Haven't seen thát many heist movies, but The Killing seemed allright, though it never becomes anything truly special or unique. Re-using stock footage becomes a bit annoying, but seeing events from different perspectives more than made up for it.

Well shot by Kubrick. Straight forward story with some humour. Okay if you have a spare 80 minutes to fill.

Pretty cool, but the poodle should have been run over. Then the scene would have worked instead of looking like a stupid TV movie for children.

This movie is alright, but not incredible. The heist is well orchestrated, but not particularly gripping, and hurried character development results in bland characters. The narration feels heavy handed and distracts from the action on the screen. There are some wonderful moments, such as the whirlwind of money toward the end of the film, but they are too few, and the experience is underwhelming, and a bit too preachy. I was expecting for a lot from Kubrick, and feel let down by the result.

This early Kubrick heist film is remarkable for two things: 1) downbeat performances that strike the perfect note between the pathetic and the sympathetic in creating these doomed denizens of the half-world (Hayden, Cook and Windsor being standouts) and 2) the innovative fragmentation of time in the screenplay that makes the presentation of the robbery itself so cinematically artful, the details so easy to follow and the final effect so suspenseful and absorbing.

It's a very solid heist film, but it doesn't even approach the grandeur and character of his later films.

The first half seems to be a decent but typical film noir, with archetypal characters and overly expository narration. Yet so much of what follows -- the handling of the nonlinear storyline is just one example -- while not quite new, seems not merely ahead of its time, but better-executed than most contemporary films that attempt the same thing. Comparisons with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, etc. are unavoidable. And the "money shot" is unfailingly powerful, even when you know it's coming.

Great Heist film... Kubrick leads us through the well planned race track robbery with precision and a sense of detail that is absolutely brilliant...

The writing was very good - camera and music aided the story - direction & acting were good - but somehow the end, especially how the different threads were tied together - left me with wanting more - maybe a bit more prolonged emphatic drama with stronger knots tying the various pieces together.. This movie is like the poorer version of "The Asphalt Jungle (1950)" 'http://www.criticker.com/film/The_Asphalt_Jungle/ - having almost the same screenplay but much much more effective & powerful.

Get your Kubrick on.

fairly well constructed, but badly hurt by its dearth of interesting characters. just not compelling and doesn't feel worth the time.

As far as heist movies go, this is one of the best. You follow along with all the characters who in the 80 odd minute running time you get to know a great deal in their escapade. Hayden was a great leading man but he doesn't blow his fellow cast out of the water as they all hold their own. Kubrick can be thanked for that also as he strung it all together perfectly to make one of the great suspenseful atmospheres.

One of the better heist films out there but the ending just kind of killed it (har har) for me.

Sterling Hayden provides a great performance as Johnny Clay, and Kubrick's cinematography is well done for the era. Real memorable heist scene, but I'm still not sure if I really enjoyed the ending. Either way, The Killing is a must for any fan of noir or Kubrick.

Certainly very good, but I saw this right after watching the very similar Rififi (just out of jail con organizes "the perfect heist" with an array of dubious help). The Killing suffers in comparison to the superior French flick. Incredible ending, but what was up with that narrator?

Hays, you fucker.