- published: 01 Feb 2008
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Badlands is a 1973 American crime drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri are also featured. Malick has a small speaking part although he does not receive an acting credit. The story, though fictional, is loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958, though such a basis was not acknowledged when the film was released.
In 1993, five years after the United States National Film Registry was established, Badlands was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Badlands is narrated by Holly (Spacek), a teenage girl living in a dead-end South Dakota town. One day she meets Kit (Sheen), a rebellious young greaser who charms her and takes her as his accomplice on a cross-country killing spree. Holly's narration, describing her adventures with Kit with romantic clichés, is juxtaposed with the grim reality of Kit's sociopathic appetite for grisly violence. The two are eventually arrested; Kit is executed for his crimes, while Holly receives probation.
After centuries of peace, an ancient war is brewing. Using the Human Realm, Earth, as a theatre of war; supernatural forces will battle for the supremacy of the universe. First origin is set in 1943. Commissioned by a Nazi SS Colonel Mauer, Zarelli; a young protégé living in Nazi occupied Sicily and his father, an advanced pedologist; struggle with the decision to aid the Nazi's in winning the war by exploiting Zarelli's supernatural powers or do what they know is right; even if it costs them their lives. Present day, Boston; Alex Manning, a Boston Police force rookie, is visited by an Unknown Man - visible only to Alex - who informs him that his fate is doomed. The Unknown Man foresees a supernatural force that will stop at nothing until Alex is dead... The young policeman attempts to uncover the truth about his past which reveals a destiny that awaits him in the afterlife. From the early days of World War II to the modern day streets of Boston Massachusetts, two men; Zarelli and Alex; discover their universal purpose and ability to wield otherworldly energies. By means of great power, both men become unstoppable forces who ultimately rival for colossal domination and determine the outcome of the universal war once and for all...
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