Product Details

• Actors: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Clu Gulager, Claude Akins
• Directors: Don Siegel
• Writers: Ernest Hemingway, Gene L. Coon
• Producers: Don Siegel
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: February 28, 1995
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1558802339
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,835 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As with its 1946 predecessor of the same title and directed by noir maestro Robert Siodmak, this version of The Killers makes much ado out of Ernest Hemingway's classic short story of two hit men who shake up a diner while looking for their prey. Hemingway's sketch took up perhaps the first six minutes of Siodmak's film, and everything after that was an add-on. This 1964 remake (of sorts) by Don Siegel builds another whole world around Hemingway's narrow if intense premise. The two assassins of Siegel's film (Clu Gulager, Lee Marvin) go in search of their intended victim--a teacher (John Cassavetes) at a school for the blind--and find that he not only recognizes his fate when they show up, but seems entirely resigned to it. Curiosity leads the killers to seek out the party who hired them and discover why Cassavetes's character didn't run or fight. Soon the facts tumble into place: the dead man had once been a top-drawer racer who fell for a glamorous woman (Angie Dickinson), the latter gradually pulling him into the orbit of a criminal villain (a convincingly evil Ronald Reagan). Once Gulager and Marvin's characters realize there is an unrecovered stash of money to be found, the film becomes increasingly dark and dangerous. Originally shot for television but rejected for its violence, Siegel's film is a blistering experience of swimming against the currents of fate for one's survival--and losing. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angie's Smokin!, January 5, 2001

By	supastar (brooklyn) - See all my reviews

I was an child with insomnia when I first caught this movie on Channel 56 late at night, and was horrified to see my president shoot the man I wanted to be with this gorgeous sleepy-eyed girl. Recently, again, I wanted to see this movie in order to watch Ronald Reagan be a villain and was especially satisfied because this was late in his acting career and so he looked much like he looked by the time he became president, and so it's interesting to hear him say stuff like "I believe in Larceny, but I don't condone murder." He's a stiff criminal, a bitter misogynist, orders cronies to do most of his dirty work-- not much different from his political career. Furthermore, Angie Dickinson is absoloutely gorgeous! Plus Lee Marvin's great, and the film is interesting, shot with some neat angles which add to the "weirdness" of it. I recommend the movie fully, but it has almost nothing to do with the Hemingway short story that it is supposedly based upon.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Lady, I Haven't Got the Time", March 24, 2009

By	Scott Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Deemed too violent for television and released to theaters, this is a surprisingly good reworking of the Ernest Hemingway short story. Guided by Don Siegel's expert direction, "The Killers" (1964) takes fatalistic noir to its logical end. Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes and Clu Gulager deliver memorable portrayals, but the big surprise remains Ronald Reagan as a brutal crime boss who slaps around Angie Dickinson. Oddly enough, it was the future president's final acting gig and his only villainous role. Marvin's closing line is priceless.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just a great movie, if you like suspence., August 11, 1999

By A Customer

From the start to the end you can't get Lee in a better movie that was made for him. It's a must see for movie buffs.