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The Hit

Play trailer Poster for The Hit R 1984 1h 38m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Hit men (John Hurt, Tim Roth) catch a stool pigeon (Terence Stamp) in Spain and take him on a wild ride to Paris.
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The Hit

Critics Reviews

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Rita Kempley Washington Post It is a dexterously balanced killer thriller by the idiosyncratic Frears, whose every scene becomes a matter of life and death. A lighter clicks, a gun clicks; life or death, it all sounds the same. Sep 15, 2015 Full Review Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times "The Hit" is something special: thoughtful, perfectly performed and carrying the clear stamp of an extremely interesting director. Sep 15, 2015 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Frears and writer Peter Prince have taken a potentially familiar tale of a gangland betrayal and revenge and made something richly inventive and most entertaining. Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Sean Burns Crooked Marquee An expert use of Stamp’s ethereal presence. Aug 31, 2025 Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film Frears makes a hot flamenco dance out of the trio on who will survive the struggle for the honor amongst killers. Mar 1, 2023 Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault This is one of the rare movies in which you come to realize, with a mixture of insecurity and delight, that you can’t possibly predict where it’s going. Rated: A Dec 2, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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bob c Pretty good return by Stamp, Hurt nasty, and a Roth in form as a starter. Ancestor to Sexy Beast. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/22/25 Full Review Mason M A good and entertaining thriller that also works as a multi-character study and heartbreaking look on mortality. The Hit works great due to wonderful cinematography, an interesting look on death, and an amazing performance from John Hurt Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/25 Full Review Jelisije J A nice dark comedy of a film where two hitman must kidnap a man who ratted on his crew and along the way the hitman just keep on having a bad time of it to complete their job. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/26/24 Full Review Georgan G This not your average gangland revenge plot. The characters slowly reveal themselves, but I was never sure who would come out on top. In fact, I enjoyed never knowing what would happen next. Even the ending surprised me. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/10/24 Full Review Jack B A good example of how you can gather some superb actors and produce a seriously ho hum film. The pacing isn't quite glacial, but it is close. Instead of good dialogue, we are subjected to supposedly meaningful looks by our protagonists. Spare me! If you watch the movie, know that you can be cruising the internet at the same time. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/17/23 Full Review Audience Member The photography is great, as is the cast (Terrence Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth), legendary guitarist Paco de Lucía's soundtrack generates a suitable atmosphere, and the road-movie-slash-crime-film plot with philosophical connotations is certainly intriguing. On the downside, "The Hit" for the most part shies away from pathos, its character work is a little confusing (it's hard to believe these hitmen would endanger themselves like this every step of the way), and it eventually just fizzles out. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Hit

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Cast & Crew

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Stephen Frears

Director

John Hurt

Braddock

Terence Stamp

Willie Parker

Tim Roth

Myron

Laura del Sol

Maggie

Bill Hunter

Harry

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The Hit

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Movie Info

Synopsis Hit men (John Hurt, Tim Roth) catch a stool pigeon (Terence Stamp) in Spain and take him on a wild ride to Paris.
Director
Stephen Frears
Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter
Peter Prince
Production Co
Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Central Productions Ltd., Zenith Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jan 13, 2009
Runtime
1h 38m
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