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Movies / On DVD / Cruising
Cruising

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Cruising (1980)

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Reviews Counted:26

Fresh:15

Rotten:11

Average Rating:5.2/10

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: A sadistic serial killer is targeting New York's gay community and, in response, the NYPD sends rookie cop Steve Burns undercover to find the killer. Burns, who is straight, poses as a homosexual... A sadistic serial killer is targeting New York's gay community and, in response, the NYPD sends rookie cop Steve Burns undercover to find the killer. Burns, who is straight, poses as a homosexual and enters the world of gay S&M sex clubs, learning their rules and mores as he goes along. But as Burns arduously tracks down the murderer, he finds himself growing attracted to these clubs and the gay lifestyle, forcing him to question -- and possibly confront -- his own sexual identity. [More]

Starring: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox

Starring: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox, Don Scardino, Sonny Grosso

Director: William Friedkin

Director: William Friedkin

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Release:

Sep 18, 2007

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Cruising

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Friedkin makes the kind of films that a pod from Invasion of the Body Snatchers might make given the chance.

Full Review Source: Kinetofilm | comment Comment
12/28/09
Brian Holcomb
Brian Holcomb
Kinetofilm
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

still unsettling even after far more explicit fare has been produced in recent years

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/20/07
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A lot of upcoming filmmakers saw "Cruising" and took notes, because the movie became the prototype for every serial killer movie to follow (see "Se7en," "Basic Instinct" etc.).

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
09/22/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The film comes off as little more than a sensationalized exploitation flick.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
09/21/07
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Was it insensitive to make this film when it stood to represent the gay subculture to mainstream America? Yes. Is it a great film? No. But it is a fascinating relic.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
09/20/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Is it offensive? Yes and no. It's insensitive, certainly. And I wouldn't want my mother watching it, lest she think I've been in a sling in the meatpacking district for most of my adult life.

Full Review Source: AfterElton.com | comment Comment
09/18/07
Brian Juergens
Brian Juergens
AfterElton.com

Its gamy images inside the leather and S&M gay bars along the Greenwich Village waterfront are both busy and dark.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/07/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cruising can now be ranked among Friedkin's very best films.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
09/06/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

'Cruising' views better today than in 1980, but that is relative. There remain bothersome errors in consistency and judgment.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/06/07
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

No one would get away with it now, or even try.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
09/06/07
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cruising is a mediocre thriller but an amazing time capsule -- a heady, horny flashback to the last gasp of full-blown sexual abandon, and easily the most graphic depiction of gay sex ever seen in a mainstream movie.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/04/07
Nathan Lee
Nathan Lee
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Why Cruising? Why now? And why does it feel like how you answer those questions will determine which side pocket you keep your handkerchief in?

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
09/03/07
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Both on a conceptual level and in practice, Cruising buys into and advances some of the most dangerous myths about homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
09/03/07
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

The most shocking thing about Cruising (shown in 2007 Cannes Fest), which occupies a unique place in film history, is its thematic and visual audacity, the fact that it was made by a mainstream director (Friedkin) and studio; it will never happen again.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/18/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Sordid, disturbing murder mystery revolving around leather bar gays.

comment Comment
05/09/07
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

William Friedkin's Cruising is an interesting, albeit grisly, detective story before being damaged by an abrupt, out-of-the-blue and totally unsatisfying ending.

comment Comment
01/26/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Incoherent, unpleasant, politically problematic, plus one of Al Pacino's most intensely bad performances. Yup. It's a winner.

comment Comment
12/31/05
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/10/05
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Cruising

September 14, 2007: Interview: Picking Up on William Friedkin's Cruising
William Friedkin will forever be remembered as one of the legendary New Hollywood directors of the 1970s. Read on for our sit-down with the man who made such classics as The... More...

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