Good day, gumchewers! Yes, it’s Burl, and
I’m here with a review for you, and guess what: it’s just a touch of Peckinpah!
This is from the director’s days of decline, it must be said, but not yet the
curious blauchup that is The Osterman
Weekend! No, today’s action picture is in fact The Killer Elite!
We open with a neatly-edited credit
sequence showing dynamite bombs being set and other close-quarters activities!
Then a building explodes and we meet our hero, played by James Caan from Misery, and his co-worker and goodbuddy
Robert Duvall from The Paper and Jack Reacher! They work for some kind of
mysterious company which does secret killings and explodings and rescues on
behalf of, you guessed it, the CIA! Ha ha, but beneath all the 70s macho
posturing, sexist joking and maniacal laughter, the stage is set for betrayal:
Duvall surprises his pal by blasting chunks out of his elbow and kneecap and
announcing to the writhing Caan that he is henceforth retired!
For some reason the picture then chooses to
focus on Caan’s surgeries and his long recovery process! As in An American Werewolf in London, the
patient leaves the hospital in the company of his nurse, and they set up house
together! Caan is limpy and be-caned, but he takes martial arts lessons and
learns to biff and bonk with his cane, in effect to use his disability as a
weapon! Company representative Arthur Hill, whom we may recall from from Butch and Sundance: The Early Days,
offers Caan a job: to protect a Japanese politician played by Mako from Armed Response! Caan needs a team, so he
in turn recruits Bo Hopkins from Mutant,
playing a demented marksman, and Burt Young from Blood Beach, playing a more reserved version of just the sort of
character Burt Young was so good at playing!
Hopkins does the same kind of crazy routine
he did for Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch,
only this time wearing glasses! Another Peckin-veteran is Gig Young, who gave a
boozy, eccentric performance in Bring Me
The Head of Alfredo Garcia, and gives another one here! Ha ha, it’s most
entertaining! The climax of the picture, featuring Caan versus Duvall in some
kind of shipyard along with various ninja henchmen and of course Caan’s backup
crew, has plenty of action but is still somewhat underwhelming! However, if
you’ve ever wanted to see Burt Young fight ninjas, this is probably your one
and only chance! Ha ha!
The whole movie is a bit clunky and confused, but
it certainly has its moments! The cast alone makes it worth watching, and the
nice 70s look given it by cinematographer Philip Lathrop, who also shot The Monster of Piedras Blancas, is a
pleasant icing atop the cake! It’s no classic, but I’m glad I watched it, and I
give The Killer Elite two gin and
fizzes!
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