Badlands

John Chard

2014-09-25

⭐ 5.5

Little did I realise that what began in the alleys and back ways of this quiet town would end in the Badlands of Montana. Badlands is written and directed by Terrence Malick. It stars Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Ramon Bieri and Warren Oats. Music is by George Tipton and James Taylor and cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, Steven Larner and Brian Probyn. Badlands seems to be adored by critics, often being coined as one of the best debuts ever made by a director. Maybe based loosely on the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of 1958, though the makers have been at pains to ensure we know this is…

CinemaSerf

2026-07-03

⭐ 7

This is another of those films that I could just imagine James Dean doing, but as it is it's a charismatic Martin Sheen who dons the white T-shirt and the 501s and causes havoc with his younger girlfriend "Holly" (Sissy Spacek). "Kit" is a bit of a drifter who makes a living collecting the trash in 1950s rural America and who probably won't amount to much as he hangs about with her as if they were ten years younger. Then an incident at home with her disapproving father (Warren Oates) forces the pair to get off the grid. For a while they take to the trees, but with the cops and others trying to…