The Killer Elite

As steady hands carefully wire a bomb and meticulously set the timer to the eerie sounds of children singing in the background, and as the deadly device explodes, rupturing a building into fragments and splintering the tranquility of the theatre, the cinematic genius of the OscarÂ(r)-nominated* writer/director of The Wild Bunch comes to startling life. Featuring "a first rate cast"(Los Angeles Times) headed by Academy AwardÂ(r) nominee** James Caan and OscarÂ(r) winner*** Robert Duvall, this sinister action-thriller "aim[s] at the jugular" (Cue) and "rivets you to the screen" (Cosmopolitan)! Elite assassins Mike Locken (Caan) andGeorge Hansen (Duvall) take on jobs too risky for even the CIA to handle. They're best friends, superior marksmen and on the A-list when it comes to killing. But when one high-powered hitman betrays another, the intrigue, the violence and the thrills become more than just a dangerous game of who-kills-whom first...it becomes a very personal war! *1969: Original Story and Screenplay (Sam Peckinpah) **1972: Supporting Actor, The Godfather ***1983: Actor, Tender Mercies

James Caan and Robert Duvall star as a pair of CIA operatives in the Bay Area; when Duvall sells out Caan, he cripples him instead of killing him. But Caan fights back, working himself back into shape and back into service to protect a visiting dignitary who is targeted for assassination. It all leads to a solid shootout and martial-arts battle aboard the mothballed fleet in the North Bay. Economic and spare, this is one of director Sam Peckinpah's lesser efforts, but still features his skillful direction of action scenes. An intriguing cast includes Arthur Hill, Mako, and Bo Hopkins; this may be the only film that features both Burt Young and Gig Young. --Marshall Fine

James Caan and Robert Duvall star as a pair of CIA operatives in the Bay Area; when Duvall sells out Caan, he cripples him instead of killing him. But Caan fights back, working himself back into shape and back into service to protect a visiting dignitary who is targeted for assassination. It all leads to a solid shootout and martial-arts battle aboard the mothballed fleet in the North Bay. Economic and spare, this is one of director Sam Peckinpah's lesser efforts, but still features his skillful direction of action scenes. An intriguing cast includes Arthur Hill, Mako, and Bo Hopkins; this may be the only film that features both Burt Young and Gig Young. --Marshall Fine