Killing Season
age 17+
Brutal violence and torture in forgettable revenge film.
- Review Date: July 18, 2013
- Rated: R
- Genre: Thriller
- Release Year: 2013
- Running Time: 90 minutes
Killing Season gallery
What parents need to know
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Killing Season is a dark, mature thriller with war overtones that stars John Travolta and Robert De Niro. The main thrust is revenge, with various gruesome scenes of torture (often with blood/agony). Viewers also see some brutal, disturbing flashbacks to the Bosnian War. Language is fairly strong, with a few, pointed uses of "f--k" and "s--t." The characters tell a joke with some strong sexual innuendo. A bottle of Jagermeister liquor is studied, admired, and consumed, and the characters get drunk.
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What's the story?
Benjamin Ford (Robert De Niro) survived a tour of the Bosnian War but has retreated to a cabin deep in the woods, living a simple existence, photographing animals, reading Hemingway, and going to bed early. Meanwhile, a Serb, Emil Kovac (John Travolta) -- who encountered Benjamin during the war -- has spent years looking for him and finally finds him. At first he seems friendly enough, sharing his Jagermeister and talking the night away. But the next morning, he's planned a deadly hunt with bows, arrows, and Benjamin as his prey. Fortunately, Benjamin isn't an easy quarry to catch, and soon each man is using every skill at his disposal to survive and defeat the other.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
Director Mark Steven Johnson has so far made bad comedies (When in Rome), bad superhero movies (Daredevil and Ghost Rider), and a sentimental weepie (Simon Birch), and in KILLING SEASON he attempts a dramatic thriller with serious overtones of war and genocide. The main problem is that he doesn't seem to know how to mix ghoulish, superficial torture sequences with horrific war flashbacks. To sum it up in one word, it just feels wrong.
Oddly, the movie's best part comes when the two stars, Travolta and De Niro, are simply talking, before the hunt begins. Travolta, especially, is weirdly captivating with his thick Serbian accent and an odd, Abraham Lincoln-like beard. Both Travolta and De Niro have played psychopaths before, and they both know how to play this game; their relationship is believable. It's too bad their talent is so wasted in this puzzling, unpleasant movie.
Families can talk about...
- Families can talk about Killing Season's violence. Which parts were supposed to be thrilling, and which parts were supposed to be disturbing? Can the two goals co-exist? How does what you see here compare to horror movies?
- Does revenge solve anything or lead to anything good? Do these characters get their revenge? What happens to them?
- Why does Robert De Niro's character avoid his family? What would happen if he confided in them?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | July 12, 2013 |
| DVD release date: | August 20, 2013 |
| Cast: | John Travolta, Milo Ventimiglia, Robert De Niro |
| Director: | Mark Steven Johnson |
| Studio: | Millennium Films |
| Genre: | Thriller |
| Run time: | 90 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | strong violence, some torture, and language including some sexual references |
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Not Bad
Over all this is an action packed movie, where an old soldier who was a Col. during the cold war (De Niro) ordered his troops to murder some Serbs who were committing genocide against women, children, and men alike. One person who was ordered to be killed (Travolta) didn't die and comes back for revenge. It becomes a struggle between the two to see who will survive.
There is no sex or nudity, but a couple of spots where a joke is told about a guy getting a "b-job." There is also a little drinking, and some violence.
Overall I think it was a good movie that was pretty action packed. If you don't want your kids to hear the sexual joke, it get told when De Niro and Travolta go hunting and at the very end. You can expect these spots and mute it for about 15-20 seconds. I believe there is one spot where Travolta said he wanted to F**K his nurse who helped him recover.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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17 and up.
this thriller movie killing season stars with two actors Robert De Niro and John Travolta is a boring movie and a waste of time with no plot to the story only about revenge to one other this thriller movie is best left for your older adults and parents you need to know that killing season has a lot of intense violence shown such as characters being shot in the head close range in execution style and One character is shot through the leg, with spurting, gurgling blood. He's then forced to push a metal stake through the hole, and he's hung by a rope from this wound. Another character is shot with an arrow through his face (his cheeks) and then tied up and tortured with salt and lemon juice. A character digs a piece of bloody shrapnel from his own leg and uses it to stab another man. Fighting with knives, a car crash, and various arguing and taunting One character tells a joke with some strong sexual content about blow jobs and stuff a voluptuous bartender shows some cleavage in a couple of scenes characters used strong language and there is social drinking shown when the characters drink almost an entire bottle of Jagermeister, getting fairly tipsy; this is presented very much as a social ritual.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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