Badlands - Region 2 DVD

The film has become a classic, partly due to Tak Fujimoto's cinematography and partly due to the detached attitude the couple adopt towards murder. Like Tarantino's later anti-heroes and heroines, Kit and Holly are killers without conscience. Holly's naïve teenage mentality makes her passive attitude seem even more shocking, and her only comment that leads us to believe she has any grasp of the situation is when she mentions that Kit may be a little crazy. Yet there is also an innocent, "young love" side to the couple's actions which the audience cannot fail to feel pity for, greatly helped by the pairing of Sheen and Spacek as well as Malick's gift for drawing the finest and most sensitive performances from his actors.

On the DVD: Badlands has been cleaned up nicely with a 1.85:1 widescreen print and 5.1 surround sound. Although seemingly short of extras the one included on the disc is a real gem: "Absence of Malick" offers insight into this notoriously publicity-shy director from the cast and crew and the reason why he ended up acting in his own movie. --Nikki Disney