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The Killing Fields

Play trailer Poster for The Killing Fields R 1984 2h 21m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 45 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) and American photojournalist Al Rockoff (John Malkovich). When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story -- a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.
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The Killing Fields

The Killing Fields

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Critics Consensus

Artfully composed, powerfully acted, and fueled by a powerful blend of anger and empathy, The Killing Fields is a career-defining triumph for director Roland Joffé and a masterpiece of cinema.

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Critics Reviews

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Paul Attanasio Washington Post 01/04/2018
... a visually arresting epic guaranteed to capture the hearts and minds of its audience. Go to Full Review
Peter Travers People Magazine 09/16/2015
If you see no more than one film a year, make this the one for 1984. Go to Full Review
Noel Murray The Dissolve 01/13/2014
4/5
Every scene of The Killing Fields (and every participant in its making) is in service of showing how abruptly a seemingly safe and vital individual can have everything essential stripped away. Go to Full Review
Rob Reuteman Denver Rocky Mountain News Aug 21
By portraying the perpetrators of near-genocide as a pack of screaming, gun-poking ninnies, director Roland Joffe fails to put a human face on the evils that are wrought. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Mar 2
7/10
By the end, when an anticipated convergence finally transpires, it’s quite the moment – an against-all-odds type of tear-jerking finale that helps to redeem many of the lulls from before. Go to Full Review
Molly Haskell Vogue 02/27/2020
This is one of the quietest "war" movies ever made; yet, it's an indelible portrait of the excitement, horror, and confusion with which journalists experience war. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Per S May 8 Unpleasantly realistic and crrently topical. See more Alain E @AlainE Apr 27 The achievement of this movie is to make a boring film about war. How critics who liked Apocalypse Now or the Deer Hunter approved of this mess? I watched 40 minutes that I will never get back. I am stuck in a hotel waiting for cardiac emergencies, so I saw the rest. The same impression. It runs for 2 hours? It could run for 6. The lesson: Khmer Rouge are bad, American journalists are good. In the final scene the Cambodian fixer reunites with the American reporter and I assume for what the director thought it conveyed emotional weight, stand twenty feet apart and look at each other, like adolescent girls. Curtain. On Tubi with reasonable amount of ads. See more jacob c Apr 24 The Killing Fields is a powerful, heartbreaking and harrowing biographical war drama that is brilliantly crafted and terrifically acted. See more Hugh J Dec 19 An emotional retelling of one of the darkest periods of Cambodian and global history. This film expertly portrayed the experience under the khmer rouge and did not shy away from the emotional and physical atrocities of war. See more Leonardo M 12/07/2024 What a chaos. The first 40min of the film are fillers, with a sequence of events and a narrative that adds zero to the arch of the story for the latter 1h20 min. Then, the movie oscillates between some story and random depictions of war in Cambodia that again add nothing to the story arch. John Malkovich's character is seen most of the time just randomly taking photos in a hassle, there is not even a clear reason why. Despite the fact that they had to use film at the time, the photographer is never carrying film rolls or multiple cameras. The movie is mostly very unrealistic and doesn't really offer any glimpse into the war, the state of Cambodia at the time, the invasion the movie was supposed to depict or the journalists. There is very little dialogue, most of the time the characters are running on screen. See more Michael W @mawilps 07/21/2024 This news/war movie was really good. Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands, Craig T. Nelson, and the rest of the cast did a great job in this movie. This true story about the relationship between a New York Times reporter and his interpreter reporting on the Cambodian Civil War was dramatic and intense. It's about reporting on a war and making friends along the way, as well as helping them to get to safety no matter how long it takes. If you haven't seen this movie yet, check it out sometime. It's a must see. See more Read all reviews
The Killing Fields

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Movie Info

Synopsis New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) and American photojournalist Al Rockoff (John Malkovich). When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story -- a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.
Director
Roland Joffé
Producer
David Puttnam
Screenwriter
Bruce Robinson
Production Co
International Film Investors, Enigma Productions, Goldcrest Films International
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 2, 1984, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Runtime
2h 21m
Sound Mix
Surround
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