Simply Perfect

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Crappy film

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I am a fan of both of the main actors in this film and the concept sounded pretty interesting so I watched it but this is one of the worst films ever. The premise of the film sees a man looking to get revenge on an old adversary because of events that happened in a previous war. Now Robert deniro is a great actor but he had nothing to do in this film. He couldn't deliver a decent performance with this script and his character was so boring and bland that you just don't care. But my God John travolta is absolutely awful in this movie. He has the worst Serbian accent I have ever heard and his beard made it so distracting. His character was not compelling at all and some of the actions he takes in this film are just confusing. Deniros family were pointless in the film and felt like a confusing pointless addition to the film. The story of the film is extremely sloppy and stupid. Not only does this film completely contradict the Bosnian war but it doesn't use it enough at all. You don't believe the situations in this film and you don't care either. The script is diabolical, the dialogue has no weight to it and you don't feel any drama when the film truly wants you too. The style is pointlessly graphic and overly used to get religious points across. Also the pacing of the film is terrible because after 30 minutes I wanted to truly turn the film off before the action started. Overall this is a shocking film that needs to be avoided at all costs.

This could have been much better than it was, it would have needed a new script though, and to be perfectly frank, some better acting too.Both Robert De Niro and John Travolta played familiar roles, and unfortunately Travolta especially, played his both woodenly, and unconvincingly. The dodgy accent didn't help either.....The setting for the movie was fantastic though, really beautiful looking country. But obviously that's not enough to lift a movie out of mediocrity. I liked the premise of the film, but felt let down by what was in all honesty a B-movie played by A-list actors.

Essentially a lesser version of William Friedkin's The Hunted - which is a bit like saying "a smaller rodent than a mole" - Killing Season swings back and forth like an argument between drunkards. Travolta (sporting a sinister beard which makes him look like a diabolical Abraham Lincoln) captures De Niro; then De Niro frees himself and captures Travolta; then Travolta frees himself and... repeat ad nauseam for 90 minutes.How do you keep a story focusing on just two characters in a single location compelling and varied? The answer is, unless you are an extremely skilled scriptwriter (say, Sleuth's Anthony Shaffer), you don't. Silliness and out-of-character moments aside - why would De Niro's veteran, haunted by the violence in his past, pour lemonade on his enemy's wounds rather than call the cops? - what kills the movie is this sense of dull, mechanical repetition.The already mentioned Sleuth offers clues on how this could have been handled: keep Travolta's motivation (revenge for nearly killing him during the Bosnian War) a mystery for a while, and have him behave in an increasingly creepy manner while slowly unraveling his secret. Killing Season tips its hand in the first five minutes, and as a consequence the whole structure collapses.5/10

The following review will contain spoilers.When I first heard about this movie I felt is was going to be another hit or miss lazy direct to home video released film. After watching this film, I honestly can say that I was dead wrong about this film. Nearly everything about this film was perfect. From the acting to the directing, Killing Season delivers on nearly every front and is easily a must watch film. This is my review of Killing Season.The story opens with a flashback to the Bosnian War where Robert De Niro(Benjamin Ford) is serving the U.S. military efforts while John Travolta(Emil Kovac) is considered to be the enemy. The story opens with a line of enemies about to be shot, and we see Ford about to shoot Kovac but, we only hear the shot as the screen cuts to black. The story continues as Kovac gets Intel on where Ford is hiding out these days. He gets this information to hunt him down, torture him, and make him repent to God. The story continues on with more detail but, I will not be going into greater detail, just wanted to give a detailed outline of the story for the most part. This story was written by Evan Daugherty, who recently wrote the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie from 2014. While I rightly trashed his effort in that film, I was shocked to see him lay out such a great story with fantastic characters like Ford and Kovac. This film is a lesson that don't always judge a book by its cover. If I had done that, then this is a film I would have easily passed over without thinking twice about it. This film really centers on conversation to build up the characters, and with amazing actors this type of film really worked very well. The script is not without its faults though. Ford, a military man, makes some questionable mistakes in the film, and this has to be chalked up to taking your eye off the ball for the sake of making the story more ingesting. Daugherty delivers one heck of an effort overall though for this film, that even surprised be. Even with some sloppier writing in certain areas, the movie holds together nicely.The film was directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who is known for some bad films like Daredevil and Ghost Rider. While I must agree with the masses on those two film, his effort in this film is completely different. This type of film itself is widely different than the more uptempo films like Ghost Rider and Daredevil. This is a more character driven film, with some very light action scenes. While the actions scenes come few and far between, when Johnson delivers these bigger scenes, they are so amazingly shot. Since this is lower budget film, you can notice some cheap green screening in certain spots but, that doesn't take away from the film itself. With a film like this, having great actors hold the film together is very important. John Travolta and Robert De Niro works so very well together, and this is very important as they have so many scenes where they banter back and forth. These two legends of acting really make this film something very special in the acting department, and is really the big reason to see this film. Even though Johnson has had some bad efforts in the past, his effort in this film was truly special to watch. Outstanding film and outstanding job of writing and directing in this film.Christopher Young is the composer for this film, and he has composed many big films in the past like Spider-Man 3, Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and even composed the 2014 film Deliver Us from Evil. This being a more laid back character driven film, with minimal action scenes it is tough to steal the show for a composer unless you have great talent. Young shows how amazing he is at scoring films. The depth his score adds, especially towards the end of the film, is truly a wonderful thing to hear.In closing, the honest truth here is if you can watch this movie, I highly recommend it the film to everyone. While light on action, the story and the fabulous acting from John Travolta and Robert De Niro is more than enough to keep your attention for the duration of this incredible movie. For a movie like this I tend to dish out about a six to seven out of ten but, since the acting is so amazing, I thought it really did deserve an eight out of ten. A major streaming outlet does in fact carry this film, so if you subscribe to that, or if you have the ability to rent it, then this is a must see film.8/10