Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, But I Hated This!!!
Review: Before people start throwing accusations around, I want to make it clear that I am a HUGE film noir fan! I don't reject this film because it's hard for me to enjoy the classics, but just the opposite; classic films are the only films I DO enjoy, therefor it irks me when this film gets mentioned among the ranks of such awesome noir films as "White Heat", "Double Indemnity", and "The Killing". Hey, even the old gangster greats that aren't even mentioned anymore like "D.O.A.", "Cry Danger" and "Pickup on South Street" are much better than this stinker in my opinion. I don't know how Robert Aldrich (one of my favorite directors) could have ever gotten involved with this hack project. But most of all, I wish people would stop calling "Kiss Me Deadly" a film noir. True, it does meet some of the criteria for inclusion within the genre, but what it has in dark, pervasive gloom and thoroughly gritty atmosphere (which, admittedly, it possesses in spades), it lacks in many other trademarks of film noir. The story is basically a good one, but it drags a LOT, and with no great background music, interesting cinematography, or gripping dialogue, it offers up about as much suspense as a trip to the laundromat. And if that wasn't enough to ruin the film for me (which, I assure you, it was), the acting is atrocious!!! Ralph Meeker just couldn't cut the mustard here. He is flat, detatched from his character, and has absolutely no stage presence. It is possible that Meeker couldn't pull this off because he had to play a sadistic, womanizing dirtbag, which is more difficult for actors than playing a good guy, but if you're going to have a sleazy lead character (VERY bad idea for a film, even a NOIR film, in the first place, as an audience wants SOMEONE to root for), at least cast someone who can PLAY a sleazy, unsympathetic type character. Do you know who would have been 100 times better in this role??? Richard Widmark!!! Even when he's playing law enforcement characters or upstanding citizens, there's something sinester about his presence. And unlike Ralph Meeker, Richard Widmark can ACT and therefor, would have been the ULTIMATE Mike Hammer for film. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Richard Widmark could have been to Mike Hammer what Dick Powell was to Phillip Marlowe and what Humphrey Bogart was to Sam Spade. I consider it a lost opportunity, especially since it would have boosted the career of one of the most underrated actors of the twentieth century. The characters are cardboard and unrealistic, the situations are pure fantasy, and the whole premise is just an excuse to see some knuckle-dragging idiot beating people up, scoring with chicks, and using fancy gadgets to fight crime. I guess this is when the true film P.I.'s, who had to use deduction, perception, and intuition to solve cases, gave way to the techno-age pseudo-sleuths of the sixties and so on, like James Bond and the like. Pretty sad really, because "Kiss Me Deadly" probably did more to kill film noir than to contribute to it.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally Deserving Attention
Review: "Kiss Me Deadly" has been accurately termed a "long neglected classic." The good news is that the 1955 release directed by Robert Aldrich has been recently receiving the recognition it deserves. The bad news was that it came too late to help Ralph Meeker, who did a superb job of playing Mickey Spillane's detective Mike Hammer in the film. Meeker, who replaced Marlon Brando on Broadway in "Streetcar Named Desire" and later starred in "Picnic," could have profited had the film been a contemporary success in the way that Sean Connery did in his association with James Bond, which propelled him to international stardom. Meeker failed to get a break when Harry Cohn at Columbia signed the more bankable William Holden to play the male lead in the film version of "Picnic," which proved to be a soaring vehicle for newcomer Kim Novak.Robert Aldrich presented his subject matter and the script by Hollywood veteran A.J. Bezzerides in the same hard-hitting manner he embraced in his other major hit from 1955, the highly acclaimed "The Big Knife," Clifford Odets' cynical view of Hollywood starring Jack Palance and Shelley Winters. The film begins with Meeker as Hammer picking up Cloris Leachman on a lonely road. This was her film debut. He learns that she has escaped from a mental facility and is seeking a ride to Los Angeles. Instead Hammer is waylaid by gangsters, who kill Leachman and almost succeed in destroying the detective. Hammer's toughness pays off when he survives a three day hospital ordeal hovering on the brink of death after his sports car is pushed off the highway with himself and the already dead Leachman in it. When Meeker is later questioned by federal authorities he realizes that this was not the death of some poor, confused soul by some angry gangsters, but something of much greater importance. They excoriate Meeker for the way he makes a living. While the detective seduces married women, his sexy secretary Velda, played by Maxine Cooper, compromises married men. As a result they are able to build up a thriving divorce business through their nefarious activities as vehicles of temptation. When Meeker-Hammer is dismissed by the federal officers, the chief investigator says sarcastically, "Open the window and let in some fresh air." A moralist could argue that Hammer is ultimately punished for his tawdry ways since Velda is kidnapped by gangsters, who warn the detective to lay off. Instead his resolve increases to solve the case and get back his secretary unscathed. His efforts lead him into the nether world of cheap criminal activity in the Bunker Hill section near Los Angeles. Great photography reveals this shadowy world in the darkness of hallways and small rooms. On one occasion, to gain quick attention and obtain information, he coolly destroys an expensive collector's item record featuring Enrico Caruso. Hammer continues encountering tawdry figures in bedraggled settings playing beautiful classical music, contrasting the difference between a world of beauty and the nether world of tawdry brutality which the detective frequents. He encounters a ruthless gangster with a Beverly Hills mansion, Paul Stewart, who says with admiration, "You handle yourself well, Hammer" after he employs his handiwork on one of Stewart's thugs, Jack Lambert, who operates in a shadowy tandem with Jack Elam. Eventually Hammer follows the trail to a turncoat scientist played by Albert Dekker, who is holding his secretary captive at his Malibu beach house. The object of concern is a box with highly explosive contents, as both Hammer and Velda discover by film's end. A major question surrounds the film. Critics and historians debate whether or not Hammer actually survives at the end of the film. See the explosive ending and decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining Detective Story, but Not Great Noir To Me.
Review: "Kiss Me Deadly" is based on the novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane and features his private detective Mike Hammer, who is more a con artist than an investigator. Mike (Ralph Meeker) picks up a panicked woman on the road at night, only to be run off the road by her faceless pursuers shortly thereafter. When Hammer regains consciousness, the woman is dead, he is laid up in the hospital, and federal investigators are asking questions. Contemptuous of the law, Mike stonewalls the authorities. But he decides to stray from his usual fare -making sure he profits from both sides in divorce cases- and investigate the case himself. With the assistance of his loyal secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) Mike sets out to find out who the dead woman was, who she was running from, and why she was killed.
Mike Hammer is not an appealing or sympathetic character. He doesn't investigate out of any sense of justice for the woman who met a horrible death, or even out of vengeance for his own treatment. He simply thinks he must be onto some valuable blackmail material. Ralph Meeker does a superb job with this role. But "Kiss Me Deadly" is a film without likable characters and, in fact, without interesting characters either. This is a film noir that came late in the classic noir cycle: 1955. Unlike the noirs of the 1940s, which were thematically concerned with the 1930s, "Kiss Me Deadly" has a very post-war feel: the cutting edge technology of Mike's reel-to-reel answering machine, Cold War intrigue, crinolined skirts and prominent bustlines. "Kiss Me Deadly" is thoroughly entrenched in the 1950s. Prominent film noir theorists have declared it one of the greats, but it's so unlike the films of the 1940s that it doesn't have the same appeal. The femmes fatales are bimbos with petty ambitions, not smart, articulate women. Mike Hammer is misogynistic, self-important, and completely lacking in introspection. He's not angsty or doomed, as noir men frequently are. But an extroverted protagonist doesn't interest me, because there is no more to him than meets the eye. To me, "Kiss Me Deadly" is a sleek, well-directed, detective story that goes through the motions, but simply has no depth. It's entertaining as such, but it's as superficial as its characters. Many film noir fans will disagree with me, so you'll have to judge for yourself.
The DVD: There is a theatrical trailer (2 minutes) and an alternate ending (1 minute). The alternate ending is shorter than the one in the movie and was actually the more common ending for the film. There is no difference in meaning between the two endings. The shorter one just uses less footage and isn't quite as good. Subtitles available for the film in French and Spanish.
Rating:
Summary: "Mmmm...look at all the goodies!"
Review: Absolute film noir heaven (or hell, depending on how you look at it.) A film so visually and stylistically arresting that the somewhat intricate and confusing plot becomes a moot point, one can't help but watch this 1955 (!) Robert Aldrich masterwork with a sense of awe. We may be in disagreement on the assessment of Jerry Lewis' "genius", but as for the importance of this film's influence on susbsequent cinema, I have to agree with the French on this one! Ralph Meeker's sneeringly existential and Brandoesque Mike Hammer persona in this film has been imitated many times but never matched.One interesting note: 1984's "punk-noir" classic "Repo Man" borrowed quite heavily from this film...make it a double bill some slow night and you'll be amazed and bemused!
Rating:
Summary: The Hunt for the Great Whatsit
Review: After the post-war generation crafted the elegantly deadly James Bond and issued him a license to kill they drained the swamp and found Mike Hammer sleeping it off under a rotting log.
Robert Aldrich's KISS ME DEADLY brings Mickey Spillane's pulp hero to life in all his amoral glory. Ralph Meeker plays the private eye whose specialty is divorce cases. Meeker's Hammer is a character who'd transcended cynicism before he crawled out of the crib. Hammer is a modern man (circa 1955) and the brooding, blasted and failed Romanticism of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe isn't for him. Hammer has no preconceptions to shatter. His curiosity in things end after he learns "what's in it for him."
Unfortunately, as drawn in this movie, Hammer has almost no dialogue. We have to learn about him through his actions, and about the only time we see animated humanity behind his grinning eyes is when he's smashing someone's fingers in a desk drawer. On second thought, maybe we don't want to learn that much about him after all. He's got a hep bachelor pad though, with a real swinging answering machine. Hef would have been proud.
KISS ME DEADLY is long on style and dreadfully short on substance. The closer you look at the plot the flimsier it becomes. I wonder if that was the point, though. It seems to be, with its stylized violence and penchant for clothing its actresses in nothing but terrycloth robes, that KISS ME DEADLY was trying to push the envelope a bit, jump the Code and stake out unclaimed territory. If so, it probably worked in ways a modern audience is too jaded to recognize. Even so, there is a violent scene or two that made me squirm. Not for every taste, but an intriguing character study of an inaccessible character. I enjoyed it as a fresh take on the tough-guy private eye, but KISS ME DEADLY is probably not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing film noir
Review: As a huge film noir fan who was aware of this film's importance to various directors I admire, I was very interested in seeing this movie and then extremely disappointed by it. Some of the acting is fine but some of it is atrociously bad. The story is preposterous which would be fine if it were more entertaining. And the film as a whole is a big dud. If you're looking for great noir, check out "Double Indemnity", "Chinatown", "The Maltese Falcon" and others. Hell, even rent "Detour"--low-budget and dated but far superior to this film.
Rating:
Summary: The director's cut?
Review: As a long-time admirer of 'Kiss me deadly' (the best thriller to annoy scientists, with its completely bogus, but archly symbolic, 'nuclear' plot), I have noticed roughly three different versions of the final two or three minutes. Although the differences are small, they are not without interest. Whether we gain anything from seeing slightly more of 'Pandora' being incinerated is debatable, but in the longest version (shown by the BBC on its Moviedrome series about five years ago) there is a clear implication that Hammer and girlfriend escape, while the shortest seems to suggest that the genie emerging from the box is about to consume everything. Has any historian of film noir written about this? Do we know what Aldrich intended?
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good film noir
Review: As a lover of film noir i might be a bit biased but i loved this one.A good story keeps it going with a wild "whats it" to be discovered. Meeker is no Humphrey Bogart but a pretty good Mike Hammer. Good sound and picture.
Rating:
Summary: An absorbing film
Review: Besides the fifty years difference fact since this film was made, it's worthy to remark the clever script in that black decade that permeated the minds of so many artists all around the world.
This film , undoubtly belongs the film noir genre , but goes far beyond and becomes a clear warning about the implications of dealing with such dangerous weapon in the underworld.
In this sense, the dramatic wrenchs produce interesting and new events that feed and redefine the film noir for that historical moment. Don't forget the Cold War and the dark clouds of fear and hopeless still surrounded the mind and soul of many people in USA.
Watch this film . Robert Aldrich , with this film defined his artistic personality in the American Cinema.
And other movies directed by him , specially "In cold blood" , gives us important clues about his world's sight.
Rating:
Summary: Kiss Me Deadly
Review: Condemned by censors, panned by critics, and banned by the Btritish when it was released in 1955 KISS ME DEADLY is today universally considered one of the definitive and perhaps most perfectly realized films noirs ever made. Director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides, both having a mutual contempt for right wing pulp novelist Mickey Spillane and all he stood for, nevertheless smartly capitalized on the extraordinary success of the author at the time, basing their film on Spillane's book of the same name while taking such drastic liberties with his story, characters, and ideologies that the finished product would be nearly unrecognizable to serious Spillane fans. This point seems to be forshadowed, as film noir scholar James Naremore has pointed out, in the weirdly reversed opening credits which seem to stand Mickey Spillane on his head. The movie opens with divorce detective Mike Hammer(Ralph Meeker) forced to pick up a barefoot and naked-under-a-trenchcoat Christina Baily(Chloris Leachman in her first screen role)who, as we soon find out, has escaped from a mental institution and is running down the middle of a remote California road at night. When Hammer is quickly run off the road by gangsters who torture Christina to death and nearly kill Hammer himself his interest is sparked. Hammer smells something big and the cut of something big is...well, big. He decides to give the divorce work a rest and devote himself, his adoring secretary Velda(Maxine Cooper), his Greek mechanic friend Nick(Nick Dennis), and anyone else he can get to do his dirty work for him to this new mystery. The film is rich with Cold War fear and nuclear paranoia as all the characters relentless focus of selfish greed is on "the great whatsit", the mysterious glowing box of material stolen from a nuclear testing facility. Mike Hammer's detective is totally enjoyable to watch although a distinctly unfavorable and immoral character. He whores out his secretary, Velda, without remorse to adulterous husbands to wrap up divorce cases, gets his innocent friend Nick killed by involving him in the case, is a markedly poor detective, and sadistically enjoys physically punishing those who get in his way. KISS ME DEADLY is fundamentally wrapped up in the definitions of the film noir genre, containing all the elements--a stark opening sequence on a dark road, destructive manipulating femme fatales, low-life cheap gangsters, dark expressionistically lit night-time scenes, a vengeful (or greedy?) quest, maybe the best, and most anti-, anti-hero of the noir canon, and a dark mood of hopelessness.
|
