The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot

This amazingly-titled indie pulp adventure drama is getting rave reviews. Apparently, it blends the pulp/action inherent to that title with a tearjerking drama about old age and fading heroism in the face of modernity.

It now has a trailer:

Sam Elliott, a old workhorse of an actor who rarely gets a chance to truly shine, is the protagonist and apparently puts on a Oscar-worthy performance that carries the film.

I can't say I'm not hyped.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

Saw the world premiere this summer at Fantasia. Sam Elliot and the Director was there. (I thought it had since seen general release).

Mind you at the time all we had heard was the title. So no one knew what the movie is about. A lot of people were thus disappointed when the movie didn't quite match up the expectation you get from the title. The movie not nearly as pulp/actiony as you'd expect from the title (Most action is in the 3rd act).

It's a good movie, just... know what to expect.

Edited by Ghilz on Jan 21st 2019 at 8:29:28 AM

Yeah, I got that sense from some reviews I glanced through. Seems like actually a sincere human drama movie. That's actually part of what engaged me, the idea of this bizarre theme and subject matter being used to tell a deep and serious story.

It'll be widely released in 8th of February 2019, apparently, hence the trailer.

Edited by Gaon on Jan 21st 2019 at 8:38:41 AM

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

Like I said, the movie is definitely good. But the Bizarre elements (Especially the Hitler one) don't factor into the story as much as one might expect. So if you're going by title alone (At a film festival known for welcoming schlocky movies), you'd end up disappointed.

If you know what you're getting, it'll be quite good.

Looks good from the trailer. And it's a sincere human piece? Even better. Color me interested in seeing this.

It's out on DVD now. I just watched it.

It's like those B-movies from the 40s and 50s, where the title promises lurid action, but then the majority of the film is boring talky bits. Except this time it's not boring at all; the actors and writing are good enough that all the talky parts are possibly better than the action scenes.

Also, this is Robert D. Krzykowski's first time writing and directing a feature film. Though he does have a writing/directing credit for one short film as well, and it's just as weird a mash-up as this movie: "Elsie Hooper", a monster movie with several stylistic nods to Film Noir, portrayed by life-sized puppets. I think I'll be keeping an eye on Krzykowski's career.

Edited by MetaFour on Apr 4th 2019 at 12:58:07 PM

I didn't write any of that.

Finally watched. It's pretty much what I expected: a compelling human drama about old age. The pulp parts are actually few and far in-between, as observed beforehand.

I wasn't too fond of how it ended with Barr surviving and living happily ever after. I wanted him to go out in a blaze of glory. But I digress.

My favorite scene of the bunch was actually the Russian shaving Barr whilst monologuing about a straight razor and how it can be used to foretell the future.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

Agree and disagree. I think in a lot of cases, living nobly is harder than dying nobly. A story where the hero dies in a Heroic Sacrifice isn't intrinsically better than one where the hero lives happily ever after. In this specific case, I think it's a better ending for Barr to reconnect with his brother, and to continue dealing with his PTSD one day at a time, than to die fighting the bigfoot.

But the movie shouldn't have played it as a Disney Death. Tricking the audience into thinking Barr died—and keeping the charade going for that long before revealing he's okay—smacks of trying to have it both ways.

I didn't write any of that.

I can definitely see the value in the ending we got of Barr living and learning to deal with his PTSD (I found the last scene particularly touching) and I agree they might have kept up with the Disney Death for a bit too long. I'm speaking more as an audience member than a reviewer in that in my identification with Barr's character, I would have preferred him going out in a blaze of glory (i.e, if I was Barr, I'd have preferred to go out this way and thus my immersion in his character would have been more satisfied with that conclusion).

So in short, it's more of a personal opinion than a judgement I'm making here. The ending is fine for what it is.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."