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.

Not mind blowing but a solidly entertaining flick and nowhere near as bad as the reviews

[Robert_duder · 7/10 · 16 August 2013]

I admit I was excited seeing this but I was also very wary. Robert Deniro is a legend and I often like John Travolta too in certain roles so the potential of them together in a survival/action/horror was intriguing but straight to video...red flag right there!! The reviews for this film were awful and most of them were so angry that the film was so historically and politically inaccurate and I will fully admit ignorance on the matters of Bosnia and Serbia and the entire war and conflict going on there so for me it wasn't about what facts were right or wrong. I had no choice but to watch this for entertainment. It was twisted and disturbing and violent and had a really graphic message about morality and war that I think made the film had at least some depth and complexity. This was NOT a bad film whatsoever. It wasn't done perfectly that's for sure and it had some ups and downs but it was a solid action/horror/thriller. It was really the perfect length because you could only watch the power shift between the two actors so many times before it started to feel just a little stale but the action scenes were well done and the script was very good.

Robert DeNiro could probably make almost any film good. I actually think he's hit a stride now even in his senior years because the guy is just electric on screen. Both of the main characters in this film are incredibly flawed and twisted men for various reasons. Neither is truly the hero. DeNiro scenes are terrific especially his speech at the end of the film which was moving and powerful. It seems a lot of reviewers are really hating on John Travolta and to each their own but he's a versatile actor who has had a lot of ups and downs. I think his performance in this film was solid. His accent seems really awful at times but I don't know the dialect from that area so I don't know if he really nails it or if its horribly done. The character is still captivating and determined and him and DeNiro actually have really great chemistry together which certainly helps the film. With any two lesser actors this could have been far less interesting but the two of them are great and I'm standing by that!!

I do agree that a much more talented director might have added some serious depth to the film. Mark Steven Johnson is a mainstream director who likes to slap things together if you go by Daredevil or Ghost Rider although Simon Birch was a brilliant film based on a brilliant book. I think he loves his action scenes and sometimes forgets that the story is important too. The ending of the film is almost a little too neat and tidy and yet at the same time I liked how it ended as well. I think just a little more to it and it could have been far more effective. The special effects in the film (in particular the scenes where Travolta and DeNiro's face are super imposed on younger bodies to show scenes from the past) were really done awful and lowered the standard of the film. But the fight scenes are some truly grotesque scenes of torture were very effective. There was a lot of potential behind this movie but in my books they didn't screw it up entirely and I enjoyed it for what it was. Basically I suppose I enjoyed it for watching two Hollywood icons duke it out in a low budget film but it worked. IMDb reviewers are WAY too hard on this one!! 7/10

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.

JT Most Funniest Role to Date

[varsania · 7/10 · 9 September 2013]

This is a highly enjoyable film. JT steals the show with his excellent comedic portrayal of a Croat I think, or Bosnian, or Serb, I can never tell which is which. However, his character is absolutely hilarious. His look, his back painted on hair and beard, his hilarious accent, his script ("It's that shooting pain in your right leg again!" De Niro's shooting pain in his right leg is a running joke throughout this film), just made me laugh whenever I saw him, and heard him speak. The scene in the old abandoned church was the best. It had me in stitches for ages.

In closing, I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to enjoy a good 90mins of JT being incredibly funny.

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.

Idiots, its a story. It's not freaking fast and the furious!

[Buterfli1008 · 10/10 · 15 November 2013]

These actors portrayed the men that the script was written for. De Niro acted like a man who lives in the woods alone and likes country music and as far as Travoltas accent sounds like a man who has tried to speak English as a Serbian the best he can. The guy probably didn't have a great education and that's how he is supposed to sound. Movies aren't supposed to be an adrenaline rush all the time. Its a story about something that could have actually happened. People aren't perfect maybe the things that they did were on purpose. Use your brain! My husband served in the military and served with men from Bosnia and that's how they sound. Its a good movie. Not every story has to end in someone dying.

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.

Wasted

[bojanran · 2/10 · 17 July 2013]

Vote 2 (only because of De Niro)

De Niro : Good as always Travolta : Love him due prior work, but...Mediocre. As half Serbian i didn't understand a word he saying. He had some heavy Russian accent. Historical events : Totally ignorant. Scenario : American soldiers from open ground shooting at close distance to Serbian soldiers, which are behind some concrete wall. None dies...Hmm, OK. Travolta with heavy Russian accent, wearing beard as Bosnian Muslim enter some kind of bar, he's starting conversation on language i can not understand. The writing on the wall in broken Serbian language "slivovica" (which should be local brandy) i mean...really! I'll stop here, it doesn't deserve more of my attention. Camera, lighting, scenery ..etc, excellent but but that's it.

Overall : If you don't care about historical events or if you don't care of authenticity of actors and what or who they represent, you would have cheap entertainment and movie to forget within a day.

I read a lot of reviews about the movie

[spiritadelhamzaoui · 7/10 · 29 October 2019]

The movie was awesome the actors was at the top of their performance specialy de niro the only problem not exactly a problem but was bothering me the accent of travolta like he was not his role . And there unexpected ending .i advising you to watch the movie and dont let the negative reviews let you down enjoy

Everything here is bullshit!

[drakesh7 · 1/10 · 16 July 2013]

At one point in the movie, the two male leads are sitting and drinking in the cabin and DeNiro's character says to Travolta's: "Everything here is bullshit, bullshit house, bullshit car, bullshit fiber-glass bow". He forgot to include the movie as well. He should have also added: "But the biggest bullshit of all is your wonderful Serbian accent". I don't understand how DeNiro could keep a straight face listening to Travolta's accent throughout the movie. Why is DeNiro even in the movie? Maybe the Serbians should give Travolta an honorary citizenship and invite him to live in Serbia and give him elocution lessons.

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

😱

historically incorrect

[dusan_lisov · 3/10 · 16 August 2013]

worst first 3 introduction minutes in movie EVER!

Serbian army? what Serbian army,it's Yugoslavian army (JNA) it was ONE army for ONE country,YUGOSLAVIA!

Bosnia? Bosnia was not a country at that time,it was a part of Yugoslavia along with Serbia,Croatia,Macedonia,Slovenia and Montenegro.

in the name of genocide? this is a joke,right? it got to be..

Emil Kovac,Serbian name? Emil is more like Muslim name,and Kovac Croatian surname..

interesting beard Travolta (Emil)has.. it's Muslim beard..Serbs don't wear beard like that.

Serbs were shown like some kind of terrorist..dear god..

that prison camp in beginning were are all those starved prisoners,are we talking about SREBRENICA here? couse it got to be srebrenica..

American and NATO landing party,fighting GROUND force? really? another BIG joke.. there was bombarding,air strikes..

so many incorrect informations are shown in this movie in such a short time which can and WILL delude people to believe in.

war was everybody's fault,Serbs,Muslims,Croats,Slovenian etc.. neighbors and good friends were fighting each other in their own backyards and towns.war crimes were committed by everybody..

stop making historically incorrect movies about CIVIL WAR on Balkan, writers and authors,please read a little about something you are about to show. educate yourselves.

let us watch some astonishing movie about those events,let us be amaze with right and good info.educate people through it,do not trick them with lies and false "facts"

sorry for bad English..

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.