IMDb RATING
6.4/10
137K
YOUR RATING
When his mentor is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, a killer-for-hire is forced into action. His mission: kill three members of Britain's elite Special Air Service responsible for hi... Read allWhen his mentor is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, a killer-for-hire is forced into action. His mission: kill three members of Britain's elite Special Air Service responsible for his son's deaths.When his mentor is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, a killer-for-hire is forced into action. His mission: kill three members of Britain's elite Special Air Service responsible for his son's deaths.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 8 nominations
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- Writers
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- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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Did you know
- TriviaSir Ranulph Fiennes, an English adventurer, polar explorer and former S.A.S. man is the author of The Feather Men, the novel on which this film is adapted. Although he has often claimed the novel was a true story, the families of the real dead S.A.S. men named in the novel who died on S.A.S. exercises, and the S.A.S. themselves publicly attacked it as sick exploitation and complete fiction. The S.A.S. even went on the record to disown both Fiennes and the book, with Lieutenant Colonel Ian Smith telling the Daily Mail "It was utter bullshit", the figment of a fertile imagination. What was really upsetting, was that it was making a story out of a tragedy." Maggie Denaro, the widow of one of the dead S.A.S. men said of Fiennes, "It's time he grew up. He's made his money out of the book. He should come clean. When the book came out saying Mike had been murdered, we knew it wasn't true. But that didn't stop our children from being upset when other people believed it." Although Fiennes claims he sent a manuscript of the book to the S.A.S. and the families of the dead men, who gave their approval, they have all unequivocally denied his claim.
- GoofsWhen Hunter sits with Anne in the cafe in Paris the menu items written on the wall have prices in Euros, in 1980 it should have been Francs.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.214 (2011)
- SoundtracksDelilah
Composed by Barry Mason (as B. Mason) / Les Reed (as L. Reed)
(c) 1968 Donna Music Limited
Administered by J. Albert & Son Pty Limited
Used with permission
Featured review
I'm not sure what it was about Killer Elite that disappointed me, but it just didn't seem to live up to its potential. It might have been that the movie relied on Jason Statham to act, instead of just do action. He plays a retired hit man who gets pulled out of retirement to save a friend's life. But it just doesn't work, he's unconvincing. The retirement isn't convincing and neither is his reluctance to return to work. He was much better in the Mechanic which dealt with similar issues.
Overall the movie doesn't hold together very well. There is too much that they are trying to accomplish, but not enough gets developed. For instance, the romance between Danny (Statham) and Anne (Yvonne Strahovski) just seems to be cut in to the movie in a few places. The Feathermen (the group about whom the book the movie draws from is written) appear in a few scenes, yet they're role is barely explored. They are spliced in just enough to give Spike (Clive Owen) a support system.
It's not a terrible movie, but it could have been much more. I think it would make a better mini-series, so that the different parts could be explored properly. If not, eliminate the things that aren't given justice.
Overall the movie doesn't hold together very well. There is too much that they are trying to accomplish, but not enough gets developed. For instance, the romance between Danny (Statham) and Anne (Yvonne Strahovski) just seems to be cut in to the movie in a few places. The Feathermen (the group about whom the book the movie draws from is written) appear in a few scenes, yet they're role is barely explored. They are spliced in just enough to give Spike (Clive Owen) a support system.
It's not a terrible movie, but it could have been much more. I think it would make a better mini-series, so that the different parts could be explored properly. If not, eliminate the things that aren't given justice.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Sát Thủ Chuyên Nghiệp
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $70,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,124,966
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,352,008
- Sep 25, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $57,084,522
- Runtime1 hour 56 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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