Killing Season (2013) User Reviews

Two acting heavyweights and an interesting story that squanders its potential in the dumbest possible ways.

[lnvicta · 4/10 · 18 March 2016]

I was expecting to despise this movie. I only watched it because I was in the mood to see a bad De Niro movie, so the one where he's opposite Travolta playing a Serbian seemed to fit the criteria perfectly. But I was actually on board for the first 15 or so minutes of Killing Season. De Niro's character is off in a cabin isolated from his family and still recovering from the effects the Bosnian war had on him however many years ago, and Travolta's character is out for vengeance because he was left for dead in the same war on the opposing side. It's a simple enough premise. And there's one interesting scene where De Niro and Travolta are drinking and sharing war stories where you actually feel some tension but mutual respect building between them. Kind of like Pacino and De Niro in Heat (a blasphemous comparison but it's the first thing that came to mind). Anyway, I wanted more of that.

But as soon as that's over, the movie turns into a cat-and-mouse game between the two of them that consists of one of them getting captured and tortured, then they somehow escape and the chase continues until the other guy gets captured and tortured, then they somehow escape and the cycle continues. It's just dumb and predictable. And let's talk about the accents for a minute. Travolta doesn't even have a bad accent. Mind you I don't know how authentic of a Serbian accent it is, but the accent itself is convincing enough. The problem is that he uses the same intonation for everything he says. At one point he's literally shot in the f*cking face and the next minute he's talking in exactly the same tone as before. And De Niro does this southern accent that drifts in and out, and you can tell he's just there for a paycheck because he's not even trying to pull it off convincingly. Hell it was more believable in Machete. And the special effects, holy god they're awful. They'll randomly cut to a close up of a wound and it just looks terrible. It's gratuitous, and I don't mind gratuity all that much but when you can clearly tell something is CGI, there's no excuse for that to make it in the final cut. It's unnecessary, it looks like crap, get it out of there.

So yeah, I ended up disliking the movie but not for the reasons I was expecting. Travolta's accent wasn't the worst part of the movie like I thought it'd be. The story was quite interesting but it gets resolved in the most half-assed way, like there's absolutely no pathos when there so easily could have been seeing as how it's about two opposing war vets encountering each other after all this time. I mean, it's not a terrible movie. It really isn't. De Niro has had much worse, so has Travolta. But there are glimpses of potential all over this movie that get squandered in the dumbest possible ways, and that itself makes Killing Season a frustrating watch.

A movie that could have been very good

[laserburn · 4/10 · 15 July 2013]

For starters, the movie gets absolutely everything wrong about events of the Bosnian war, but since such ignorance is expected from Hollywood, there is no reason to hold it against this particular title.

The premise of the movie is good, the basic story is decent, but the script could have been better written, the two main characters' stories never get satisfyingly developed. If this was directed by John McTiernan as originally planned, this would have been a great movie. Sadly, instead we got the guy who did Daredevil and he once again delivered a bland, uninspiring product. Acting is OK, Travolta did his best to hold a consistent accent (it was the wrong accent, but hey!) throughout the movie, while DeNiro looked more like he was only concerned with the paycheck.

All in all, the movie is not terrible, I guess it wouldn't kill you to watch it if you have nothing better to do for an hour and a half. The sad part is that this could have been a much, much better movie, perhaps even a classic.

Haven't seen a fail movie in a while!

[juicyfruitsweet2008 · 5/10 · 8 August 2013]

So many ridiculous scenes happened in this movie. For example, this one guy was down then the other guy got a chance to have a shot at him but then he didn't do it. Then next thing you know the first guy somehow got an opportunity to get a shot at the other guy. This type of scenario happened probably 3 or 4 times again and again just ridiculous. Just do it already! Like come on.

In addition, the accent is really funny like many reviewers on here mentioned. The actor tried too hard and he seems to fail at it.

Waste of 1hr 30mins seriously and I gave this movie a 5/10 rating since it has some suspense scenes to it.

Ghastly

[mls4182 · 1/10 · 8 April 2022]

Poor De Niro. I had to turn this off.

The plot was awful and Travolta us unbearably bad.

I can't believe this was even financed. It is just pointless.

Another one...

[Bugeera · 17 July 2013]

And here comes another one from Hollywood. I ll be short because its mine first review.

Plot mistake - "one American and one Serbian" OK lets see about this - on poster there are 2 guys,main actors. So probably plot is about them,because Deniro's name is American i presume that Travolta is acting that Serb guy. So lets get a little attention on that EMIL KOVAČ As far as i remember Emil is so common Muslim name and Kovač is also more commoner Croatian surname. Where the heck do you see Serbian there. The more funnier thing is that this is movie about Bosnian war LOL

Like some croatio-bosnian will fight for Serbs ,yea right.

I am aware that Hollywood is not History channel,but come on...get some facts at least for maincharacter names.

One of the worst movies I've ever watched

[WillWong101 · 1/10 · 15 July 2013]

This movie seems like it was written and directed by a couple of 12-year old boys. It's an awful pile of steaming cheese.

What was De Niro thinking? Travolta doesn't surprise me - he has a knack for picking stinkers.

It was excruciating from start to finish - filled with clichés, bad acting, ridiculous fight scenes, laughable plot, Travolta droning on in some pseudo-Serbian accent, and old man De Niro hobbling through the forest. Not sure how it could have been any worse.

Do not pay money to see this movie. In fact, just don't watch it at all. Life is too short to waste on this kind of dung.

Not a masterpiece but it's watchable!

[palavitsinis · 6/10 · 6 November 2015]

Apart from the angry folks from the countries that the movie depicts, that gave 1/10 to this movie, it's a nice movie overall.

It's not a masterpiece and it's actually right on the path of the movies that De Niro has been doing for the past few years. Despite it not being great, I really liked it for what it is. It's supposed to be a thriller with two war veterans and it's just that. It's nothing ingenious but it's a totally decent movie that would be a 6.5 in my book.

Travolta was good, De Niro is always great cause I adore him as an actor! The action was as much as I wanted, the scenes of the fighting were really realistic and kept me at the edge of my seat. Even this back and forth thing that one was freed and the other was freed and so on and so forth, was nicely done and was not tiring.

It's a nice rental for a relaxed week night, with some pop corn or a pizza, if you can handle eating with bloody scenes!

Truly awful

[markmcfadyen · 3/10 · 13 July 2013]

This could have been so much better. As the old saying goes it started off crap and then fell away to f*"*.

Good first 20 minutes which showed true promise, then Hollywood kicked in!

I'm struggling to find some positives, apart from Robert DE Niro's in it. Travolta I though was good, unfortunately this seems to be a take the money and run move.

I don't want to give too much away as hopefully you'll avoid it and I'm just writing any old crap to achieve the minimum 10 lines for IMDb.

Best avoided.

Not the best but not the worst by far

[kian_razavi · 7/10 · 19 November 2013]

I see comments from people insulting the writers and actors for ignorance in history and movie. Being myself a huge fan of History and a big History book writer, I am always the first to stand and yell about the shame the movies are!

But hey, for this movie I am not doing this. The reason? I sens that the producers/director had something else in mind. History changes always with the perception of Human mind. If you lived something from one side or another, the perception won't be the same thus History won't be the same. For me, only one thing was the key, the central element of that movie... hatred! And that my friends, we felt it. It was clear that Travolta saw what happened in a way when DeNiro saw it at the opposite... but when both of them were in that forest, they only were trying to kill each other or for Travolta, trying to admit DeNiro that he has done something wrong. But what is wrong or not? Who are them and who are we to say?

Truth changes with camps and is not universal and Hatred naturally human! That was the guideline in this movie!

Awful Thriller with Shallow and Shameful Story of Revenge

[claudio_carvalho · 1/10 · 19 October 2013]

In 1995, a UN platoon executes a group of Serbian Soldiers. In the present days, in Belgrade, the Serbian Emil Kovac (John Travolta) that survived to the execution eighteen years before, gets information about his executioner Benjamin Ford (Robert De Niro) and travels to the remote Appalachian Mountain, where Benjamin lives alone, to revenge. Emil meets Benjamin in the beginning of a cat-and-mouse game.

"Killing Season" is an awful thriller with shallow and shameful story of revenge. It is unbelievable that a man, traumatized by the cruelties of the war, waits for eighteen years to revenge; pays money for the information of his executioner; travels from Belgrade, in Serbia, to a remote area in the United States of America to kill the man; and after a few minutes talking, they almost become friends. Actually I was expecting that the executioner would invite him to a barbecue in family or to drink a beer. Maybe this drama is the further that Hollywood writers might expect from a traumatized man. The decadent Robert De Niro and John Travolta should consider the retirement or change agent to get better scripts to not compromise their brilliant filmographies. My vote is one (awful).

Title (Brazil): "Temporada de Caça" ("Hunting Season")

total anti-Serbian propaganda

[srdjan_fon · 1/10 · 16 July 2013]

historically incorrect! naive and just stupid! But corresponds to an uneducated American public!

However,

acting is good (6/10) actors are great (10/10) but obviously not read the script before accepting the role

If you like a bit of action and a lot of stupid torture scenes then this is the movie for you.

Time spent watching this film better use to learn something in life.

I hope that I have fulfilled the required ten lines of text, which is much more than this movie deserves

Tired of Nonsense Reviews? Me too!

[claytonspittler · 7/10 · 19 July 2013]

Deniro and Travolta were what we have come to expect in this film. Both excellent actors a little past their primes, although this movie showed few signs of regress. Travolta, donning a chin-strap and somewhat comical Bosnian-English accent, comes to America in hopes of revenge on a former US soldier(Deniro)whom he had been confronted and shot by in the Bosnian conflict.

After tracking the US soldier to his home cabin in Northwest USA,back-story is revealed. Ultimately, the two engage in a back and forth battle on the countryside pitting wits against wits in hopes of killing one another. The movie has moments of intense action, followed by articulated scenes of survival. Could have been a bit longer with more build up, hence my 7-10 rating. Would have been a 6 had this not been a Deniro-Travolta flick. Cinematography is good, story is to the point, and Deniro and Travolta do what they do.

An interesting movie

[MrSpark · 6/10 · 15 July 2013]

First of all this review focuses on the cinematography and acting of this movie and not its historical accuracy, I am not a judge of that. All I'm going to say is that history has many sides.

Killing Season brings to the big screen the first collaboration of two great actors, Robert De Niro and John Travolta. Both of the actors bring mediocre performances and are basically the main reason that this movie is quite appealing. Travolta's Serbian accent, I thought, was decent enough and quite believable. De Niro's performance was a bit rushed, like he did this movie as a favour for someone, or simply for money.

Although overly cheesy and quite violent this film is perfect for thrill seekers who like to see good actors play roles that do not suit them at all. The plot is simple and does not complicate things although I do believe that the flashback scenes were useless to the portrayal of the story. The only thing need said about the plot is that it is a simple "revenge seeking" story.

To summarize, this movie is an adventurous story with beautiful scenery and intense action scenes that appeals for both action and thrill seeking audiences but also to more critically thinking audiences that focus on exaggerated acting performances. Overall I give this movie a well deserved 6/10.

Worst Film of the Year

[Dourankev · 1/10 · 13 July 2013]

Worst movie of the year! This action is worthy of the 80s of the twentieth century, but not for the twenty-first century. The saddest part is that the story is fictional bad from start to finish. Even more sad is that two great actors have agreed to sell for a few dollars more. From bad to worse. Who watches this film loses 1.5 hours, which could be used for reading a good book or conversation in the company of friends. Disgust is largely because the film until recently was an art now increasingly becoming a cash machine without much thought. Still, it is suitable for people without much intellectual effort, like fast food, quick thinking and rapid results. As a side dish - the film flowing much ketchup (blood), plenty of pretty scenes. Farewell to the illusions of the "great" cinema "great" actors for the American "dream." Do not waste time and money, run away from this movie!

Good Story: Effects of THAT War

[bob-rutzel-1 · 9/10 · 21 August 2013]

Still carrying shrapnel in his leg from the early 1990s Bosnian War, Ben Ford (Robert DeNiro) had gone into the wilderness to live and to forget about his time in that war. Later, Kovac (John Travolta) meets Ford and they bond. That is, until Kovac announces his true intentions. Kovac was also in that war. Oh, oh!

This is perhaps the best cat and mouse movie I have seen in a long while. Ford and Kovac take turns at being the cat and then the mouse. This is not meant to be comical, as this is serious business, but cat and mouse is what we have. And, it all worked. At times, Kovac could have easily killed Ford, but didn't. Why?

John Travolta, as Kovac, uses a Serbian accent and we get used to it as he does a good job of it. Both Travolta and DeNiro are in their elements in the movie. Oscars? Hmmm..….. maybe.

From time to time, we are shown , I believe, scenes from the actual Bosnian war and they are not easy to see. Also, this is not an easy movie to watch, because there is torture involved, some quite bloody too. I cringed and had to look away more often than I would care to admit. It was like I was there. Oh, the horror.

Good pacing throughout and some exciting action scenes as well. Excellent cinematography including some live and still photography of landscapes - that had that haunting look and feel - when the credits roll. And, the Johnny Cash song (Don't Take Your Guns to Town) played a lot in the beginning was spot on.

This is the story of the effects of that war on some who were there. (9/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Torture: Yes. Bloody Gore: Yes. Language: Yes.

Not their best work... Not their worst work either...

[brcastle2000 · 7/10 · 12 July 2013]

I had read some reviews before seeing "Killing Season" so I didn't have too high of expectations going in. That being said, I wasn't disappointed. DeNiro and Travolta give average performances, which aren't helped at all by the accents they try to use during the film. Travolta's is painful, the worst part is, someone, somewhere along the line had to tell him it sounded good. DeNiro's southern drawl is nowhere near as bad, but it seems to come and go at different times in the movie, becoming more or less noticeable. KS starts out a little slow but picks up about 1/3 of the way in and keeps a decent pace. The plot is solid, but IMO the script writer didn't hold up his end of the bargain. Either that or Travolta and DeNiro were basically going through the motions with their main motivation seeming like the paycheck they got after the last day of shooting. All in all, the movie is entertaining, if only mildly at some points. It definitely will not win any awards, but it will help you to kill two hours. SKIP THE THEATER, RENT IT

Stupid to the point of pain

[lbh-89361 · 1/10 · 8 April 2022]

I have not watched a worse movie of a confused reality for a long time or it was made on bad purpose. It is pity that such good actors, Robert Deniro and John Travolta sometimes have to accept roles in films that spoil their overall rating

😱

Good film

[lunchboxwanderer · 7/10 · 12 July 2013]

I just finished watching 'Killing Season' and have to say I enjoyed.

Travolta and DeNiro both did a great job with their characters.

I've seen derisive comments about Travolta's accent but in my opinion they are unfounded.

The film had a nice feel to it along with an interesting story about how people deal with the emotional scars left from war.

Using the Serb/Bosnian conflict was a nice touch as it was one of the worst stains on humanity in the past 25 years.

The setting and cinematography were beautiful.

It was worth the time spent viewing.

To far they live to know what happened

[duckrogers007 · 3/10 · 14 July 2013]

One star for Travolta and De Niro in film, without them i would give a movie a null, void, nothing, empty space. So its two.

Lets talk about history. Every side has its own history, and maybe in 50 years we will as collective see the truth. But now I see a lot of people here talking about what happened and defending them self's. Why? They missed the point of the movie, that war is over....(third star) Now its three stars.

In basic its history repeating it self over and over, and not learning it and knowing the through we make mistakes all over again.

Sorry guys I'm from Croatia, I always lived here, and a lot of my good neighbors were Serbs that defended their homes against not so good neighbors which had informations and one day just started the war, in their back yards, in their town, against their neighbors. Thats just insane.

My home town had survived some heavy stuff, i could say that attack on police precinct was just as film from 70's.

But my god, please, let just put it all a side, and say that it was insanity, lets be friends, and move on...like that joke De Niro told at the end.

Acting OK, as if i doubt it with those two. script heavy crap, Locations beautiful. Hollywood two thumbs down for this one.

Decent movie, highly underrated, disregard bad reviews

[BesartPrishtina · 7/10 · 20 August 2013]

First let's talk about the movie... I liked the movie, it was a good Action,Thriller movie, script was decent also but the actors lacked a little commitment. De Niro was good but not as good as in The Heat, and Travolta was way out Pulp Fiction.

This not anti-Serbian propaganda, because historical facts are telling us that Serbia is the aggressor. Serbia has a lot high ranking government officials tried for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, it also has high ranking military officials tried for the same crimes.

Maybe 200.000 casualties is not the precise number but it is not far from that since there is no precise number of death toll in Bosnia, some reports are saying that there are more than 115.000 dead, so it can be even 200.000.

What really pisses me off is that we all know that 40% of those killed there were Bosnian Muslims so how come that this cannot be called a genocide??!! So as for closure the movie was good, lacked a little bit of acting but it was worth watching it.

Good but not Great and a Movie not a Documentary.

[glennbatten · 7/10 · 14 July 2013]

This movie is about how its never black or white in war no matter what side you are on and how some people are so affected by it and cant seem to let it go. It does not tell you what is right or wrong, it deals with the the ongoing effect of such things on two men years and years later.

Rating the movie itself 1 or 2 stars just because you don't agree with their version of the history is pretty myopic. If the internet had more penetration in Somalia in 2001 the Black Hawk Down would surely have been rated a 3 or 4 instead of the 7.7 it received as the locals claimed that is now how it went down at all. This is not a documentary but a movie.

It is not the best movie I watched, but it is entirely watchable by two actors who know there stuff. Watch it for the entertainment value not the history lesson.

Feels like I read a good book

[arch-nemesis · 9/10 · 21 December 2013]

I personally thought this movie was awesome. It feels like most people who write a review about it are criticizing things like the facts about the history and the CGI. While I was aware of many of these problems, I didn't really harp on them considering they don't have that much to do with the film...The movie, I feel, wasn't entirely about the history of the war and what not, it was just an awesome story between these two people who have this odd relationship. When I got finished with the movie I felt like I had just finished reading a good book. If you don't criticize small things like those stated above it's very, very, enjoyable.

what history? :)

[obione-798-645896 · 5/10 · 22 September 2013]

Just a short comment for all the people complaining about the history facts.

There wasn't a Serbian Army? true that.. but there where: Arkanovi Tigrovi (Srpska dobrovoljacka garda), Knindze, Crvene beretke, Skorpioni, Seseljevi dobrovoljci, Dusan silni, Beli orlovi (Seseljevci, Osvetnici, Cetnici), Srpski sokolovi, Siltovi and many many more.. and they where not Japanese or chineese or Canadian people. It is to hard to understand to foreign ppl and learn all of them.. so they can say just "serbian army", even officially it wasn't their name.

Please look at the big picture and do not stick to these 2 words.

Travolta's Serbian slang is not perfect but he is acting good. I am sure Serbian actors don't speak perfect English to.

If is a movie. Not the greatest one but still a movie and no one said it is based on a true story.

Not bad - worth a watch

[foreversmom · 7/10 · 5 October 2013]

After reading some of the reviews, I thought I was going to be horribly let down. That's not the case here. I understand others' POV here... The movie may not be accurately based on facts; Travolta's accent kinda sucks (but he seemed to give it his best shot and stayed in character throughout the film); it may not be their best movie, etc... But the movie wasn't a huge let down either. It was entertaining and is worth a watch. My husband and I were both entertained and it was good enough to pass the time without any fast-forwarding. No, it's not going to win any awards, but most of the poor reviews are from people outside the US and they are probably more aware of the point in history (and actual facts) that this movie portrays.

If you watched "Phantom" and sat through it criticizing the fact that no one even TRIED to have the appropriate accent, or that some of the historical facts were "blurred", then you probably won't like Killing Season. However, if you can go into this movie without expecting accuracy and just watch it for entertainment, then you might enjoy it! We did!

Next time you have a disagreement with someone you should say "Meet me in the woods".

[Someguysomwhere · 7/10 · 8 August 2013]

The actions of an American soldier, Benjamin Ford (Robert Deniro), toward the end of the Serbian-Bosnian conflict follow him home to haunt him. But not only in his mind thru conscience, but also in the form of a Serbian soldier, Emil Kovac (John Travolta), bent on a desire for a confession and revenge for a particular action against him. Benjamin is now living in a cabin retreat out in the wild some place, photographing wild-life, wrestling with his demons, and dodging his family. The perfect setting for two veterans to "have it out", mano a mano, undisturbed by other people and the laws and conventions that govern them in a less secluded or more populated area.

It's a survival movie with Emil as the hunter and Benjamin as the prey. It's a tough, brutal movie that may make you wince in some places and perhaps unintentionally laugh in others. We've seen movies of this sort before and they are always entertaining --when done well. AND THIS ONE IS. The tit for tat between these two men as they try to get the better of the other seemed "somewhat bizarre" to me but engaging. The movie is also made interesting (and more complex) by the fact that both men are likable. So it's not a simple "good vs evil" movie where you clearly want the good guy to do away with the bad guy. Speaking of which, John Travolta really does good bad guys. There's always that intimidating sense of "crazy dangerousness" lying just beneath their surface. Good accent in the movie too. This is an entertaining movie with likable leads. And worth, I believe, every star I gave it. Enjoy. Love, Boloxxxi.