THE KILLERS (1964) - How to make a Remake 101
THE KILLERS (1964) - USA
Dir: Don Siegel
★★★★★
Bonkers. Absolute Bonkers.
Remake of the 1946 Noir, Based on the same short story by Ernest Hemingway. Usually its hard to pass an original, but this time I can't really pick one coz this remake is fire.
Neither is flawless, I believe. Original feels a little bit strained in the middle, but it regains easily towards the end, and we feel like faced with a load of twists. The remake basically follows the same plotline with much better pace, but the end somehow feels like carrying on with the flow. The vibe of crazy goodness has simply taken over the show.
Lee Marvin and my man Clu Gulager makes an iconic duo, and a crazy thing is, we got the Arthouse filmmaker John Cassavetes replacing Burt Lancaster. What's even more crazy is we have Ronald Reagan as the villain. Angie Dickinson as the dame, although I would much prefer Ava Gardener as the Femme Fatale.
IMDb Rating - 7.0
Letterboxd - 3.5/5
Source
Criterion Poster