THE KILLER ELITE (1975)
Special Features: 50th Anniversary | Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on April 4
Elite mercenaries and close friends Mike Locken (James Caan) and George Hansen (Robert Duvall) work for ComTeg, an organization contracted to do covert assignments for the CIA. But a shocking betrayal on a dangerous assignment leaves Locken broken in body and spirit. Badly injured, Locken spends months in recovery, then undertakes martial arts training with the goal of one day getting revenge on the man who betrayed him. Peckinpah’s most self-conscious action film ups the ante on explosions, gunplay and wounded machismo. The martial arts element, including a ninja death squad, was still novel for American-made films in 1975 but anticipates action trends that would fully flower in ‘80s Hollywood. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Marc Norman, Stirling Silliphant, from the novel by Robert Rostand; PROD Martin Baum, Arthur Lewis. U.S., 1975, color, 122 min. RATED PG
Run Time: 122 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, April 04, 2025
Genre: Crime, drama, thriller
