X
- 1956
- Approved
- United Artists
- 1 h 24 m
- 1956
- Approved
- United Artists
- 1 h 24 m
Summary Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five man team to plan and execute a daring race-track robbery.
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick
Written By: Jim Thompson, Lionel White, Stanley Kubrick
- 1956
- Approved
- United Artists
- 1 h 24 m
- 1956
- Approved
- United Artists
- 1 h 24 m
The Killing
7.5
Where to Watch
Summary Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five man team to plan and execute a daring race-track robbery.
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick
Written By: Jim Thompson, Lionel White, Stanley Kubrick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
91
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
91
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The word that occurs to me in describing Kubrick's approach to Johnny and the film, is "control." That may suggest the link between this first mature feature and Kubrick's later films, so varied and brilliant.
Stanley Kubrick was always infatuated with human clockwork, both in terms of what makes each of us tick and how we choreograph our lives, deaths, and sins. The Killing, his big heist movie, suits this obsession perfectly. It is often considered, and rightly, his first masterpiece.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
10% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
10% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Orson Welles was so taken with this film that after seeing it he declared Kubrick could do no wrong; not to be missed.
Forty years later, The Killing has lost little of its punch. It's both vintage '50s noir and a stunning introduction to a killer director. [22 Jul 1998, p.L]
Centering on a racetrack robbery, it has fast, incisive cutting; a nervous, edgy style; and furtive little touches of characterization.
If anything identifies The Killing as a Kubrick picture, it is the movie’s overall sense of fatalism – even as we watch how carefully things are planned, there is a sense of impending doom.
Though The Killing is composed of familiar ingredients and it calls for fuller explanations, it evolves as a fairly diverting melodrama.
