Slaughterhouse Five

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Slaughterhouse Five

R

Released Mar 15, 1972

1h 44m

Sci-Fi

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82%

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17 Reviews

68%

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5,000+ Ratings

From his home in Ilium, N.Y., optometrist Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) narrates the tale of how he came to be "unstuck in time." Kidnapped by aliens and living in comfort with his assigned mate, B-movie starlet Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine), Billy experiences the events of his life in random order, flitting between his past as an American prisoner of war in World War II, to his humdrum middle-class life in the present-day, to his future as a zoo curiosity on the planet Tralfamadore.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...one of the best grown-up movies you've never seen, a wise, satirical and important story that sees several great talents realise a difficult text...

Rated: 4/5

Jul 2, 2021

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

As faithful as Hill and scribe Stephen Geller are to Vonnegut's text, however, as visual spectacle it doesn't quite compare to the exuberance of the novel, which is arguably due to Hill's formalism.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 10, 2020

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Evan Dossey

Midwest Film Journal

About as close an adaptation to Vonnegut's humanist triumph as possible. A moving work despite its flaws.

Dec 17, 2019

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It's a helluva lot easier to adapt, say, Stephen King than Kurt Vonnegut, yet director George Roy Hill and scripter Stephen Geller do such an exquisite job with Slaughterhouse-Five that even Vonnegut himself raved about this celluloid interpretation.

Rated: 3.5/4

Dec 15, 2019

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John A. Nesbit

Old School Reviews

provocative

Rated: A-

Jun 6, 2013

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Christopher Lloyd

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The film captures the essence of the book even while diverging from it. Vonnegut himself always claimed to be extremely pleased with it.

Rated: 4.5/5

Oct 11, 2010

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Titus C

It helps if you read the masterpiece. I applaud the film makers for taking the dare to make a movie that is so layered and the actors deliver. Open your mind. Let it in. Its a work of genius for 1972.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/23/24

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Kyle C

This movie is okay but nowhere near as good as the book. And as usual, it doesn't really make a lot of sense if you haven't read the book, so it's not really worth watching at all. It loses most of the irreverent humor from the book, coming off as more dark and serious than it has any right to. That being said, the directing and editing save it from being a total wash by giving us some unique representations of the weirder concepts at play here.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/21/23

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Shioka O

Conceptual film, I just couldn't get into it. I watched in 2022 and I think it's a good material, maybe better to remake.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/26/22

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william d

Excellent adaptation of Vonnegut's novel that has aged very well.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Initially confusing but keeps the interest. All inall I liked it

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Unpredictable and fresh storytelling.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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George Roy Hill

Director

Michael Sacks

Billy Pilgrim

Ron Leibman

Paul Lazzaro

Valerie Perrine

Montana Wildhack

Eugene Roche

Edgar Derby

Sharon Gans

Valencia Merble Pilgrim

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Synopsis

From his home in Ilium, N.Y., optometrist Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) narrates the tale of how he came to be "unstuck in time." Kidnapped by aliens and living in comfort with his assigned mate, B-movie starlet Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine), Billy experiences the events of his life in random order, flitting between his past as an American prisoner of war in World War II, to his humdrum middle-class life in the present-day, to his future as a zoo curiosity on the planet Tralfamadore.

Director: George Roy Hill
Producer: Paul Monash
Screenwriter: Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen Geller
Distributor: Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 15, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Mono, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track

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