The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Badlands
Drama · Romance · Crime · 1974
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.
Movie details
Badlands
“In 1959 a lot of people were killing time. Kit and Holly were killing people.”
1974 Drama · Romance · Crime 1h 34m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.7 / 10
83.6K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
97 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
94 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.5 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Badlands?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Thelma & Louise
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Brick
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Terrence Malick
Written by
Terrence Malick
Martin Sheen
Kit Carruthers
Sissy Spacek
Holly Sargis
Warren Oates
Holly's Father
Ramon Bieri
Cato
Alan Vint
Deputy
Gary Littlejohn
Sheriff
John Carter
Rich Man
Court is in session
Put Badlands on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.