Badlands [DVD] [1973]

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Product Description ------------------- A garbage collector (Martin Sheen) and his impressionable girlfriend (Sissy Spacek) kill her her when he disapproves of their relationship, and embark on a homicidal trail of destruction across the Midwestern United States. Based on the true case of Starkweather and Fugate in the 1950s, Terrence Malick's directorial debut has influenced many subsequent writers and directors - notably Quentin Tarantino whose screenplays for 'True Romance' and 'Natural Born Killers' owe 'Badlands' an obvious debt. .co.uk Review ------------- Terrence Malick's Badlands has become a cornerstone in American cinema. Although not a success at the box office at the time of its release in 1973, its influence can be seen years later in the Tarantino-penned Natural Born Killers and True Romance among others, and it remains arguably one of the finest debuts by a director in Hollywood history. Astonishingly, Malick has only made two movies since: Days of Heaven ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MFHG/${0} ) (1979) and The Thin Red Line ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004TBT2/${0} ) (1998). Badlands also brought Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek to the notice of Hollywood for the first time. on a low budget, the film (based on Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate's 1958 killing spree) portrays a loved-up couple on the run from the law who embark on a series of killings motivated by their need to survive. The film has become a classic, partly due to Tak Fujimoto's cinematography and partly due to the detached attitude the couple adopt towards murder. Like Tarantino's later anti-heroes and heroines, Kit and Holly are killers without conscience. Holly's naïve teenage mentality makes her passive attitude seem even more shocking, and her only comment that leads us to believe she has any grasp of the situation is when she mentions that Kit may be a little crazy. Yet there is also an innocent, "young love" side to the couple's actions which the audience cannot fail to feel pity for, greatly helped by the pairing of Sheen and Spacek as well as Malick's gift for drawing the finest and most sensitive performances from his actors. On the DVD: Badlands has been cleaned up nicely with a 1.85:1 widescreen print and 5.1 surround sound. Although seemingly short of extras the one included on the disc is a real gem: "Absence of Malick" offers in into this notoriously publicity-shy director from the cast and crew and the reason why he ended up acting in his own movie. --Nikki Disney