Killer Elite
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| Starring |
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| Directed by | Sam Peckinpah | |
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| Adapted by | Based on Monkey in the Middle by Robert Syd Hopkins (as Robert Rostand) | |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding | |
| Cinematography | Philip Lathrop | |
| Distributed by | United Artists | |
| Released | 12} 17, 1975 | |
| Runtime | 122 minutes | |
| Country | United States | |
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| Budget | $5 million | |
The Killer Elite is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant, adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel Monkey in the Middle. It stars James Caan and Robert Duvall as a pair of elite mercenaries who become bitter rivals and are caught on opposite sides of a proxy war over a foreign dignitary in the streets of San Francisco.
The cast also stars Mako, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Burt Young and Gig Young. Tom Clancy and Tiana Alexandra appear in their film debuts. The film represents the last collaboration between Peckinpah and soundtrack composer Jerry Fielding. It is considered to be among the first American films to feature ninjas.
The film received mixed reviews, with some critics perceiving Peckinpah as having "sold out" to commercial interests, while others criticized the film's use of martial arts tropes and imagery as contrived. Others, such as Pauline Kael, praised Peckinpah's direction and action sequences, and commended the film as a self-aware satire.
Plot
Mike Locken (James Caan) and George Hansen (Robert Duvall) are longtime friends and professional partners, agents of Communications Integrity (ComTeg), a private intelligence agency that handles covert assignments for the CIA. At the end of their latest assignment, Hansen betrays Locken by killing their client and shooting Locken in the knee and elbow, effectively "retiring" him. After months of painful rehabilitation, Locken wears metal braces, but is able to walk with a cane. Upon being released from the hospital, Locken moves in with his nurse, Amy, to continue his therapy. As months pass, Locken undergoes serious martial-arts training with a cane, becoming adept with it while vowing revenge against Hansen for his betrayal.
ComTeg director Cap Collis refuses to put Locken back into the field again, assuming that he is only fit for a desk job. O’Leary, a CIA agent, hires ComTeg to protect Yuen Chung, a Taiwanese politician who arrived in the United States with a delegation that includes his daughter, Tommie. Chung has been targeted for assassination, and Hansen has been hired to carry out the assignment. Locken assembles his old team, including driver Mac and marksman Jerome Miller, but they do not know that Collis is in collaboration with Hansen, hoping to unseat current ComTeg director Lawrence Weybourne. Collis has hired two separate hit squads, one led by Hansen and one led by ninja Negato Toku, to eliminate Chung after the first ambush attempt failed, an arrangement that Hansen dislikes but with which he reluctantly complies when Collis gives him the next opportunity to kill Chung (Mako).
Hansen and his team launch an assault on Chung's safehouse, but Locken manages to protect the Chungs and lead their escape unscathed, laying low at a pier where Collis will extract Chung with a yacht the following day. When Locken tells Chung and Tommie to step in front of a highly visible window with its light illuminated, Mac accuses of Locken of using their clients as bait to lure out Hansen, his real target. Later that night, Hansen sneaks into Chung's safehouse and takes Tommie hostage, getting Locken to disarm. He explains that he is working for Collis and argues that the shooting of Locken was not personal. He offers to give Locken a cut of the money, warning him that if he fails to kill Chung, more killers will be after them. Locken instead decides to walk away and take on Hansen another time on his own terms. However, Miller shoots Hansen while he is distracted, killing him. Shocked and infuriated that he is unable to exact his revenge on the man who had crippled him, Locken punches Miller in the face.
Locken telephones Weybourne and tells him about Collis' treachery. Weybourne orders Locken to follow up with the rendezvous plans and tells him that if he provides evidence that Cap is the traitor, he can have Cap's job. The following day, Locken sails the yacht to the empty ships of the Naval Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay and orders Chung and Tommie to stay aboard. Locken, Miller, Mac and a couple of other trusted ComTeg operatives board one of the ships and spot the ninjas crawling overhead. Collis appears and offers Locken a bribe, but Locken shoots him in the arm and kneecap, using the same lines that Hansen gave him when he betrayed him.
The ninjas attack, but Miller mows them down with his machine gun. He is then shot by a gunman, but not before shooting back, taking his killer with him. Tommie and Chung arrive, just as Toku arrives and challenges Chung to a duel. Locken wants to shoot, but Chung accepts the challenge and, after a short battle, kills Toku. Weyburn arrives with reinforcements and the remaining ninjas scatter. Mac accuses Weybourne of using them to do his dirty work, saying that he is no different than Cap, and tries once more to convince Locken to leave ComTeg and retire. Weybourne points out that a man like Locken has nothing else but his job. Locken declines Weybourne's job offer but keeps Collis' yacht and the bribe money as payment. He then sails away with Mac (Burt Young).
Production
The Killer Elite was based on the novel Monkey in the Middle (later republished under the film's title) by Robert Syd Hopkins under the pseudonym Robert Rostand.
Sam Peckinpah was assigned to direct The Killer Elite by United Artists head Mike Medavoy, who believed in Peckinpah's abilities but knew that it was virtually impossible for Peckinpah to obtain a job with any of the studios, as he had alienated many people in Hollywood. When the project came along, Medavoy knew that it was perfect for Peckinpah and gave it to him under the conditions that he worked under Medavoy's strict supervision; Peckinpah agreed.
The film was shot in March and April 1974 in San Francisco, with additional filming on location in Los Angeles. Locations included the San Francisco Yacht Club, Pier 70, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands, San Francisco International Airport, Chinatown, Portsmouth Square, and the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. The building that explodes in the film's opening was an abandoned fire department station located on the Embarcadero. It was to be demolished by the city for the Embarcadero Center redevelopment project, and Peckinpah changed the film's shooting schedule to take advantage of the event. Shots of the explosion were filmed from the Hyatt-Regency hotel across the street.
The film marked the film debuts of Tom Clancy, better known as a singer and stage actor, and Tiana Alexandra, who was cast after karate expert Hank Hamilton, an advisor on the film, brought her to the producers' attention. She was a brown belt at the time, and she and her husband, writer Stirling Silliphant, were students of Bruce Lee. One report suggests that Alexandra was only hired after Silliphant insisted that his work on the film was contingent on her hire.
Reception
- Wikipedia article: Killer Elite Reception
Goofs
The opening disclaimer mentions an interview with the character Lawrence Weyburn that took place on September 31, 1975. There are only 30 days in September, so this is likely an indication that this is not a disclaimer at all.
See also Movies with Impact
External links
- Review Killer Elite at the Internet Movie Database
- Wikipedia article: Killer Elite
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