be like "oh man that Kit guy is so cool man I wanna be just like him" and that part of the point is to produce some sort of ambivalence but even with that in mind I wasn't really able to hop on board. I suppose its just difficult to be moved by a film that reveals so little about the things I am familiar with... whatevs, it was good, check it out fo sho.
  • DrZeek
    June 21, 2009
    DrZeek
    Holly Sargis: At this moment, I didn't feel shame or fear, but just kind of blah, like when you're sitting there and all the water's run out of the bathtub.

    A Terrence Malick film about a couple on the run for the majority of the film. The story is based on a real life killer c...( read more)ouple, but this film is not focused on what drives them to murder, it is more about people stuck in a banal life and taking a new turn. However, it combines a sense of not caring on one side and developing a new level of social outcast on another.

    Martin Sheen stars as Kit, a young man who is from the wrong side of the tracks, working as a garbage man. Kit one day sees Holly, played by Sissy Spacek and immediately strikes up a relationship with her. Holly keeps this from her father, played by Warren Oates, but eventually he finds out and bans Holly from seeing Kit. In response, Kit kills Holly's father, and the two go on the run. At first they stick to the woods, but after Kit murders some bounty hunters who were after them, the two drive into the great plains, spending their time together, being known as the most dangerous people out in the open.

    This was a very interesting film and I credit it to Martin Sheen. He underplays his role, never having much of an outburst in emotion and despite seeming to be trigger happy, his justification is credible to himself in its own sort of way. He also has a quiet cool about him and its no coincidence that he is said to resemble James Dean on more than one occasion.

    I wasn't a big fan of Spacek in this film. Her character was too underplayed for me. I understand that it is part of the character, but her reaction in many situations is way too passive and her personality doesn't seem to justify it. However, her narration is effective.

    Unlike the more recent Malick films that are very natural, quiet, and long, this film is paced fairly evenly, has an engaging story, with two actors working well off each other. It is also not very long. These aspects all add to a film that is quite good looking, even with its violence. Malick has a way of shooting the outdoors that makes everything seem calming in a way.

    It was also nice to see how one of my favorite films, True Romance, was clearly influenced by this movie. In terms of its score, narration, and two lovers on the run plot-line, its clear that Tarantino is an admirer of this film as well.

    A very interesting and engaging film, with a great performance by Sheen.

    Holly Sargis: He needed me now more than ever, but something had come between us. I'd stopped even paying attention to him. Instead I sat in the car and read a map and spelled out entire sentences with my tongue on the roof of mouth where nobody could read them.
  • clmiller9
    June 8, 2009
    clmiller9
    Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as star-crossed lovers...ahhh. Great film.
  • bjaccobs
    April 18, 2009
    bjaccobs
    Martin Sheen plays a guy who falls in love with a fifteen year old girl (played by Sissy Spacek) and after murdering her father, the two of them go on a cross country murder spree.
    I can't write anything that hasn't already been written about this fantastic film. Check it out i...( read more)f you get the chance.
  • Rossjm
    April 13, 2009
    Rossjm
    This film shows how much you can achieve with such a low budget.
    A talented cast, a great director behind the camera and a piece of music to suit the mood perfectly, the outcome of this film was perfect, despite the budget.

    It is entrancingly shocking with a fantastic depth a...( read more)nd proves to be just as good as the earlier Bonnie and Clyde, and later Natural Born Killers. Not as good as Bonnie and Clyde, but better than Natural Born Killers definately.

    I couldn't take my eyes off this masterpiece since it first started. It is directed so well with a unique touch and the pacing is even, carried by the two perfect leads, Sheen and Spacek. The naiveity of Spacek's character is believable and the confidence of Sheen's character is just as believable. The personalities of the characters come to life on the screen in such a wonderful way.

    A very under-rated film, with very few of my flixster friends having actually seen this. It is a classic thriller/drama and should be seen by more people.
  • alienun711
    January 23, 2009
    alienun711
    martin sheen
    sissy spacek







    martin sheen

    sissy spacek
  • specanha13
    January 20, 2009
    specanha13
    excellent movie ! Beautiful takes. The photography like anothers Malick`s movies is wonderful.
  • stevestrange
    January 17, 2009
    stevestrange
    Historically accurate, a rare quality in American films.
  • paulanthonynelson
    January 10, 2009
    paulanthonynelson
    Terrence Malick's film debut is one of the best ever. The dude had no right to be this assured his first time out. A masterpiece of mood, with so many distinctive shots, moments and lines of dialogue, not to mention that music score (the opening theme of which was appropriated --...( read more) with a wink -- by Tony Scott and TRUE ROMANCE two decades later).
  • jmillerdp
    January 4, 2009
    jmillerdp
    Terence Malick's quiet, haunting tale of outlaw lovers on the run. Desolate locations and troubled characters collide in this unique film.
  • sunb34mm
    December 4, 2008
    sunb34mm
    great ! probably inspired most of its genre...
  • JATbobDYLAN93
    November 21, 2008
    JATbobDYLAN93
    James Dean meets Natural Born Killer. but not so good as that movies.
  • engrymfilm
    November 19, 2008
    engrymfilm
    Well, now I know where True Romance stole its theme song
  • benjaminminter
    October 17, 2008
    benjaminminter
    perfect, perfect and perfect. does not get much better than this.
  • johnattridge
    September 19, 2008
    johnattridge
    She was a simple girl, with "no personality and not being pretty". He combed his hair and looked like James Dean, and she thinks "he is the most handsomest man I've ever seen". They secretly fell in love after meeting on her front lawn. And when her daddy found out ...( read more)he shot him so they could be together.

    Terrence Malick's directorial debut 'Badlands' is a haunting love story, a journey about two lost souls who find themselves hunted by the authorities after turning to murder to escape their past. The press claim she has him wrapped around her little finger, but he seems to be leading the way for the most part. Malick's vision is almost classical in it's philosophy, but eccentric and unique in execution.

    Inspired by the committed murders of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, Kit and Holly are a pair of loved-up teens who are almost alienated from the rest of the world. Spacek narrates as shy and naive Holly as though writing the memoirs of an Austen love story in her diary, and views the world through her teenage glasses with an intense and unperturbed vulnerability. A young Martin Sheen is Kit, the boy out to do good by her at the expense of quite a few lives.

    What sets 'Badlands' apart from many killing-spree thrillers or teenage romances is its soft avoidance of the generic. Malick layers the occurences with rich cinematography and dusty scenery to help align the tone with the poetic and melodious music; the result is one of hypnotic fascination. As Kit and Holly descend into their abyss of crime and punishment, they only ever treat their actions as minor inconveniences to an otherwise idyllic 'marriage'.

    Through the potent atmosphere and barren landscape what shines through is the inescapable loneliness of both of the characters. Their relationship and crimes are forced to take a back seat so Malick can effectively advance the equally banal and peculiar isolation of two simple individuals, and it makes for absoloutely compelling viewing. The humour is offbeat and quirky, the acting stellar, and the picture bursting with rich and passionate argument, and a vivid lens.

    'Badlands' is pure poetry.
  • ncarrasco90
    July 28, 2008
    ncarrasco90
    el mejo road movie q he visto. una obra maestra. le sigue de cerca Bonnie & Clyde, y tal vez Natural Born Killers (aunque no sea fan de esa pelicula, no puedo decir q no es buena...)
  • SadisticMinister
    July 15, 2008
    SadisticMinister
    Nice and mellow.
    Martin Sheen is cooler than the average.
  • sweetkibibi
    July 9, 2008
    sweetkibibi
    It's a slow movie that is dealing with a subject of rebelion and freedom as well as love. I may compare it with Bonnie & Clyde story and the cause they are fighting for is pretty much the same. Dialogs and music are defenetly the better side of this movie. Of course the acting i...( read more)s superb too! The whole movie has some strange,hypnotic atmosphere.
  • Jewciferdude
    July 7, 2008
    Jewciferdude
    Terrence Malick's second best work.
  • crudgie95
    July 4, 2008
    crudgie95
    When Holly, an ordinary, shy 15 year old girl meets the charismatic, rebellious Kit, her world is flipped upside down as she falls head over heels for him. After committing a series of crimes the pair become felons and go on the run together. What begins as a dangerous and excit...( read more)ing liaison soon becomes an isolated and lonely venture. 'Badlands' is superb at displaying the passion and necessity for true love, but also at showing its destructive and darker qualities. This is shown mainly through it's superb characters played by some truly remarkable actors. Sissey Spacek shines in her quiet, naive portrayal of Holly, but it is Martin Sheen who steals the show as criminal Kit, embodying an incredibly powerful charm and likeability. Sheen never falls out of character, he is so focused and dedicated to a role that could have so easily been misinterpreted and portrayed in a much more manic and negative way. Despite the characters crimes, his charm is never lessened, from start to finish Sheen is the films flawed hero and quite rightly hailed as the new James Dean. What also makes the film memorable is it's gentle, melodious score and wonderful wide shots, both adding to the films themes of love and seclusion. 'Badlands' is an excellent film due to its display of superb acting, attractive scenery, and simplistic directing. Truly Compelling stuff.
  • hobster1
    June 27, 2008
    hobster1
    Terrence Malick's best film.
  • grantmalf
    June 27, 2008
    grantmalf
    Terence Malick's Badlands is as mysterious and enigmatic as the director himself. There are hints of Bonnie and Clyde, and it would go on to inspire such films as Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. However Badlands is a character study unlike either of those films, depicting is...( read more)olation and despair in a way not matched since. Both Sheen and Spacek give monumentally good performances with Sheen in particular embodying all that is cool and rebellious in 50's American counter-culture, but is also capable of detached brutality and violence. His character kills not for enjoyment, revenge, or any other sinister purpose but simply to keep on keeping on. His distorted sense of self importance is also fascinating to watch as he does not seek idolisation but utterly believes his actions hold a certain value.
    Terrence Malick may have failed to be the prolific director many hoped he would be, but Badland's is a classic that any Joe Hollywood director would gladly trade an entire career worth of mediocre movies just for the chance to make.
  • egyptiansushi
    June 26, 2008
    egyptiansushi
    some pretty neat disaffection with the voiceover/video contrasts.
  • supdawg1985
    June 13, 2008
    supdawg1985
    This little known Bonnie and Clyde like story from the 70's has built up a cult following over the years, but I can't exactly say I'm part of that group. In the small-town of Fort Dupre, South Dakota, not much happens, until 20-something garbage collector Kit meets young, naive ...( read more)Holly. They are an unusual, contrasted match, but they end up falling head over heels for each other, much to the dismay of Holly's protective father. He demands that the two never see each other, and Kit takes matters into his own grisly hands, murdering him, and setting the house on fire, while Holly watches with confused emotions. The two then saddle up and run away as outlaws on a murder spree, and as time goes by, bodies start to pile, and the two become a sort of local folk tale in the Midwest. This movie wastes potential in my opinion. What could have been a socially aware and fascinating movie, was washed out by the rather ambiguous lead character, Kit. Their wasn't a whole lot of insight into such a disturbed person, and I was left void of emotion with all the senseless violence. There is some poetic value here, and it's presented through the narration of the impressionable Holly, but this is mostly a vague story based on the true life murders of 1958.
  • shortcartoonist
    June 12, 2008
    shortcartoonist
    Wildly offsetting, wildly captivating, and wild in its own substance, Badlands is an inventive and thoughtful picture that holds motion in every department. Sheen's 'Dean-esque' portrayal supplements the wondrous visuals laden before the up-beat, jittering sound score. The film i...( read more)s not so much a tale of morals, but more a look into the psyche and the cause of actions, all the while probing the role of the celebrity and the role of wealth in a growing society.
  • Kabita100
    May 26, 2008
    Kabita100
    A frighteningly raw insight into small town 1950's America - stagnant and ordinary on the surface, hard and dissatisfied underneath. Malick expertly captures the taboo relationship between Holly and Kit, taking us deep into the latter's twisted psychology and his obsession of wan...( read more)ting to be famous, no matter what the cost. The lack of fancy camera work and special effects gives the viewer the feeling that they are watching a real slice of life, and the fact that Badlands is based on a true story not only makes Kit's character more shocking, but also incredibly pathetic.
  • kingmob6
    May 8, 2008
    kingmob6
    I think this may be the first film I've ever seen by director Terrance Mallick, and it was great.

    A beautifully shot look at a couple of kids on the run, making steadily worse decisions, based on the Starkweather crime spree of the
    50's.

    Recommended.
  • Blaxunshine
    April 29, 2008
    Blaxunshine
    A rich blend of narrative & story of love & killing. Sheen & Spacek play it perfectly
  • kenstachnik
    April 23, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Amazing film by Terrance Mallick that is obviously a heavy influence on QT.

    There are finger prints from this film on Natural Born Killers, Death Proof and especially True Romance
  • spacecasefukface
    April 20, 2008
    spacecasefukface
    based on charles starkweather this movie plays out alot like "natural born killer" but instead of hating martin sheen's character for killing innocent people ... you kinda feel sorry for him...sheen and spacek are amazing in this film ....

Summary

Badlands Summary