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"3.5 stars out of 4"

Written By: One-Line Film Reviews

The Bottom Line:

An intelligent look at the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia and their effects, The Killing Fields is consistently interesting for 140+ minutes (no small feat), features great performances by Ngor and Malkovich, and ends in a wonderful catharis (though one marred slightly by the inappropriate use of John Lennon's Imagine); trounced by Amadeus at the Oscars, The Killing Fields is probably the better film.

"Excellence!!!"

Written By: Luis Molina Quinones

theres no shadow of doubt that this is a classic that presents the khmer rouge issue in cambodia and an extraordinary history that everyone got to see.

"Imagining the Unimaginable"

Written By: Philip W. Henry

The Killing Fields
As everyone knows by now, The Killing Fields is the story of New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg's search for his Cambodian companion
Dith Pran, who disappeared during the evacuation of Pnomh Penh in 1974.
I've read a lot about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, beginning with "Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare," and "The Lost Executioner.", both dealing with the insanity of Pol Pot's dystopian world ... A world in which time stops and the clock reset to "Year Zero," all private property is abolished,urban population displaced to the countryside, and even money and currency abandoned. It was truly Orwellian.
Sam Waterston is excellent as the Boston-bred Schanberg, down to the South Boston accent and the penchant for Johnny Walker Black and strong cigarettes. Dr.Haing S. Ngor, in his first acting role, won a Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dith Pran. Ironically, Ngor was murdered in a gangland killing in Los Angeles. The cinematography, which also won an Oscar (R) is excellent.
I am tempted to make a couple of comparisons: first, to "The Year of Living Dangerously," in which Mel Gibson plays a journalist in the confusion of Indonesia, and secondly to Empire of The Sun directed by Steven Spielberg. In the Gibson film, the relationship between a reporter and a loyal translator is the primary theme. The translater (played by Linda Hunt) opens the reporter's eyes to the real story, just as the faithful Dith Pran "fixes" things for Schanberg. He goes through a major guilt trip after leaving Dith Pran behind in the confusion.(Although in fairness to Schanberg, he did get Dith's family out)In Empire of the Sun, a British schoolboy becomes a pawn in the Japanese invasion of Shanghai before World War II. The response of captives to their captors is the major theme of both pictures.

It's too bad that Spielberg's movie was virtually dismissed by critics and audiences when it came out, but now that it's on DVD it's getting more attention.

Other Works Referenced;
Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare
The Lost Executioner: A Story of the Khmer Rouge
The Year of Living Dangerously
Empire of the Sun

"The hardest movie for me to watch"

Written By: B. SMITH

I first watched this movie when it came out in 1984, the second half of the movie was so emotionally charged for me that it was more than ten years before I could watch it again. To watch graphic depictions of the consequences of our abandonment of all of Southeast Asia was to Emotional for me. Although there were no movies and little news coverage, even by The New York Times (All The News That Fits), The same camps and murders were taking place in Laos, and Viet Nam, only on a lesser scale. Even Joan Baez was shocked, and upset.
The first half of the movie, was pure Liberal spin, poor Sid Schanberg who nobly reports the mistaken bombing of a town by American B 52's, but he somehow missed the fact that the Khmer Rouge had been murdering thousands of "Counter Revolutionary's" for several years. Poor Sid treats Dith Pran like a collie while he employs him (in effect blackmails him into staying in return for getting his family out) then after Dith saves his life he fails to get him out. In response poor Sid, perhaps feeling guilty, sends out posters, as if looking for a lost cat. At this point the story has to leave poor Sid and go back to The Killing Fields, this is where the real movie begins. This part is Auschwitz in color and cinema-scope. After Dith escapes and walks across Cambodia to a Thailand refugee camp, noble Sid drops everything to fly off to Thailand to rescue Dith from the red cross, and get the story.
As a post script, Dith Pran moves to a poor area of L.A. where he is murdered by a gang, and Poor Sid gets a Book and Film deal. Thus is History written by Sid, and The New York Times.

"Chilling"

Written By: Mr. R. McCourt

At the time of release this was a shocker. Not many realised what genocide was. How this could go on without intervention by the wider world was disturbing. With the passage of time, and similar atrocities almost every day, it seems we have become sensitised. Worth viewing to remind us to be alert.