Rating: 
Summary: THE KILLER ELITE
Review: A warped genius of a director sleepwalks this half decent action thriller. You can tell Peckinpah had no enthusiasm making this film, it still boasts some good cheographed action scenes.
For example a great sequence of a botched assaination attempt, mixed with some slow motion martial arts. James Caan and Robert Duval are playing there roles purely for laughs. Watchable but no Straw Dogs.
Rating: 
Summary: worst movie ever made
Review: anyone who give this piece of trash 5 stars is out of their mind
Rating: 
Summary: Thriller Elite - NOT!!
Review: I remember The Killer Elite.It was touted as a martial arts extravaganza, with then-famous martial artists from the seventies filling several roles and appearing in an ultra-exciting climactic fight. It would surely go down in history as one of the best martial arts movies ever produced. Unfortunately, things did not work out that way. Poor editing left several exciting fight scenes on the cutting room floor. The then-famous martial artists wore ninja suits making them unrecognizable. The great fight scene turned into a comical joke with sword-wielding bad ninjas being mowed down by spies with submachine guns. It was the old "karate against gun" joke to the infinite power!! During the move, the bad guy says, "I forgot the six "Ps"...
proper planning prevents piss-poor performance". I think the producers of the Killer Elite forgot the same thing!!
Rating:
Summary: Easily one of the worst movies ever
Review: If you ever wonder why James Caan, despite being an amazing actor, hasn't had that great a career, this meltdown is a great place to start. Keeping with that theme, Robert Duvall's seems to have survived because he's only actually in about four scenes in the entire movie. I have to hand it to whoever wrote the great blurb on the back of the DVD, because the dubious title alone makes it easy to take a pass on it. Pass I should have done. Really, the whole idea of this was bad to begin with. The opening credits encompass the guys placing a bomb with children playing in the background, and yet when the thing goes off, the building is actually in a light industrial area with no children around to speak of. Very weird. The purpose of blowing the place seems to be to spirit away some defector with a bad accent, which doesn't make any sense either. The first ten minutes the sound was really badly mixed, so it was hard to tell what they were saying . . . and it got worse from there. Caan gets shot up, then obligatory "invalid recovery" sequence begins, through which I fast-forwarded zestfully. And then I gave up for a couple of days, never intending to finish it, but one gets bored. Protecting some generically Asian guy was the focus of the rest of the plot, which allowed for some generic ninjas to be introduced into the mix. The ludicrous scenes of ninjas stupidly charging into Uzi fire ensues after a lot of FAST-PACED, BREAK-NECK (yeah right) car chasing and lots of conversation. The heroes even start laughing at the stupidity it at one part, along with the audience. Bad editing, direction, script, acting, concept, music, etc. Many reasons why nobody's ever hear of it. I wish my local video store would be more discriminating in their selection. This is easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Avoid.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing Action Melodrama
Review: It's hard to tell who is after who in this badly edited mess! The only saving grace in this espionage "thriller" about the CIA trying to guard Asian political-exiles are the stars (especially James Caan. If it wasn't for him, I'd give this film only one star!) The dialogue is good, but then, good lines should enhance the story. (What story? This movie is mixed up about it's plot!) And where did Sam Pekinpah get the ridiculous idea that ninjas would come right out in the open & charge gun-wielding killers, with swords in hand?!! First, if ninjas were still in operational existence, they'd update themselves. (See "You Only Live Twice." This James Bond film has ninjas, with machine guns!) The historical ninjas used guns. (When the Portugese introduced firearms to Japan, ninjas quickly included muskets into their arsenal.) Lastly, ninjas are notorious for ambushing their opponents. (That's why they wear black! It's so they can't be seen at night!) Peckinpah showed Mexican revolutionaries armed with machetes getting the jump on gun-armed, but sleeping, professional killers in "The Wild Bunch." Well, that's how ninjas in historical times would have done it & if Peckinpah had any respect for martial-arts, that's how he should have featured the ninjas: Gun-armed & ambushing, not out in the open & charging! This was touted as a martial-arts extravaganza, but it's really Peckinpah's sarcastic answer to the '70's martial-arts movie boom. Martial-arts weren't meant to go up against guns, any more than boxing is. Nobody says that boxing is useless! I think Peckinpah was just too drunk to get his research right! "The Wild Bunch" & "Villa Rides!" are my favorites, but "Killer Elite" is just a waste of time!
Rating:
Summary: Confusing Action Melodrama
Review: It's hard to tell who is after who in this badly edited mess! The only saving grace in this espionage "thriller" about the CIA trying to guard Asian political-exiles are the stars (especially James Caan. If it wasn't for him, I'd give this film only one star!) The dialogue is good, but then, good lines should enhance the story. (What story? This movie is mixed up about it's plot!) And where did Sam Pekinpah get the ridiculous idea that ninjas would come right out in the open & charge gun-wielding killers, with swords in hand?!! First, if ninjas were still in operational existence, they'd update themselves. (See "You Only Live Twice." This James Bond film has ninjas, with machine guns!) The historical ninjas used guns. (When the Portugese introduced firearms to Japan, ninjas quickly included muskets into their arsenal.) Lastly, ninjas are notorious for ambushing their opponents. (That's why they wear black! It's so they can't be seen at night!) Peckinpah showed Mexican revolutionaries armed with machetes getting the jump on gun-armed, but sleeping, professional killers in "The Wild Bunch." Well, that's how ninjas in historical times would have done it & if Peckinpah had any respect for martial-arts, that's how he should have featured the ninjas: Gun-armed & ambushing, not out in the open & charging! This was touted as a martial-arts extravaganza, but it's really Peckinpah's sarcastic answer to the '70's martial-arts movie boom. Martial-arts weren't meant to go up against guns, any more than boxing is. Nobody says that boxing is useless! I think Peckinpah was just too drunk to get his research right! "The Wild Bunch" & "Villa Rides!" are my favorites, but "Killer Elite" is just a waste of time!
Rating:
Summary: All Action But Not The Least Bit Memorable.
Review: James Caan And Robert Duvall Star in This revenge thriller about two spies one betrays the other and the other plots to get even with him. Another peckinpah disater. No dialouge just dumb action sequences pretty lame i have ever seen. See Caan in Rollerball instead. As for duvall his talent is truly wasted here.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all
Review: Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite may not be the director's best film (I'll save that for either Cross of Iron or The Wild Bunch) but it's much better than the overrated The Getaway, and is generally a well-made action film. The aspect that makes the film worthwhile is mostly hinged on Peckinpah's direction, with his usual death-in-slow motion and fast-paced shootouts. The first hour does plod a bit but the pace picks up considerably in the second half and culminates into an exciting shootout and martial arts battle on board a ship. The Killer Elite is far from perfect, though. The beginning feels awkward and it takes a while to get the situation and characters straightened out. The plot is also executed in a far more complex manner than it needs to be, resulting in quite a bit of confusion. Robert Duvall is also underused, and the conflict between he and James Caan isn't as compelling as it could or should have been. Performance-wise, The Killer Elite is well-acted. James Caan is solid as the betrayed CIA operative, though his character is a bit too nice for a guy who was shot in the kneecap and elbow by his best friend. Robert Duvall is decent with the limited screen time he has. Bo Hopkins is the real scene stealer as the psychotic agent, and he plays a good guy! The Killer Elite is decent entertainment, with some energetic action sequences. Just rent the film, it wouldn't hurt.
Rating: 
Summary: Top top stuff
Review: The first Peckinpah I ever saw -- and it hooked me forever. Makes today's "action" flicks (Con Air, The Rock, The General's Daughter, etc.) look like the overwrought, underfilled plastic fantastics they are. That, and McQueen and Duvall are cooler than you. Plus the fights.
Rating:
Summary: The Killer Elite Saved By Cast and Director
Review: The Killer Elite is a low key action movie with a little martial arts mixed in. Directed by Sam Pekinpah, it boasts a great cast including James Caan, Robert Duvall, Gig Young, Mako, Bo Hopkins, and Burt Young. There are a couple of hilarious moments, but the movie is a little dated compared to today's action movies. Meaning the action is far and few between. The story is about two CIA operatives (James Caan as Mike Locken and Robert Duvall as George Hansen) pitted against each other. Duvall's character betrays the CIA and at the same time cripples Caan's character. Caan fights his way back to a CIA position and is reassigned to protect an important foreign dignitary and recruits old pals for his task force. These characters provide somewhat of comic relief (Burt Young and Bo Hopkins). Pekinpah's direction is great despite the weak script and ample action, but somehow one feels that there should have been more to show with such a great cast.
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