Badlands (1974)
94%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Terrence Malick’s debut is a masterful slice of American cinema, rife with the visual poetry and measured performances that would characterize his work.
Badlands is a classic film that paved the way for indie cinema. Terrence Malick’s directorial debut is a visually stunning masterpiece that showcases the talents of Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. The film’s chilling remove and striking cutaways to the harsh landscape’s solitary creatures make it a must-watch for any film lover. Plus, it’s always fun to see a young filmmaker make a name for themselves and become a Hollywood legend. So, grab some popcorn and settle in for a wild ride through the Badlands.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
1974
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.78 : 1
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Runtime:1h 35m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 1973 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 1999
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Martin Sheen – Kit Carruthers
Sissy Spacek – Holly Sargis
Warren Oates – Holly’s Father (Mr. Sargis)
Ramon Bieri – Cato
Alan Vint – Deputy
Gary Littlejohn – Sheriff
Show all Cast & Crew
Director(s)
Terrence Malick
Writer(s)
Terrence Malick
Producer(s)
Terrence Malick
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (2)
If a portion of American cinema is going to remain devoted to violence, it could learn a lot by revisiting Malick’s thoughtfulness.
February 21, 2018
Steve Erickson
Slate
TOP CRITIC
In the fall of 1973, one could see signposts of cinema’s future in Mean Streets and The Exorcist, yet with this youthful pair of proto-indie dreamers, Malick was paving a whole new road. It turned out to be the path most traveled.
May 7, 2013 | Rating: 5/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s a testament to Bruce Greenwood’s acting that Adan never becomes entirely as insufferable as the words that come out of his mouth.
May 5, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
Tina Hassannia
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Malick’s film, full of striking cutaways to the burning-sun horizon and the harsh landscape’s solitary creatures, comes to operate at an overpoweringly chilling remove.
May 11, 2011 | Rating: A
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
Days of Heaven put Terrence Malick’s intuitions into cogent form, but this is where his art begins.
February 8, 2010
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The superb performances from Sheen and Spacek are as memorable as Malick’s vision of something akin to hell.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
I didn’t completely dislike the film. I was mostly just bored by it, which is often my criticism of Malick’s films.
April 1, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
The film is admirable visually, verbally, psychologically. It took guts for a neophyte film maker still in his twenties to fire two cinematographers before a third gave him what he wanted; yet the result is seamlessly impeccable.
July 28, 2020
John Simon
Esquire Magazine
Terrence Malick’s amazing debut feature, Badlands, which basically made the careers of everyone whose name was attached to it.
July 1, 2020
CJ Sheu
Review Film Review
It signals the directorial debut of what appears to be a knowledgeable, almost classically precise, important young filmmaker, Terrence Malick.
December 16, 2019
Dick Lochte
Los Angeles Free Press
Everyone concerned with Badlands has my admiration — Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek… Warren Oates as her father; and all of the less familiar actors but most of all, Terrence Malick, who wrote and directed Badlands. It is clearly his triumph.
October 28, 2019
Bernard Drew
Gannett News Service
Angry young white men.
August 19, 2019
Michael J. Casey
Boulder Weekly…
Plot
500 years from now, war has left the world in ruins. The Badlands, a region of former North American states, are ruled over by the Barons, seven men and women who control their own territories and raise armies of lethal fighters called Clippers. Regent Sunny, a highly-skilled fighter and the deadliest “Head Clipper” for Baron Quinn battles the Nomads and rescues a mysterious boy named M.K. who harbors a dark secret about his past. When he brings him back to The Fort to train as a “Colt”, a Clipper-in-training, things quickly get out of hand with another trainee. When first blood is drawn, M.K. loses control of himself as if something takes over his body, making the boy valuable to an opposing baron, The Widow. Meanwhile, Sunny discovers M.K.’s pendant has the same image as the one on his childhood compass of a place called Azra, the boy’s home. In order to seek out the truth about his own past, Sunny wants to know more of this city beyond the Badlands, and must find a way out, especially now that his lover Veil is illegally pregnant with his child.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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