The Killer Elite

For other uses, see Killer Elite (disambiguation).
The Killer Elite
US film poster
Directed bySam Peckinpah
Screenplay by
Based onMonkey in the Middle
by Robert Syd Hopkins
(as Robert Rostand)
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPhilip Lathrop
Edited by
Music byJerry Fielding
Production
companies
  • Exeter Associates
  • Persky-Bright Associates
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • December 17, 1975 (1975-12-17) (New York)
[1]
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Mandarin
Budget$5 million[2]

The Killer Elite is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant, adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel Monkey in the Middle.[3] It stars James Caan and Robert Duvall as a pair of elite mercenaries who become bitter rivals and are caught on opposite sides of a proxy war over a foreign dignitary in the streets of San Francisco.

The cast also stars Mako, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Burt Young and Gig Young. Tom Clancy and Tiana Alexandra appear in their film debuts. The film represents the last collaboration between Peckinpah and soundtrack composer Jerry Fielding. It is considered to be among the first American films to feature ninjas.[4][5]

The film received mixed reviews, with some critics perceiving Peckinpah as having "sold out" to commercial interests,[6] while others criticized the film's use of martial arts tropes and imagery as contrived.[7] Others, such as Pauline Kael, praised Peckinpah's direction and action sequences,[8] and commended the film as a self-aware satire.[9]

  1. ^ The Killer Elite at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ Murphy, A.D (January 21, 1976). "United Artists, '75, Domestic $85.9 Mil". Variety. p. 3.
  3. ^ Eder, Richard (1975-12-18). "'Killer Elite,' or Copping Out of the Universal Sell-Out". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. ^ Travis, Ed (2014-10-20). "The Action/Adventure Section: THE KILLER ELITE: Peckinpah + Ninjas = A Gleefully Uneven Viewing…". cinapse.co. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  5. ^ "The Killer Elite". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).