Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

77% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
67% of users liked it
(5,766 ratings)

"Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." These opening words of Kurt Vonnegut's famous novel make an effective and short summary of a haunting, funny film. For the screen, director George Roy Hill faithfully renders Vonnegut's black anti-war comedy about Pilgrim (well played in a low key by Michael… More "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." These opening words of Kurt Vonnegut's famous novel make an effective and short summary of a haunting, funny film. For the screen, director George Roy Hill faithfully renders Vonnegut's black anti-war comedy about Pilgrim (well played in a low key by Michael Sacks), who survives the horrendous 1945 fire bombing of Dresden then lives simultaneously in his past as a naïve American POW and in the future as a well-cared-for zoo resident on the planet Tralfamadore (with zaftig Valerie Perrine as his mate). In the present, he's a middle-aged optometrist in Ilium, NY. If this sounds like a bit of a jumble -- it is. But viewers willing to watch carefully will find the movie as intricate and harmonious as Glenn Gould's plaintive renderings of the Bach keyboard pieces that decorate its soundtrack. It's not essential, but fans who read the short, poetic book will find it a treat in itself, and it will help them appreciate Hill's genius in bringing this "Children's Crusade" to the screen. In addition to Sacks, there are noteworthy performances by Ron Leibman (Norma's union man in Norma Rae) as Pilgrim's crazed nemesis and by radio/TV/movie legend, John Dehner as the arrogant Professor Rumfoord. Hill, of course, came to this film from a big hit, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and went on to triumph with The Sting one year later. The elaborate medieval and baroque architecture of pre-bombing Dresden was represented authentically in the film by scenes from Prague, since much of Dresden's architecture was lost to the bombing, and that city, in any case, was deep in East Germany, thus inaccessible at the time of filming. ~ Michael P. Rogers, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: George Roy Hill
Written By: Stephen Geller, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Genres: Drama, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 15, 1972 Limited
On DVD: Oct 10, 2000
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The film captures the essence of the book even while diverging from it. Vonnegut himself always claimed to be extremely pleased with it.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Embora consiga se manter fiel à trama e à estrutura narrativa do fabuloso livro de Vonnegut, falha por não ter força dramática e por captar apenas parcialmente a intensa mensagem anti-belicista da obra original.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Interesting, if not fully realized, version of the Vonnegut novel.
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
The best of the Vonnegut adaptations

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Randy T

Like Kurt Vonnegut's novel, <i>Slaughterhouse-Five</i> blurs the line between fantasy and reality, intermingling the two until they're inseparable and indiscernible.
Melvin W

Billy Pilgrim: It's time for me to be dead for a little while. And then live again. I give you the Tralfamadorian greeting: Hello. Farewell. Hello. Farewell. Eternally connected, eternally embracing. Hello. Farewell. "Billy Pilgrim lives- from time to time." I… More
Billy Pilgrim: It's time for me to be dead for a little while. And then live again. I give you the Tralfamadorian greeting: Hello. Farewell. Hello. Farewell. Eternally connected, eternally embracing. Hello. Farewell. "Billy Pilgrim lives- from time to time." I believe Slaughterhouse- Five to be a pretty good adaptation of Vonnegut's masterpiece novel. First off, Vonnegut himself said that this is a worthy adaptation and he should probably have the last word on that issue. The book is one of my personal favorites. So obviously the movie isn't going to be as good, but I didn't expect it to be. I hate when people criticize a movie for not being as good as the book. They can't include every little detail from the book, so obviously some areas are going to suffer slightly. This adaptation left out a lot of stuff, but that's normal. Only one exclusion made me slightly angry and that was Kilgore Trout; the science fiction novelist from the book. I think his inclusion would have helped a lot of people who hadn't read the book understand the story a little better. With the comparisons to the book out of the way, I have to say I was fairly satisfied with this movie. Going in, I didn't really know how this movie was going to be. The novel had to be incredibly hard to adapt, but George Roy Hill and company do a fantastic job with Vonnegut's structure. It's incoherent, yet coherent, both at the same time. Michael Sacks is everything I pictured when I read the book. He does a fantastic job. The only part of the story that did leave me a little underwhelmed was Tralfamadore. But to be fair, I wouldn't know how to make it any better; I just such high hopes for those scenes going in. It's obviously flawed, as every adaption is, but it's still a good film. If you're interested in the movie, I'd read the book also. You won't be sorry. The book is amazing and the film is a pretty solid companion piece to it.
AJ V

This just goes to show how not all books can be adapted to film. This movie is a mess, and boring one at that. Stay away from it, and read the book instead.
Curtis L

Yet another shining example of a 70's movie trying to be weird. They always end up impossible to pay attention to.
Tim S

George Roy Hill scores again. I have not read this book so maybe I am way off, but I really enjoyed the film.
Lafe F

Interesting time travel film with some sad and miserable World War II scenes. Overall, it's engaging and reveals itself to be quite complex.
Jennifer X

kind of convoluted but good concepts. by far one of the more successful adaptations of a vonnegut book.
Steve S

Ome of Vonnegut's more imaginative stories, reasonably well dramatized.
hawk l

Intricate, harmonious and faithful rendering of Kurt Vonnegut's black anti-war "Children's Crusade" comedy. Noteworthy performances from Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman and John Dehner.