Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Lesser Sam Peckinpah film is still solid entertainment, even if it's nowhere close to his artful masterpieces of "The Wild Bunch," "Straw Dogs," or "Ride the High Country." James Caan plays an off-the-books CIA/black ops type who's double crossed by his partner, Robert Duvall, and left crippled. Caan goes through arduous physical therapy and learns martial arts and how to fight with his new cane in order to enact his revenge on Duvall and the organization that's abandoned him. Although this film does have it's defenders, "The Killer Elite" is pure surface level entertainment. When Peckinpah was asked how he prepared for this film, he said he watched a bunch of Bruce Lee movies, which is a pretty good indication he wasn't focused on his usual themes of men-out-of-time, masculinity, and violence. However, Sam Peckinpah knows his way around an action sequence better than most and he delivers a number of exiting shootouts. The martial arts sequences are admittedly not as good as his shootouts, but Peckinpah's use of slow potion and montage during those scenes is interesting none-the-less. The shootouts though are, as you would expect, a knockout! Overall, this story isn't all that clever or interesting, but thanks to the talents of the director, the action here was more than enough to hold my interest. FUN FACT! Monte Hellman is credited as casting the film.

There seems to be no point to the story of this fictional division of the CIA, supposedly meant to crack open plots against the United States and other allies. The film starts off promising with two of the agents (James Caan and Robert Duvall) going about their daily routines until Duvall begins to tease Caan about his latest sexual conquest over the fact that she might be diseased. Then, when they go on duty, Duvall suddenly kills the man they are guarding (veteran actor Helmut Dantine) and shoots Caan violently simply to "retire" him. The film then has an interesting sequence showing Caan's recovery, but goes down hill from there as Caan gets involved with a Japanese version of the same agency while he tracks Duvall down for revenge. Predictably, there are traitors among his colleagues, and after lots of violence and encounters with the most unpleasant characters, the film reaches its wimpy conclusion. Caan and Duvall, both hot after "The Godfather", seemed logical choices for re-teaming, but the gratuitous violence and ugliness of the story makes this a weak follow-up. The power of "The Godfather" was its romantic, almost operatic like tragedy, but this is simply nothing but a disturbing view of how films had turned to sordidness by the mid 1970's. Director Sam Peckinpah, whose films are over-run with violence, needed a script with more story and less nastiness.

Killer Elite, The (1975) ** (out of 4) Disappointing thriller from Sam Peckinpah has much of the director's style but very little else. In the film, Mike (James Caan) and George (Robert Duvall) are friends working for the same secret group of spies. While on a mission George decides to take a pay-out so he shoots the person they're supposed to be guarding and he also shoots Mike putting him out of commission. As you'd expect, it doesn't take too long for both men to be facing each other down again. THE KILLER ELITE is a pretty much forgotten film by the director and it's easy to see why as there's very little entertainment to be had here. The most disappointing thing is that the director was given a pretty strong cast to work with but in the end the story is just too weak and moves way too slow to be very entertaining. I will say that the film starts off at a pretty good pace with the introduction of the two lead characters followed by a hilarious joke involving Mike going to bed with a certain woman and George "knowing" something about her. The big double-cross was also stylishly done and of course it features a head being shot up in that Peckinpah slow-motion that you'd expect. From this point on the movie just tries to be too smart for its own good as there are several double-crosses that take place but after a while you just really grow tired of how ridiculous the film is getting so you just tune out and wait for the ending. Again, if you're a Peckinpah junkie then you'll be happy to know that there are several bits from the director including all the slow-motion action scenes. Each time someone dies they do it in slow motion and there's no doubt that the director, even at this stage of his career, knew how to stage an action scene. Both Caan and Duvall are in fine form and their chemistry together makes one wish that they were together more often. The before mentioned joke in the car works perfectly as the actors really make you seem as they're friends. The supporting cast includes familiar faces like Mako, Bo Hopkins, Arthur Hill, Burt Young and Gig Young. THE KILLER ELITE runs just over two-hours and sadly most of this time the viewer is just bored and wishing it would end. There simply aren't enough good moments to make the film worth viewing to anyone outside those Peckinpah fans.

A great film with a beautiful scenery of San Francisco. It may not be the greatest hour of Sam Peckinpah,but it's still one of the best films of the 70's.Of course there is films like the godfather and the taxi-driver,but who cares,man. The killer elite is such a different movie.It's got all the elements you need for a martial arts/gunfight movie.It's all there in one package. Not to mention perfect actors,story and the location.Every time i watch it,it takes me back to the great movie-making. The killer elite is a serious movie,which doesn't take itself too seriously.Action with Sam Peckinpah slow motion scenes.All the characters are great.Mike Locken as a bit of a slow,but all the time thinking the next step.Jerome Miller as a gun expert. Mac as a every guy.George Hansen as cold blooded killer. There's not much women,but they're still existing.San Francisco at it's best.Great pictures of Mike Locken getting to a better shape around the City streets,all the hills and the bay area. Sausalitos wooden homes and of course,the suisun bay with the mothball fleet.I'll never get tired to watch those locations.As a matter of fact,i'll never get tired to watch this film over and over again.There is not even one bad element in this film.