Fear and Desire

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Fear and Desire

Released Mar 31, 1953

1h 8m

War

Drama

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70%

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20 Reviews

34%

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1,000+ Ratings

Four soldiers must confront their fears and desires behind enemy lines.

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Steve Erickson

The Atlantic

... Fear and Desire shows that Kubrick's polished vision didn't emerge from a void. He had to start out with a rough draft first.

Feb 22, 2018

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Tim Grierson

Village Voice

Treat it like a wobbly, precocious demo from a 24-year-old with mighty aspirations, filled with hints of what he would become, and you'll be properly enthralled.

Mar 27, 2012

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Nick Schager

Slant Magazine

For all its heavy-handed gloom and stylistic unevenness, Fear and Desire has a certain fierceness that's hard to shake.

Mar 17, 2012

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

It’s a talky, eccentric little movie that no doubt would have puzzled but also intrigued anyone catching it on the bottom half of a double bill...

Apr 1, 2024

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The picture itself remains a Kubrick curio rather than an integral part of his filmography.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 16, 2024

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Jeremy Carr

Vague Visages

Fear and Desire is more than just a curio for the Kubrick completist. It is indeed a genuinely revealing work.

Nov 16, 2023

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Tom F

As a first-time director’s low budget project, it is understandably clunky and unpleasant. Best viewed as a pupal stage in Kubrick’s development, with themes he would later explore.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/02/25

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thiago s

filme bacaninha, o roteiro é bacana, os personagens são meio fracos, as cenas de tiro ficou legal, mas teve uma cena quase perto do fim do filme, que o maluco estava no lado de fora da casa com uma espingarda, e ele atirou no cara que estava dentro de casa, através da janela, o cara que rebeceu o tiro caiu de um jeito engraçado. mas mesmo assim o filme é bacaninha.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/27/24

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Mason M

Kubrick's worst film, but a bad Kubrick film is still a good film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/08/24

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Robert H

A must see because of the big budget remake in progress - a simple story with twisted characters

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/08/24

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Eben L

What a Dull, Boring, and Disappointing film, Kubricks first, stinks what kind of stupid war film portrays both sides of war but doesn't tell you which country they are fighting for, 4/10 - 2/5 Stars CONCLUSION: Bad.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/18/24

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Yash B

"Fear and Desire" is a pretty solid start for Stanley Kubrick's filmography. It definitely feels lower budget and less ambitious than his films that came after, but I respected how even early on this movie presented some complex ideas that would be explored in Kubrick's war films later on. I do feel it is oddly paced for a movie that is just one hour and sometimes it is just too uncomfortable, but I see what it was going for. Overall, any Kubrick completionist.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

Full Review

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Synopsis

Four soldiers must confront their fears and desires behind enemy lines.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Howard Sackler
Distributor: Joseph Burstyn Inc.
Production Co: Kubrick Family
Genre: War, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 1953, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 23, 2017
Runtime: 1h 8m

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