"The Killer Elite" is a rather uneven film that contains some of the typical Peckinpah magic but the plot is the big drawback here. It seems to take a while for James Caan to catch up with Robert Duvall after what happens at the beginning. Then the plot includes unnecessary distractions that have nothing to do with anything. The action scenes compensate a lot and I do like the Kung Fu moments (though not in the league of Bruce Lee). The setting in being that of San Francisco, is a good idea. It makes from it being either New York or Los Angeles.

As someone who is a big fan of Peckinpah's films like "The Wild Bunch" or "Convoy", I was very excited when I read the plot for 1975's "The Killer Elite". However, although it was not the worst film I ever saw, it became clear that it was not the greatest one either. The film stars James Caan and Robert Duvall as CIA contractors Mike Locken and George Hansen respectively, who take on the jobs the government doesn't want you to know about. The two are the best of friends until George betrays Mike by killing a man they were supposed to protect and shooting Mike in the knee. Broken, both physically and mentally, Mike soon sets his sights on revenge by going at it in physical rehab and martial arts. Soon he gets his chance when the people he works for learn that George is back in town to assassinate a client they've been hired to protect. Naturally, there's only one man who can do it and won't pass it up.The film works better in the first half, where George betrays Mike and Mike does everything in his power to get well and in the process shacks up with a pretty nurse. And it's also fun when we meet Mike's two helpers for the job, expert but cowboy killer Jerome Miller (Bo Hopkins) and street smart but world weary operative Mac (Burt Young). However when we get to the second half of the film, all of suddenly high stunt Kung Fu is introduced when it's learned that the man Mike and his team are supposed to protect is Oriental politician Yuen Chung (Mako) and his entourage that includes his daughter, Tiana (Tiana Alexandra). This might sound cool and it would have been if .........SPOILER....... Robert Duvall's character didn't die too early in the film. The sole purpose for Mike to take this job is of course his desire for revenge on George. The movie's plot made it look like the whole movie was going to be a cat and mouse game between Caan and Duvall. Once Duvall dies though, there's very little reason for the movie to continue. Yet it does for another forty-five minutes and as a result, it feels a little too long. END OF SPOILER........Now the martial arts that follows is done very well and impressive to watch; however, it just doesn't feel like Peckinpah's heart is in it. Case in point, at the final fight scene between Yuen and the head ninja occurs, Mike and his comrades seem content to watch, and rather dispassionately I might add. The film also suffers from disjointed editing, particularly the scene with the two heads of the company going over papers while one of them is bidding his time to make an important phone call (if you watch the film, you'll know it when you see it). "The Killer Elite" just doesn't seem to have the feeling of Peckinpah's other work. With that said, the film is not all bad. All the actors give great performances, be it the underrated James Caan as Mike, Robert Duvall as the treacherous George, Burt Young as Mac (who curiously, does a good job fighting ninjas), and Bo Hopkins as Jerome Miller. There's even a little bit of rare comedy from Peckinpah here concerning a cop and a bomb. And of course the idea of the CIA hiring unofficial heavies to do their dirty is by no means far-fetched. Plus, one has to keep in mind that there may very well have been studio tampering involved here, something that Peckinpah had to constantly deal with in his career. Who knows, perhaps he had a very different story in mind and it was shot down. For what it is though, if you are a big Peckinpah fan, "The Killer Elite" would not be a bad way to spend your time. After all, as someone else on this site said, watered down Peckinpah is still Peckinpah.

Talk about one very strange, put together film by legendary film-maker Sam Peckinpah. It's choppy as hell, rather mysterious and ambiguous in its intentions. I liked it, but at the same time I couldn't help but feel disappointed in this raw, explosive old-fashion action thriller with an exciting cast. We're thrown right into it at the beginning with a splintering explosion. Elite assassins and good friends Mike Locken and George Hansen work for a private crime fighting organization who handles the assignments that the CIA prefer not to touch. During a job this friendship comes apart when one of them is bought off by a higher bidder. At this time Peckinpah had fallen out of favour with Hollywood, but was given another chance with "The Killer Elite" and plenty would say it's one of his lesser works, if not. One noticeable thing here was the violence was cut down to remove its graphic nature to allow for a PG-13 rating for commercial success, but even with that it still remained unpleasant in details. Rather disappointing, but its flaws were more than just that. The editing was all over-the-shop, but even the script just seemed to become even more bewildering and daft the further along the story's sinister scheming went. The clunky narrative is one big unscrupulous game, throwing in themes that always seem to pepper Peckinpah films in the shape of friendship, loyalty, honour and personal survival in a dog eat dog world. It was hard just making sense of what was transpiring, that in the end all you could do is marvel at the dazzling parade of fashionable violence done in slow-motion that was orchestrated in some stunning set-pieces like the climatic standoff in a battleship graveyard featuring ninjas(?!). Peckinpah confidently does it in style, but also with ticker. Along for the ride is a top-notch ensemble cast featuring the likes of James Caan, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Burt Young, Robert Duvall, Gig Young and Mako. While I would say it was terribly overlong and ponderous, but I was still gripped due to Caan's enigmatically likable, but hardened performance. Watching his character go through the recovery stages after his serious injuries, fuelled by revenge and pushing himself to be fit again to carry out his job. You can't help but feel for him and want to see him succeed. The chemistry between Caan and the classy Duvall early on in the film offers some amusement. Even some scenes with the laconic Burt Young offer a laugh. Then there's the unpredictable Hopkins. Peckinpah makes great use of the San Francisco locations and long-time collaborator Jerry Fielding composes the thundering music score. Bold, macho and gritty entertainment even though it has uneven plotting it provides the big bangs and chop-suey in its ludicrous format. "You just retired Mike. Enjoy it"

Killer Elite, The (1975) ** (out of 4) Disappointing thriller from Sam Peckinpah has much of the director's style but very little else. In the film, Mike (James Caan) and George (Robert Duvall) are friends working for the same secret group of spies. While on a mission George decides to take a pay-out so he shoots the person they're supposed to be guarding and he also shoots Mike putting him out of commission. As you'd expect, it doesn't take too long for both men to be facing each other down again. THE KILLER ELITE is a pretty much forgotten film by the director and it's easy to see why as there's very little entertainment to be had here. The most disappointing thing is that the director was given a pretty strong cast to work with but in the end the story is just too weak and moves way too slow to be very entertaining. I will say that the film starts off at a pretty good pace with the introduction of the two lead characters followed by a hilarious joke involving Mike going to bed with a certain woman and George "knowing" something about her. The big double-cross was also stylishly done and of course it features a head being shot up in that Peckinpah slow-motion that you'd expect. From this point on the movie just tries to be too smart for its own good as there are several double-crosses that take place but after a while you just really grow tired of how ridiculous the film is getting so you just tune out and wait for the ending. Again, if you're a Peckinpah junkie then you'll be happy to know that there are several bits from the director including all the slow-motion action scenes. Each time someone dies they do it in slow motion and there's no doubt that the director, even at this stage of his career, knew how to stage an action scene. Both Caan and Duvall are in fine form and their chemistry together makes one wish that they were together more often. The before mentioned joke in the car works perfectly as the actors really make you seem as they're friends. The supporting cast includes familiar faces like Mako, Bo Hopkins, Arthur Hill, Burt Young and Gig Young. THE KILLER ELITE runs just over two-hours and sadly most of this time the viewer is just bored and wishing it would end. There simply aren't enough good moments to make the film worth viewing to anyone outside those Peckinpah fans.