Killer Elite (2011)

When his mentor is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, a killer-for-hire is forced into action. His mission: kill three members of Britain's elite Special Air Service responsible for the death of his sons.

Director:

Gary McKendry

Writers:

Matt Sherring (screenplay), Ranulph Fiennes (book)

Stars:

Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Statham	...	Danny
Clive Owen	...	Spike
Robert De Niro	...	Hunter
Dominic Purcell	...	Davies
Aden Young	...	Meier
Yvonne Strahovski	...	Anne
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Martin
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Agent
David Whiteley	...	MI6 Man
Matt Nable	...	Pennock (as Matthew Nable)
Lachy Hulme	...	Harris
Firass Dirani	...	Bakhait
Nick Tate	...	Commander B
Bille Brown	...	Colonel Fitz
Stewart Morritt	...	Campbell

Storyline

Loosely based on a true story, Killer Elite pits two of the worlds' most elite operatives - Danny, a ruthless killer-for-hire (Jason Statham) and Hunter, his longtime mentor (Robert De Niro) - against the cunning leader of a secret society of former Special Air Service operatives('Clive Owen'). Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny and Hunter are plunged into a highly dangerous game of revenge and deception - where things are not always what they appear to be.

---

Plot Keywords:

mentor | secret society | death | revenge | australia | 

---

Taglines:

May the Best Man Live

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

13+

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Open Road Films [United States]

Country:

UK Australia

Language:

English Arabic French Spanish

Release Date:

23 September 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Tueur d'élite

Filming Locations:

Dynon Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,300,000 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Gross:

$25,093,607 (USA) (11 November 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Omnilab Media, Ambience Entertainment, Current Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, an English adventurer, polar explorer and former SAS man is the author of The Feather Men, the novel from which this film is adapted. Although he has often claimed the novel was a true story, the families of the real dead SAS men named in the novel who died on SAS exercises and the SAS themselves publicly attacked it as sick exploitation and complete fiction. The SAS even went on the record to disown both Fiennes and the book, with Lt-Col Ian Smith telling the Daily Mail 'It was utter b****, the figment of a fertile imagination. What was really upsetting was that it was making a story out of a tragedy.' Maggie Denaro, the widow of one of the dead SAS men said of Fiennes 'It's time he grew up. He's made his money out of the book. He should come clean. When the book came out saying Mike had been murdered, we knew it wasn't true. But that didn't stop our children from being upset when other people believed it.' Although Fiennes claims he sent a manuscript of the book to both the SAS and the families of the dead men, who gave their approval, they have all unequivocally denied his claim.

---

Goofs

In the opening scenes Jason Stratham is using the Beretta 92F handgun first manufactured in 1992 and the film is set in 1980. However, the Beretta 92S was available in 1980 and is visually almost indistinguishable from the 92F.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: The world is in chaos. The economic crisis continues as an oil crises looms. War rages everywhere. It is a time of revolution, assassination and covert operations.
Title Card: It is 1980.

---

Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

---

Soundtracks

I Fought The Law
Performed by The Clash
Written by Sonny Curtis
Published by Sony ATV / Acuff-Rose Music Ltd
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.

User Reviews

Surprisingly Flat

I'm not sure what it was about Killer Elite that disappointed me, but it just didn't seem to live up to its potential. It might have been that the movie relied on Jason Statham to act, instead of just do action. He plays a retired hit man who gets pulled out of retirement to save a friend's life. But it just doesn't work, he's unconvincing. The retirement isn't convincing and neither is his reluctance to return to work. He was much better in the Mechanic which dealt with similar issues.

Overall the movie doesn't hold together very well. There is too much that they are trying to accomplish, but not enough gets developed. For instance, the romance between Danny (Statham) and Anne (Yvonne Strahovski) just seems to be cut in to the movie in a few places. The Feathermen (the group about whom the book the movie draws from is written) appear in a few scenes, yet they're role is barely explored. They are spliced in just enough to give Spike (Clive Owen) a support system.

It's not a terrible movie, but it could have been much more. I think it would make a better mini-series, so that the different parts could be explored properly. If not, eliminate the things that aren't given justice.