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From Amazon.com essential video
The Killing is a perfect introduction to the art and joys of film noir, and its bizarre narrative structure has been copied many times since. For a terrific double feature, see it with John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle, another noir masterpiece featuring Hayden; or Paths of Glory, Kubrick's next picture, again cowritten with Thompson; or even Jackie Brown, in which Quentin Tarantino pays homage to the ways this film leaps around in time. More commercial than some of Kubrick's later work, The Killing remains a tour de force by one of the world's finest filmmakers. --Raphael Shargel
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
...and then there was one - Early Kubrick Classic,
By
This review is from: Killing (VHS Tape)
This Classic Kubrick Crime Drama is one of the top Hollywood Film Noire entries. The usual "toughs" planning the big heist, the one to retire on. Since Classic Hollywood never allowed the bad guys to win, everyone can predict that all will not be well once the end credits roll.All of the elements are here: Little guys who never got an even break, a Delilah-like wife of a simpleton, who won't settle for small-time life, a happily married older guy with a wife in need of expensive medical care, a guy just released from prison, who doesn't ever want to go back, and the rest of the usual suspects. Several scenes are quite moving; several times character's are shown saying their goodbyes to loved ones, as though they don't expect to ever see them again, when they are only supposed to "go to work". Watch for another scene in the final third of the film involving a horse-shoe. It makes a powerful statement of conventions in 1950s America. Very few films have a truly memorable "last line". This is one of them! Of course, I won't give it away, as it requires an elaborate set-up, but you'll agree that it's one of the best last lines ever! As for "The Killing" as a nostalgic Crime Drama and exemplary film noire, I confidently give it 5 stars!*****
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tightly plotted, hamstrung by dialogue.,
By
This review is from: Killing, the (DVD)
The Killing (Stanley Kubrick, 1956)For many years, I have been fond of saying that the only Kubrick film I could stomach was Lolita. While The Killing isn't up to those standards (and certainly doesn't rate a spot in IMDB's Top 250, where it sits as I write this), it's certainly a film with rewatchability potential. Johnny Clay (The Godfather's Sterling Hayden) has just gotten out after a five-year stint in prison, and needs cash. He concocts a scheme to knock over a racetrack to the tune of $2 million, give or take a few rubles. Putting together a core team of five guys, and with two on the periphery, they plan and execute the crime. That, of course, is when things start getting interesting. This is good, solid film noir, for the most part. Where it fails to make the cut are in the narration (and Kubrick's bouncing back and forth in time like a pinball, which necessitates it) and the dialogue, written by cult favorite Jim Thompson (The Grifters, The Killer Inside Me, etc). The dialogue has about as much meat to it as one finds in a typical Spillane novel; it's fun, but "timeless" is not a word I'd use to describe it by a longshot. That being the case, it's hard for the actors involved to really get their heads around most parts; they do the best they can with what they have, and in some cases, that's enough to make the characters come alive. Elisha Cook, Jr., is especially good, despite having some of the most ineffectual dialogue ever written for a straight mystery film. The strongest part of the film, on the other hand, is the ending, a shaggy-dog-story style beauty that would later appear in a different form in Ocean's Eleven (the original, good version, not that overblown Soderbergh piece of trash). It is inevitable, and beautiful. Worth watching, but don't expect greatness. ***
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Kubrick Film!,
By
This review is from: The Killing: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Excellent early Kubrick masterpiece!Sterling Hayden is his usual wonderfully steady character; Marie Windsor is both sexy and despicable; and all other actors do an outstanding job. Highly Recommended!
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