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Movies / On DVD / The Killing
The Killing

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The Killing (1956)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:24

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.2/10

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Sterling Hayden stars in Stanley Kubrick's crime noir classic, THE KILLING, based on crime Lionel White's novel CLEAN BREAK. Hayden plays Johnny Clay, an ex-con with a plan to steal $2 million from... Sterling Hayden stars in Stanley Kubrick's crime noir classic, THE KILLING, based on crime Lionel White's novel CLEAN BREAK. Hayden plays Johnny Clay, an ex-con with a plan to steal $2 million from a San Francisco racetrack. He assembles an odd collection of tough guys and moles to participate in the heist. But just as there is no such thing as the perfect murder, there is no such thing as the perfect crime... The film features terrific performances from Hayden, Elisha Cook, Marie Windsor, and the rest of the talented cast. Kubrick, who brought in pulp writer Jim Thompson to create the perfect dialogue, tells the story with a nonlinear, fractured-time narrative, following each of the main characters separately as they prepare for the big day. Featuring Kubrick's flawless direction and wonderfully atmospheric photography, anchored by a jazz-tinged score by Gerald Fried, THE KILLING is one of the most intense noir heist films ever made. [More]

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Elisha Cook, Timothy Carey, Coleen Gray

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Elisha Cook, Timothy Carey, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Marie Windsor

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, Jim Thompson
Producer: James B. Harris
Composer: Gerald Fried

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 23, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • NTSC
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer

Interactive Features:

  • Scene Access
  • Interactive Menus

Text/Photo Galleries:

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Reviews for The Killing

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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No review available.

comment Comment
02/21/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Kubrick made grander and greater films, but this is among his most dramatic.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/03/07
Channel 4 Film

Even though he was just staring out, Kubrick instantly mastered the crime genre. A stunning film.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/03/07
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine

[The film] at first tends to be somewhat confusing, soon settles into a tense and suspenseful vein which carries through to an unexpected and ironic windup.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/08/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Arguably Stanley Kubrick's most perfectly conceived and executed film.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/08/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Stanley Kubrick's masterful manipulation of chronology brings an excruciating sense of doom to The Killing, a classical noir about a carefully threaded heist unraveled by the scheming of a fiendish femme.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/01/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

Characteristically Kubrick in both its mechanistic coldness and its vision of human endeavour undone by greed and deceit, this noir-ish heist movie is nevertheless far more satisfying than most of his later work.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Stanley Kubrick's third film established him as a full-fledged filmmaker and a potential master.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
02/04/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
06/28/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
06/04/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
02/24/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
02/22/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment 4 Comments
01/08/04
Greg Maki
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

Com uma estrutura narrativa avançada para sua época, este longa é mais uma prova (desnecessária, claro) de que Kubrick sempre foi um Mestre em sua arte.

comment Comment
01/06/04
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Hardboiled early Kubrick.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Strongly recommended for any film noir fan -- it's full of double-crosses and surprises, loaded with honest crooks, weak men, one wicked woman and some great two-fisted dialogue.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

No review available.

comment Comment
10/01/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/31/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
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