''Kalifornia'' is a 1993 American
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
thriller film directed by
Dominic Sena
Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films ''Kalifornia'' (1993), '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and '' Swordfish'' (2001). As a music ...
, in his
feature film directorial debut. It stars
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
,
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...
,
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
, and
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on television and in independent films. Forbes gained attention for her dual role in daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'', for which she received a D ...
. The film tells the story of a journalist (Duchovny) and his photographer girlfriend (Forbes) traveling cross-country to research
serial killing
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
s, who unwittingly carpool with a psychopath (Pitt) and his childlike girlfriend (Lewis).
Filmed in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and rural inland California in the spring of 1993, ''Kalifornia'' premiered at the
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...
on August 27, 1993, where it was awarded two competition prizes. It was released theatrically the following week in the United States, but was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing $2.4 million against a nearly $9 million budget. The film received mixed reviews from critics,
with some praising its
art house
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
sensibility, while others dismissed it as a violent
exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
. Despite this, the film's acting was largely praised, and critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
heralded the performances of Pitt and Lewis among the best he had ever seen.
[ The film was nominated for three ]Saturn Awards
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
in 1994, including for Best Horror Film.
Plot
Brian Kessler is a graduate student and journalist whose article about serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
s has gotten him an offer for a book deal. He and his girlfriend Carrie Laughlin, an avant garde photographer, decide to relocate to California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in hopes of enriching their careers. The two plot their journey from Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, to Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, planning to visit infamous murder sites along the way which Carrie can photograph for Brian's book. Short on funds, Brian posts a ride-share ad on the university campus.
Meanwhile, psychopath
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...
ic parolee Early Grayce has just lost his job. His parole officer learns of this and comes to the trailer park
A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and eas ...
where Early lives with his naïve girlfriend Adele Corners. Early refuses the officer's offer of a job as a janitor at the university, saying he wants to leave the state, but the officer pressures him into keeping his appointment for the job interview. When Early arrives at the campus, he sees the ride-share ad and calls Brian, who agrees to meet him the following day. Early sends Adele ahead, then murders his landlord before joining her to wait for Brian and Carrie. Carrie is reluctant about riding with the couple given their rough appearance, but Brian encourages her to give them a chance. On the road, unbeknown to his companions, Early murders a man in a gas station bathroom and steals his money. When they arrive at their first hotel, Early cuts Adele's long hair shorter to try to match Carrie's.
At another hotel, Early invites Brian out to play pool, leaving Adele and Carrie alone together. Adele explains that her mother did not approve of her relationship because Early had just been released from prison. Adele reveals to Carrie that she suffered a vicious gang rape
Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...
and that she views Early as her protector, even though he sometimes "punishes" her. While Carrie and Adele drink beer, Adele also admits to Carrie that Early forbids her to smoke or drink. Meanwhile, at a local bar, Early assaults a man who confronts Brian. Later on during the road-trip, Early introduces Brian to pistol shooting in a remote, unnamed location.
Carrie is alarmed by Brian's growing fascination with Early, and by Brian's nonchalant response to the news that Early is a convicted felon
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
. After catching Early and Adele having sex in the car, she gives Brian an ultimatum
An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...
: either they rid themselves of the pair, or she will leave. At a desert gas station, Carrie glimpses a news report about Early being a suspected murderer. Early kills the gas station attendant in front of Carrie and continues the trip with the couple as hostages. At an abandoned mine camp, the party encounter two police officers whom Early shoots and kills. They next come to the home of an elderly couple in the desert. Early beats the man to death, but Adele allows the woman to flee.
When Early confronts Adele about letting the woman free, she hits him in the face with a cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
and chastises him, after which he shoots her to death. He then knocks Brian unconscious before kidnapping Carrie, driving her to the abandoned Dreamland nuclear testing site on the California-Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
border. Early forces Carrie to dress in Adele's clothes and the film implies that he rapes her off-camera. Brian regains consciousness, and the elderly woman gives him the keys to her truck. Brian follows Early to the test site and attacks him, hitting him in the face with a shovel. Brian finds Carrie, who appears to be in shock
Shock may refer to:
Common uses Collective noun
*Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names
* Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves
Healthcare
* Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
, handcuffed to a bed in an abandoned house. Early, who was only stunned, attacks Brian and they struggle. Early is hit over the head by Carrie with the limb from a nuclear test mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...
. When he continues the attack, Brian shoots and kills him.
Some time later, Brian and Carrie are living in an oceanfront house in Malibu. As Brian sifts through tapes made with his voice recorder
A dictation machine is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for playback or to be typed into print. It includes digital voice recorders and tape recorder.
The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark of the company of the same ...
during their trip, Carrie tells him that a gallery in Venice is interested in her art. Brian responds by suggesting they go out to celebrate. As they depart, Brian unintentionally leaves a recording running, which reveals a "thank you" message Adele covertly left at the end of a tape.
Cast
Critical analysis
In ''Lost Highways: An Illustrated History of Road Movies'' writers Jack Sargeant and Stephanie Watson note that the film presents doubled images of the two couples, "contrary rituals of affirmation" between Early and Adele, and Brian and Carrie, which demonstrate their social and class-related disparities. Sargeant and Watson also interpret the character of Carrie as an androgyne that "offers a threat to order" in the dynamics among Early, Adele, and Brian.
Film scholar Charles Derry views ''Kalifornia'' as part of a historical trend of serial killer films released in the early 1990s, popularized by the success of Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film ''Caged Heat'', before ...
's '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991).
Production
Conception
Originally titled ''California'', the script was written by Tim Metcalfe with Stephen Levy in 1987. Metcalfe later commented their intentions were "to scare an audience, to comment on our national obsession with 'true crime' stories, and to punish myself for my morbid preoccupation with the subject of murder and murderers." The script was optioned in November 1990 by Propaganda Films
Propaganda Films was an American music video and film production company founded in 1986 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Dominic Sena and Greg Gold. By 1990, the company was producin ...
, by request of director Dominic Sena. Sena would go on to mention his positive impression on the script was mainly based on the premise and the character of Early Grayce.
Between November 1990 and March 1991, Metcalfe completed two rewrites of the script to implement changes requested by Sena and Propaganda Films. The characters of Brian and Carrie were given professions as a writer and a photographer, respectively, while retaining the original premise to share a ride with a serial killer. Metcalfe disagreed on the direction the script was being developed, while Sena and the producers found his rewrites "uninspiring". In March 1991, Metcalfe was fired from the project.
Without the budget to hire another writer, Sena, along with his two producers, spent another year writing ten subsequent drafts of the script. Their contributions included the voice-over narration of the character of Brian, along with a change of tone from a black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
to a more violent thriller. Sena maintained the rewrites helped them to secure the cast, as well as an increase to the originally proposed budget of $4.5 million.
Casting
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
was cast as the violent Early Grayce, as he had been seeking out a role that was at odds with the wholesome "pretty boy" image he had portrayed in ''Thelma & Louise
''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American road crime comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unfores ...
'' (1991) and '' A River Runs Through It'' (1992). Juliette Lewis was cast in the role while still completing production on Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
's '' Cape Fear'' (1991), and had been in a relationship with Pitt at the time. In the role of Carrie, Michelle Forbes was cast after she completed an audition in Los Angeles, as Sena felt she possessed the cool aloofness of the character.[ The role of Brian Kessler was the last to be cast, with David Duchovny ultimately receiving the role after several screen tests with Pitt, Lewis, and Forbes.][
]
Filming
Filming of ''Kalifornia'' began in the late spring of 1992.[ Some of the film's early scenes were shot in an old industrial area west of ]downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, s ...
and in the Castleberry Hill
Castleberry Hill is a neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, adjacent to and southwest of Downtown Atlanta. It is a federally recognized historic district since 1985 and became a City of Atlanta Landmark District in 2006.
History
The area in the cit ...
neighborhood, after which the production moved westward through various locations in California.[ On June 28, 1992, while filming at a gas station in rural California, the production was temporarily halted following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.][
Sena recalled the shoot being extremely difficult, with the shooting schedule sometimes allowing only one day in certain locations.][ According to Sena, throughout the production, Pitt and Lewis, who were a couple at the time, would go home and work on lines together during the evenings.][ Producer Steve Golin recounted during the shoot that "all four of he main casthave been so pro, I've been impressed. They have been working ridiculous hours under conditions that are not star-like. The hotels in the desert are not luxurious; they get a room with a swamp cooler, they don't even have air conditioning. It's a rough show."][
]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack CD for the film was released by Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
on August 3, 1993.
Additional songs
Other songs featured in the film that are not included on the soundtrack include "89 Lines" by Daniel O'Brien, "Seven Days" by Hugh Harris, "Playin' in the Dirt" by Heather Myles
Heather Myles (born July 31, 1962) is an American country music singer, with a honky tonk Bakersfield sound.
Early life
Myles was born in Riverside, California, United States, where her parents bred and trained horses for racing. Heather had ...
, "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
, "Come Home" by Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their d ...
, "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" by Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
, "Symphony No. 8 in F Major Op. 93" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
and Brad Pitt partially singing part of Free Bird
"Free Bird", also spelled "Freebird", is a song written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant and performed by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song featured on the band's debut album in 1973.
Released as a single in November 1974, "F ...
by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...
.
Release
Box office
After premiering at the Montreal World Film Festival in August 1993, ''Kalifornia'' was released theatrically in the United States on September 3, 1993 at 359 theaters.[ The film was a ]box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, only grossing $2,395,231[. Retrieved March 11, 2019.] against an $8.5 million budget. The film opened at number 17 at the U.S. box office during its opening weekend with a $1.1 million gross, averaging $3,228 per theater.[
]
Critical response
''Kalifornia'' received generally mixed reviews. It holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
and an average score of 6.19/10, sampled from 32 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Visually strong and featuring a potently feral performance from Brad Pitt, ''Kalifornia'' is a tonally uneven thriller marked by all-too-obvious themes". On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, determined from 17 critics' reviews, signifying "mixed or average reviews". Film scholar Robert Cettl noted in his book ''Serial Killer Cinema'' that, upon its release, "''Kalifornia'' was both praised as an insightful demystification of the serial killer, and vilified as a glorification of nihilistic violence."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' lauded the film, awarding it a full four stars and describing it as "unflinchingly honest, and so well acted that for most of the film I abandoned any detachment and just watched it as if I were observing the lives of real people."[ Ebert went on to note that Pitt and Lewis give "two of the most harrowing and convincing performances I've ever seen."] Leonard Klady of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' also praised the performances of the lead cast and likened the film to Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
's '' The Night of the Hunter'' (1955), deeming it "an extremely handsome production imbued with a chilling, surrealistic sensibility." Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the film as "an exercise in contrasting personalities, with Ms. Lewis's Adele by far the most arresting," but added that the film "is indeed good-looking, with its striking desert landscapes nicely photographed by Bojan Bazelli, and with costumes by Kelle Kutsugaras that say everything -- and more -- about the people who wear them. If looks were everything, maybe they'd be on the right track."
Richard Harrington of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' heralded the film's aesthetic elements, writing that it "is so beautifully filmed by Bojan Bazelli, and so skillfully edited, that its art house
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
surface belies its exploitation
Exploitation may refer to:
*Exploitation of natural resources
*Exploitation of labour
** Forced labour
*Exploitation colonialism
*Slavery
** Sexual slavery and other forms
*Oppression
*Psychological manipulation
In arts and entertainment
*Exploi ...
content, making this a trip through a cool world rather than a cruel one." The ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
''s Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
echoed a similar sentiment regarding the relationship between the film's artistic merit and its representation of violence, noting: " 'Kalifornia'' isyet another terribly violent film about a serial killer. And although the script suffers from an ending that doesn't have that much to say that's fresh about remorseless murderers, the trip is worth taking because we meet four indelible characters in one compelling scene after another." Joe Brown of ''The Washington Post'' was dismissive of the film on the grounds of its violent material, deeming it a "new nadir in nauseating nihilism
Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...
". Writing for the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Kenneth Turan noted that though the film is visually "slick and stylish", it "doesn't make the encroaching mayhem any easier to take," and felt that the performances of Pitt and Lewis registered as "mannered and even a trifle repetitive".
Some critics, such as Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', felt certain elements of the script were "preposterous", while the ''Chicago Tribune''s Mark Caro deemed it a "pretentious B movie". Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' made similar criticisms, writing that, "from its inception, ''Kalifornia''... throws all dramatic sense out the window," and ultimately described it as a "a film-school thesis gone disastrously wrong." Owen McNally of the ''Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'', though praising of the performances, wrote: "If you hop aboard this sick, unjoyful ride, you'd better bail out early. Unsafe at any speed, this dramatic vehicle goes up in flames, consumed by a lethally defective mix of pomposity and pretension."
Home media
PolyGram Home Video first released ''Kalifornia'' on VHS and DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on November 18, 1997. The DVD edition featured both unrated and theatrical cuts of the film in pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus ...
and widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
aspect ratios. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Home Entertainment released the film again on DVD in 2000[ before reissuing the unrated cut alone on ]Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
and DVD in August 2010. On March 5, 2019, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released a 2-disc special edition Blu-ray of the film under their Shout! Select label, featuring both the unrated and theatrical cuts, as well as a new interview with director Dominic Sena. This edition marks the first time the theatrical cut has been made available on Blu-ray.[
]
Accolades
Related works
Following the completion of the film, DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
commissioned a comic book adaptation from writer Chuck Dixon
Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Early life
D ...
and artist Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo (; born 1964) is a People of the United Kingdom, British comic book artist.
Career
Born in Leicester, Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together th ...
. Fegredo recalled the 32-page adaptation was planned to be released as a supplementary for the film's video release. The adaptation was never published, though it got as far as the completion of some coloring work done by Danny Vozzo. Fegredo has speculated this was due to the demise of Gramercy Pictures, a production company involved handling the rights. An uncolored version, complete with Fegredo's original cover art, has since been uploaded to the Internet.
References
Sources
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External links
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{{Dominic Sena
1993 films
1993 horror films
1990s crime drama films
1993 crime thriller films
1993 independent films
1990s road movies
1990s thriller drama films
American crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American horror thriller films
American independent films
American road movies
American serial killer films
American thriller drama films
1990s English-language films
Films scored by Carter Burwell
Films directed by Dominic Sena
Films produced by Steve Golin
Films set in deserts
Films set in Pennsylvania
Films shot in California
Films shot in Chicago
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films shot in Los Angeles
Gramercy Pictures films
Mannequins in films
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films
1993 directorial debut films
1993 drama films
1990s American films