Movie review: ‘The Killer Elite’

FloridaGator80

I have reviewed Sam Peckinpah’s only World War II effort, “Cross of Iron” (click here to read my review), and, in my opinion, his best of all his efforts: “The Getaway” with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw (click here to read my review) – sorry, fans of “The Wild Bunch,” but “The Getaway” is better. Today, I’m back to this legendary director with his 1975 film “The Killer Elite.” It’s nowhere near his best, but “The Killer Elite” offers Peckinpah’s signature and trademark visual and character: Slow-motion violence and a flawed, lethal and emotionally-challenged lead. However, there’s more to “The Killer Elite” than just what might be your first impression or memory of the flick. It’s not just an uneven story highlighted by chop-socky action that was so popular of the day. There’s a whole lot more, but not enough to fire it into orbit. It’s easy to find “The Killer Elite,” so just search your movie grids and get ready to watch.

‘The Killer Elite’
(1975; 122 minutes; rated PG; directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill and Burt Young)

THESE GUYS JUST KILL YOU

(NOTE: I expanded this review by adding some links on Aug. 14, 2015. I expanded it again on Nov. 21, 2017. I further expanded it and fixed a horrible typo of a star’s name in the original review on Aug. 1, 2019. I again expanded it on April 5, 2025. I noted the passing of Robert Duvall on Feb. 15, 2026.)

It’s darn near impossible for a director to maintain a peak such as Sam Peckinpah reached with “The Wild Bunch” in 1969. Still, he managed to deliver even better three years later with “The Getaway” with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw (click here for my review).

In the same era, he did OK films such as “The Ballad of Cable Hogue” and “Cross of Iron.” However, he’d never again reach the stratosphere he attained with “The Wild Bunch” or “The Getaway.” Heck, his “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” is a cult fav that staggers along and is ultimately a film that’s too long. “Straw Dogs” was good, but let’s not forget how much he stumbled with the simply awful “Convoy” – and maybe that was Kris Kristofferson’s fault, not Ernest Borgnine’s … or supposing the whole CB radio craze wasn’t worth the attention of a director of Peckinpah’s stature.

Oh, so, back to today and I’m writing about “The Killer Elite.”

“The Killer Elite” is an OK film; it has depth; and it has a wonderful cast. But it’s not “The Wild Bunch.” Not even close. Co-stars James Caan and Robert Duvall never even nearly reach McQueen’s level in “The Getaway” here and not even close of Peckinpah’s other leading men, including his personal favorite Warren Oates or, much less, ever touch William Holden as “Pike Bishop” in “The Wild Bunch.”

In “The Killer Elite,” Caan and Duvall work for CONTEG, a private company that handles all kinds of dirty stuff for groups like the CIA. Duvall sells out, shoots Caan in the elbow and knee (thereby wounding to prevent revenge without having to kill his onetime friend) and we’re off and running.

The film then bounces from dialogue to action, as this one is framed in the martial arts as well as Peckinpah’s usual shoot-’em-up slow-motion specials. The dialogue is nicely turned between the characters and the film’s martial arts violence somewhat detracts from what it hopes to accomplish. The action should have bolstered the film, instead of somewhat detracting from it.

Peckinpah spends time wisely developing Caan’s character through the hospital, physical rehabilitation and finally being called back to active duty to battle Duvall. The film takes its time with just more than a quarter spent on the run-up, so the actors, with the exception of Duvall, can work. It’s not a matter of talent for Duvall, it’s because his character “George Hansen” disappears for a quarter of the film and then doesn’t get much appreciable screen time after a middle-of-film plot twist with one of the company’s executives who has turned.

Joining Caan on his new mission is Burt Young, today most famous for and an Oscar nominee as “Rocky’s” trainer “Paulie.” Rounding out the good guys is Bo Hopkins, who was the gang leader who befriends Richard Dreyfuss in “American Graffiti.” Both are friends of Caan’s character “Mike Locken” from his past work.

Young does a wonderful job looking and acting like a schlub (Yiddish for a stupid, unattractive and clumsy person) and he brings nonchalance and verve to his role as “Mac.” Hopkins also easily conveys his character’s penchant for wanting to shoot just about anything that moves. Hopkins plays “Jerome Miller,” a gun dealer who takes on Caan’s assignment basically as a “vacation” while waiting on a shipment of AK-47s to arrive in San Francisco.

Although it was a little late in 1975 to be the kind of anti-hero flick that defined American cinema in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, “The Killer Elite” puts the coming world order of no-loyalties and all-business on the pillory. You’d probably just imagine this one as Peckinpah doing an action film, but the stereotype is just that … a stereotype. Unlike the dreck being shoveled at audiences today, “The Killer Elite” has substance to go with Peckinpah’s style.

So, let me take a look at some of the principal cast:

  • An Oscar nominee and four-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Caan is the heart and conflicted soul of the film. His “Locken” appears to be many things to many who cross his life after the shooting and this nicely masks his underlying disgust with the system and laser-focus on getting revenge. Caan is cast perfectly here and I liked him, of course, for his nomination with “The Godfather,” but also in some bad films such as “Freebie and the Bean” (click here to read my review). One of his war movie credits is for “A Bridge Too Far” (click here to read my review). Although most will turn their nose up at this, I liked his work on the TV series “Las Vegas.” Caan died of a heart attack at 82 in 2022.
  • I can’t give any more accolades to Duvall than he already has achieved as an Oscar winner and six-time nominee and three-time Golden Globe winner and three-time nominee. In this one, he’s quietly the class of the cast as the killer-for-hire who doesn’t care from where the money arrives. I can’t say that Duvall is great, but his talent overrides what could have been all too easily a pedestrian effort. I even liked him in “Days of Thunder” as Tom Cruise’s pit chief in NASCAR (click here to read my review) and he was a bad guy against Clint Eastwood in “Joe Kidd” (click here to read my review). Overall, his CV is just too extensive to recap here. Duvall won his statue for “Tender Mercies” and, like Caan, was nominated for “The Godfather.” He was also nominated for terrific work in “Apocalypse Now” and “The Great Santini.” I also enjoyed his work in “The Eagle has Landed” (click here to read my review) and a smaller one in “Thank You for Smoking” (click here to read my review). Duvall died at 95 on Feb. 15, 2026.
  • Also an Oscar nominee (not for this one), Burt Young is the reluctant, plodding conscience of the film and works tirelessly to get Caan to see how he is being – and has been – used. It is in this that Peckinpah shows his greatest virtue: patience. He doesn’t force the characters to quickly establish anything. This kind of patience couldn’t be done by all directors, but Sam was a master. Young was in a smaller role in another film in 1975 that I enjoyed – “Murph the Surf” (click here for my review) and he has notched more than 166 acting credits from a career spanning seven decades from the first as a bartender on a TV series in 1969. Young certainly did a great job in that iconic HBO crime series “The Sopranos.” Young died at 83 in 2023.
  • Hopkins has potentially the most interesting character in the cast. “Miller” is a cold-hearted killer with a touch of liking killing too much, according to comments from other characters. The trouble is that Hopkins either doesn’t play “Miller” correctly or simply doesn’t have the acting chops to take the character’s quirks, abilities and underlying issues and making something of them. At the end, he comes off less as an elite killer and more as an over-aged frat guy. Hopkins obviously liked working with Peckinpah, as he was in “The Getaway” and “The Wild Bunch.” He died at 84 in 2022 of a heart attack.
  • His dialogue is a bit stereotypical at first blush, but Japanese-born and Oscar nominee (not for this one) Mako turns out a wonderful performance in conveying whatever Asian-type philosophy he’s trying to convey. Mako plays “Yuen Chung,” a man who is traveling back to Japan to confront traditional enemies. Be careful with first reflections: At first blush, Mako’s effort sounds too much like a bad Hong Kong flick of the day, but watch it again and you’ll see a very serious, very good performance. I liked Mako as a martial arts instructor in two films (“Battle Creek Brawl” – click here for my review – and in the Chuck Norris karate-fest “Sidekicks” – click here for my review) and although these weren’t great cinema, his work is always watchable – even a tee-vee movie from 1970, “The Challenge” (click here to read my review) literally opposite Darren McGavin. Mako notched a nice total of 165 acting credits in TV and film over six decades, beginning with the first in 1959. He died in 2006 at 72 of cancer.
  • Also doing a good turn is Arthur Hill as the treacherous “Cap Collis.” Hill, who was in the espionage thriller “The Amateur” and “Futureworld,” is cold and efficient in his delivery … just what the doctor ordered here. He was also in “The Andromeda Strain” and he died at 84 in 2006 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Hill, who was a tall-ish 6-foot-3, notched 121 acting credits in a career that spanned seven decades, beginning in 1947.
  • An Oscar winner and two-time nominee (not for this one), Gig Young plays the coldly manipulative “Lawrence Weyburn” and he, too, has a character that is nearly a throwaway in a plot highlighted by detail and excellent characters. Gig Young, who won for “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and nominated for “Teacher’s Pet” and “Come Fill the Cup,” had a career of second-lead, varied roles before he took his own life in 1978 at 64. His credits include such contrasts as the Cary Grant-Doris Day classic “That Touch of Mink” and at the other end, Bruce Lee’s “The Game of Death.” He also was in Peckinpah’s “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.”

There’s a passel of Asian actors who make up Mako’s posse in the film, but none manage to elevate what are basically throwaway characters to begin with. Circling all the ensuing chaos are several more throwaways. In the end, the film spins out with explanations all around – some call them “excuses.” Peckinpah finishes this one a little tighter than he did “Cross of Iron,” where the finale was more open-ended and left to the audience’s imagination – and that isn’t always a bad thing.

You’ll be reminded of “The Killer Elite” because of the title of a 2011 film that stars Jason Stratham. However, the 2011 effort is pure and almost total action and is not one of the “reboots” or remakes of “The Killer Elite.” The 2011 film is taken from a book written in 1991. I’d say they chose the name “Killer Elite” (with no “The”) as a way to snag a few fans of “The Killer Elite” to watching their movie, believing that it is a “reboot” (my hand is up on this one).

Finally, “The Killer Elite” was just mediocre at the box office, coming in 87th in 1975, according to IMDb.com. The No. 1 film was the instant classic shark film “Jaws” with $133.4 million in ticket sales, according to Wiki. At No. 2 was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Jack Nicholson with $59.2 million, while at No. 3 was “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with $50.4 million. Here are the other films from 1975 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Some cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Caan’s middle name was Edmund; Duvall’s middle name was Selden; Hopkins’ full name was William Mauldin Hopkins; Mako’s full name was Makoto Iwamatsu; Burt Young’s birth name was Gerald Tommaso DeLouise; and Gig Young’s birth name was Byron Ellsworth Barr.
  • Peckinpah’s full name was David Edward Samuel Ernest Peckinpah Jr. and his nicknames were “Bloody Sam,” “Mad Sam” and “Peck.”
  • Peckinpah was quoted at the time of the film’s release that he prepared for making “The Killer Elite” by watching Bruce Lee movies.
  • Peckinpah is reported to have cut graphic violence from some of the action scenes to avoid an “R” rating. Given the violence, gore and destruction in today’s PG-13 films, it would be interesting to see a director’s cut on this one. It might elevate it out of mediocrity.
  • Oh, yes, “The Killer Elite” is rated PG because there was no PG-13 rating at the time. The PG-13 rating made its debut in 1984 with the original “Red Dawn” (click here to read my review). The rating came out to fit between PG and R ratings and distinguish films with violence, language and very brief nudity from films with less of those traits. Too bad to consider how far today the level of all the above have risen while still just being PG or PG-13.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Sam Peckinpah was assigned to direct this film by Mike Medavoy, the head of United Artists at the time. Medavoy believed in Peckinpah’s abilities but knew that it was virtually impossible for Peckinpah to get a job with any of the studios, as he had alienated virtually everyone in Hollywood by that time. When this project came along Medavoy knew it was perfect for Peckinpah and gave it to him, but under the conditions that he worked under Medavoy’s strict supervision. Peckinpah agreed.”

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