SummarySince WWII, Calvin Barr has lived with the secret that he was responsible for the assassination of Adolf Hitler. Now, decades later, the US government has called on him again for a new top-secret mission. Bigfoot has been living deep in the Canadian wilderness and is carrying a deadly plague that is now threatening to spread to the gener...
SummarySince WWII, Calvin Barr has lived with the secret that he was responsible for the assassination of Adolf Hitler. Now, decades later, the US government has called on him again for a new top-secret mission. Bigfoot has been living deep in the Canadian wilderness and is carrying a deadly plague that is now threatening to spread to the gener...
The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot is a strange but enjoyable mishmash of genres and ideas held together by the gravitas and class of Sam Elliott.
How could you go wrong with a title like that? Well....I’ll get to that later. This is a little movie that showed up out of nowhere in the festival circuit last year and had its wide release this year, starring Sam Elliot right around his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 2018’s A Star Is Born remake, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring him and Lady Gaga. Note to self: watch A Star Is Born. Anyway, from the title you would expect this to be some sort of Bubba Ho-Tep/Terry Gilliam-esque tongue-in-cheek self-aware absurdist comedy, but that’s not what it is at all. It’s actually a serious drama about an old man’s relationship with his girlfriend and family in the past. It also happens to be about the guy who killed Adolf **** in World War II and is tasked by the government to go kill Bigfoot because he is spreading a deadly disease that could wipe out all life on earth. This is a weird movie. Like, it’s not bad, it is pretty well-made, if a little poorly paced (Some parts drag and it is really slow.), but it’s very weird. The performances were good, Sam Elliot especially was great, but the Bigfoot suit that they used just looked terrible! It just looks like a guy in a suit! The Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons looked better! Was it some kind of a joke? Like, the reason Bigfoot sightings look like a guy in a suit is because that’s what he actually looks like and it’s not actually a guy in a suit? I don’t get it. Luckily, it wasn’t in the movie that much so it wasn’t too distracting. The cinematography and the music weren’t that memorable, but there were some scene transitions that I thought were cool. Overall, this is a very odd little film. It’s not perfect and I don’t think it’s for everyone, it is pretty slow and very weird, but I can’t say it isn’t unique! I say check it out, you might like it!
Like many other people, I was drawn to this film because of the title. I've been meaning to watch it for quite a while now and finally got round to it. In general, the film is really quite enjoyable and I like the portrayal of the Bigfoot a lot as they've gone in a direction quite different to the 'conventional' portrayal. The premise of the story is pretty crazy, but kept me intrigued. The themes of finding belonging, loneliness and comfort in old age are really the strongest parts of the film and where a great performance from the lead actor can be found. However, this is marred by some strange editing choices as well as a romance story that feels like it's been wedged in for the sake of ticking a box. The film would be much stronger without it.
However, I think this is worth your time for the premise and the strong moments alone.
It’s a film full of interesting ideas, all wrapped up in messy, even shoddy methods, and an undeniably sincere and rather astonishing performance from Sam Elliott, who doesn’t seem to give a hoot whether he’s hunting Bugs Bunny or the Oscar gold–he’s just going to go for it, dammit.
I suppose there are some who will get off on this movie’s competence and uber-sincerity, but I found the premise one or two bridges too far. Sam Elliott junkies, too, are sure to be delighted.
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is a sprawling, meandering drama that doesn't quite deliver on its ambitious promise (and intriguing title).
There is something admirably perverse about a movie that treats the killings of Hitler and Bigfoot as secondary to a character study of a crusty old man and his regrets, but that doesn’t make the film less dull or deflating to watch.
(Mauro Lanari)
Debut with original plot and non-linear structure, ruined by the memories (flashbacks) that make the protagonist an eccentric weirdo instead of helping to enrich his thickness.
First part of it was ok, even though nothing that interesting happened, but was thinking will get better. But then later it gets so predictable and boring, that I just skipped through it to watch it faster and be done with it. Very slow and boring
This film has such a hilarious premise, and initially it seems like it’d be great. It comes off initially as an old vet going through senior life recalling the time he killed ****, all while leading up to him fighting Bigfoot. It’d have been a wonderful film I’m sure if that’s what we got, problem is it’s ruined by an entirely unnecessary romance plot that does nothing for the film but make you think, “god this editing is f-ing terrible”. Scenes transition to sudden action, back to romance, then back to the old dude Calvin, all with no real correlation. The worst part is the romance plot has no real influence on much of the film, beyond explaining what was foreboded by an early scene, but altogether it could’ve been removed entirely from the movie without affecting anything beyond screen time. This is significant, as while the romance plot feels like it draws on forever, the juicy parts centering around killing **** and the Bigfoot feel very rushed for time, leading to the killing of **** somehow not being satisfying due to poor build-up and loss of momentum. Then you finally get to the Bigfoot, which is frankly the most jarring par to the whole film. It feels like it was tacked on out of obligation rather than being an intended part of the film. See, through the film there’s a good bit of teasing on Calvin’s moral code on killing, and there was even a full-on monologue about him considering killing **** being irrelevant as his philosophy had already infected Germany. So, you expect something more from this scene. Nope, he just kills them. It’s a mess.
TL;DR The Man That Killed **** and Then the Bigfoot is a film that tries to do too much and ends up not having enough time to do anything well.