''Killing Season'' is a 2013 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written by

Evan Daugherty Evan Daugherty (born 1981) is an American screenwriter. He wrote the films '' Killing Season'', ''Snow White and the Huntsman'' and the film adaptation of '' Divergent''. Career Daugherty’s first screenplay was ''Shrapnel''. It won first plac ...

and directed by

Mark Steven Johnson Mark Steven Johnson (born October 30, 1964) is an American filmmaker. Life and career Johnson began his career writing the Warner Bros. films '' Grumpy Old Men'' and its sequel ''Grumpier Old Men''. Johnson wrote and directed two comic book bas ...

for

Millennium Films A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

, as the first on-screen pairing of actors John Travolta and Robert De Niro. The film pertains to a personal fight between an American and a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

war veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

. Daugherty's script caught the attention of producers after winning the 2008 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition. The film received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

During the Bosnian War, American troops witness atrocities and then shoot Serb soldiers they hold accountable for them. In present-day Belgrade,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, former

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

soldier Emil Kovač (Travolta), who survived the shootings, meets his informant to retrieve a file on American military veteran and former

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

operative

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Benjamin Ford (De Niro). Meanwhile, Ford has retreated to a cabin somewhere in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, to try to forget the war. Now a recluse, he meets Kovač, posing as a European tourist, during a hunting trip. The two men become friendly, until Kovač reveals his true identity. Intent on revenge, he initiates a gory game of cat-and-mouse with Ford. The latter is badly injured but is quick to rebound. It is revealed that Ford shot Kovač in the back, crippling him for years. After a showdown, Kovač is overpowered by Ford. They reach a peaceful compromise, however, after understanding each other's predicament. Kovač quietly returns to Serbia, while Ford visits his son, to make up for missing his grandson's baptism.

Cast

* John Travolta as Emil Kovač * Robert De Niro as Colonel Ben Ford (Ret.) * Milo Ventimiglia as Chris Ford * Elizabeth Olin as Sarah Ford * Diana Lyubenova as Elena * Kalin Sarmenov as Serbian * Stefan Shterev as Bar Customer * Joseph Oliveira as Serbian Soldier (uncredited)

Production

The project was originally set in the 1970s and titled ''Shrapnel''. It was being considered by John Travolta and

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

as a project to follow up on their film ''

Face/Off ''Face/Off'' is a 1997 American science fiction action thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creativ ...

'' and by director

John McTiernan John Campbell McTiernan Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, especially ''Predator'' (1987), '' Die Hard'' (1988), and ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990). His later well-known films incl ...

as a directing vehicle. Subsequently renamed and modified to take place in modern-day Appalachia, and co-financed and co-produced by Corsan,

Nu Image Millennium Media, formerly Nu Image, is an American film studio that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner in 1992 and is one of Hollywood's longest running independent film companies. Millennium creates, produc ...

and

, filming began on January 16, 2012, in the

of north

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 ...

. Major filming was scheduled for

Tallulah Gorge State Park Tallulah Gorge State Park is a Georgia state park adjacent to Tallulah Falls, Georgia, along the county line between Rabun and Habersham Counties. The park surrounds Tallulah Gorge, a deep gorge formed by the action of the Tallulah River, whic ...

and Black Rock Mountain State Park. The locations in

Rabun County Rabun County () is the north-easternmost county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,883, up from 16,276 in 2010. The county seat is Clayton. With an average annual rainfall of over , Rabun County has the ...

were chosen by director

to create the effect and mood he had previously seen in the film ''

Deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American survival thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman, and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox, with the latter two making their feature film debuts. The screenplay was adapt ...

''. Other minor filming locations included

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Sweetwater Creek State Park Sweetwater Creek State Park is a Georgia state park in east Douglas County, from downtown Atlanta. The park is named after Sweetwater Creek which runs through it. Cherokee people were forcibly removed from the area and it eventually became ho ...

, and the Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Stockmar Park, Villa Rica. International sales for ''Killing Season'', offered by the American Film Market, commenced on November 2, 2011, in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

. American cellist/singer/songwriter

Ben Sollee Ben Sollee is an American cellist, singer-songwriter, and composer known for his political activism. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, and mandolin along with percussion and unusual cello techniques. His songs exhibit a mix of folk, bluegras ...

contributed solo cello performances as well as an original song, "Letting Go", for the end credits.

Release

''Killing Season'' was released in the United States on July 12, 2013, to both the home screen and in cinemas.

Critical response

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 ...

it has an approval rating of 10% based on reviews from 20 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a score of 29 out of 100 based on reviews from 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Boyd van Hoeij of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' wrote that the film would be better off as a "small-screen item". Joe Neumaier of the New York '' Daily News'' awarded the film one out of five stars, panning Travolta's character's Serbian accent. David DeWitt 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 d ...

'' stated that " 's not worthless, but it's not good. As a genre film, it's too ambitious; as an art film, it's too obvious." Peter Sobczynski of '' RogerEbert.com'' called it "Badly written, ineptly staged, horribly acted, historically suspect and boring beyond belief". ''

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), ...

's'' Alissa Simon wrote: "The sight of Robert De Niro and John Travolta sharing the screen for the first time reps the one and only selling point of Killing Season."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Killing Season (film) 2013 films 2013 action thriller films 2013 independent films American independent films American action thriller films Bosnian War films Films scored by Christopher Young Films directed by Mark Steven Johnson Films set in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Bulgaria Films with screenplays by Evan Daugherty Films set in Serbia Films set in Belgrade Films shot in Belgrade 2010s English-language films 2010s American films