Badlands

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Terrence Malick directs. Brian Probyn behind the camera. George Aliceson Tipton scores. Robert Estrin cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 253 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
• 4Directed by Terrence Malick, shot by Brian Probyn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by George Aliceson Tipton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Robert Estrin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek and Warren Oates carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "In 1959 a lot of people were killing time. Kit and Holly were killing people.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0069762 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 10 themes, including "mass murder", "based on true story", "fugitive", "on the run".

The technical file

Cinematography

Brian Probyn

Original score

George Aliceson Tipton

Editing

Robert Estrin

Costume design

Rosanna Norton

Makeup / hair

Dona Baldwin

Sound

John Wilkinson

Runtime

94 min · 1h 34m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$300,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

Badlands (1973) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

97% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

94/100

IMDB rating

7.7/10 · 83,647 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Terrence Malick

• 
  Lanton Mills

  1969 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Days of Heaven

  1978 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The Thin Red Line

  1998 · ★ 7.4
• 
  A Hidden Life

  2019 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience

  2016 · ★ 6.9
• 
  The Tree of Life

  2011 · ★ 6.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Three Reasons: Badlands

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  The First Four Minutes

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Badlands and the Art of the Voiceover

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Original Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2014-09-25
  ★ 5.5/10

  Little did I realise that what began in the alleys and back ways of this quiet town would end in the Badlands of Montana. Badlands is written and directed by Terrence Malick. It stars Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Ramon Bieri and Warren Oats. Music is by George Tipton and James Taylor and cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, Steven Larner and Brian Probyn. Badlands seems to be adored by critics, often being coined as one of the best debuts ever made by a director. Maybe based loosely on the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of 1958, though the makers have been at pains to ensure we know this is a case of all the characters and situations being fictional, Badlands does indeed have impressive strands. It's a gorgeous picture visually, the surreal feel that is sometimes garnered by Malick in the narrative gives the piece a haunted edge and Spacek and Sheen are very good given the characters they are asked to play. However, Malick's commentary on amoral youth of 50s America, a corruption of innocence, alienation and etc, never has the depth, to my mind, to really be as special as so many say it is. Some argue the sketchy motives and reasonings involving Kit and Holly are deliberately thought provoking, I'd argue that devoid of psychological meat they are dull characters only livened by the actors' performances. Holly's narration is a clever device by Malick, serving to keep us interested since the structure of the film is repetitious, where being in the company of Kit and Holly becomes a chore. And lets not get onto credibility either... I know I'm in the minority, but three times I have tried to grasp this supposed genius in Badlands, and I just don't see it. There's a myth and mysticism that has been attributed to it, even enhanced as the years have rolled by, but where there is undoubtedly beauty on the surface, down below there is no beast. 6/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2026-07-03
  ★ 7/10

  This is another of those films that I could just imagine James Dean doing, but as it is it's a charismatic Martin Sheen who dons the white T-shirt and the 501s and causes havoc with his younger girlfriend "Holly" (Sissy Spacek). "Kit" is a bit of a drifter who makes a living collecting the trash in 1950s rural America and who probably won't amount to much as he hangs about with her as if they were ten years younger. Then an incident at home with her disapproving father (Warren Oates) forces the pair to get off the grid. For a while they take to the trees, but with the cops and others trying to track them down they must resort to even more drastic action that essentially turns the pair into a sort of latter-day Bonnie & Clyde - complete with their very own bounty! As their adventures continue, both justify their increasingly erratic behaviour by claiming to want to protect the other whilst she, especially, becomes disillusioned with the opportunities their new life on the run is offering them. The plot here isn't especially gripping, but there is something about the observational style of the film that really does engage. It's not just that Sheen looks like Dean, it's like he's actually trying to look like him. That nonchalantness; that portrayal of the irresponsibility of youth and the complete indifference to the consequences of his increasingly murderous actions are captured effortlessly by an actor who looks entirely natural throughout. Spacek rarely disappoints and she doesn't here either. "Holly" has more of the loyal dog to her character than a girl. What won't she do for her beau? Except, as with any good chrysalis, as they spend more time together she is the one who emerges to more readily appreciate the toxicity and unsustainability of their situation. Will they both end up driving over a cliff together in one last grand romantic gesture or will one of them crack under the pressures of their now quite perilously transient lives and their constant pursuit? The uncomplicated cinematography brings an extra dimension to their story as it's very spacious grandness seems to exacerbate her feelings of being more and more hemmed-in and the pace - though lively at times - largely has a gentleness to it that further augments the sense that this pair are still playing with skimming stones, or mucking about in the fields emanating anything but a sense of menace. There is a certain chemistry here between the two and it's a film that sort of washes over you.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• PR

  Pressman-Williams

  US

• JI

  Jill Jakes Production

Key crew

• ProducerTerrence Malick
• EditorRobert Estrin
• Executive ProducerEdward R. Pressman
• CastingDianne Crittenden
• Associate ProducerLouis A. Stroller
• Music EditorErma E. Levin
• GafferJack English
• Assistant EditorMarion Segal
• StuntsGeorge Fisher
• Art DirectionJack Fisk
• Costume DesignRosanna Norton
• HairstylistDona Baldwin
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJohn Wilkinson
• Sound EditorSharron Miller
• Supervising Sound EditorJames Nelson
• Theme Song PerformanceJames Taylor
• ConductorGeorge Aliceson Tipton
• Associate EditorBilly Weber
• Art DirectionEdward Richardson
• Production ManagerWilliam Scott
• Sound EffectsSam F. Shaw
• Wardrobe DesignerDona Baldwin
• Assistant DirectorJohn Broderick
• Assistant DirectorCarl Olsen

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• mass murder
• based on true story
• fugitive
• on the run
• on the road
• killing spree
• south dakota
• badlands
• runaway couple
• fugitive lovers

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1973-10-13· New York Film Festival

Also known as

International titles

• Malas tierrasES
• ПустошиRU
• La rabbia giovaneIT
• Terra de NinguémBR
• Det grymma landetSE
• 황무지KR
• 恶土CN
• 不毛之地CN
• Qanlı TorpaqAZ