The Killer Elite

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The Killer Elite

PG

1975

2h 3m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

32%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Friends George Hansen (Robert Duvall) and Mike Locken (James Caan) are hit men who do contract jobs for a company called Com-Teg, associated with the CIA. But, when George gets a better offer from the competition, he turns on Mike, breaking his elbow and shoulder. It takes Mike a long time and a lot of physical therapy to get back on the job, but he does -- and coincidentally finds himself protecting a client whom Hansen and his gang are simultaneously being paid to assassinate.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Oct 25, 2023

The images in The Killer Elite are charged, and you have the feeling that not one is wasted.

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Richard Combs

Sight & Sound

Jan 27, 2020

The result is a strangely dissonant and compelling entertainment, an unsettling criss-cross of Chinatown Nights' fantasy and dyspeptic meditation on figures set firmly in their contemporary landscape.

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Richard Eder

New York Times

May 9, 2005

1.5/5

Sam Peckinpah knows how to make movies but perhaps he has forgotten why.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Dec 29, 2024

4/10

Sadly, the bulk of the picture is waiting; waiting for rehabilitation, waiting for orders, waiting for amateurish mistakes, waiting for ambushes, waiting for negotiations to end, and waiting for action.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 9, 2023

3/5

…Perhaps this isn’t Peckinpah’s best, but The Killer Elite’s conspiracy theories still give it the hard edge that a crime thriller requires…

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Bernard Drew

Gannett News Service

Oct 21, 2019

It is not as violent as usual, simply boring, confused and interminable.

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thiago S

@Thiagostone May 18, 2026

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Joaquin U

@Joaquin1 Mar 30, 2026

Popcorn movie. It's entertaining, but a bit long. Good cast. This half-century-old movie is at least a good sample of that bygone era, not so far away, which should be interesting to watch today. As a thriller, there's not much thrill to it, but watching Caan, Duval, and Young is a nice enticement.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jun 28, 2025

Success in 2 hours and 2 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Alain E

@AlainE Jun 10, 2025

Convoluted and ultimately nihilistic storyline. US agents are double crossed and then further played on. In the beginning we have the recovery of James Caan and a love affair with his nurse. Once we go to the second part of the movie concerning the supposed rescue of the Chinese leader, the girlfriend is discarded never to be heard again. Very realistic depiction of Caan’s injuries and surgical wounds. Watchable, but unbalanced.

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bob c

@RT46426964 Feb 7, 2025

Starts average and falls steadily into junk

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Will G

@Kingofthepixies Jan 12, 2025

Very unevenly paced action thriller, poor script, partly saved by burt young, a much undervalued actor in my opinion. Not one of peckinpahs best days.

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Synopsis

Friends George Hansen (Robert Duvall) and Mike Locken (James Caan) are hit men who do contract jobs for a company called Com-Teg, associated with the CIA. But, when George gets a better offer from the competition, he turns on Mike, breaking his elbow and shoulder. It takes Mike a long time and a lot of physical therapy to get back on the job, but he does -- and coincidentally finds himself protecting a client whom Hansen and his gang are simultaneously being paid to assassinate.

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Producer: Martin Baum, Arthur Lewis
Screenwriter: Marc Norman, Stirling Silliphant
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Persky-Bright Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 19, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 12, 2017
Runtime: 2h 3m

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