Has anyone seen the movie Badlands?

[UsKidsKnow]

hAS anyone seen this movie? It was made in the early 70's and stars Sissy Spacek and I believe she is with a man and they are running from the law.

I've heard it's great, and i read about it in one of my film texts, but i believe that it's out of print. Does anyone know where i can possibly find a copy of it?

John

[purplemystic]

I've seen this movie a couple of times on cable. It's a completel snooze because the couple i so blas about everything they are doing. I never watched long enough to see any violence, although apparently some occurred.

The stry was based on a real-life scenario involving a teenager who was "kidnapped" and went with the guy on amjaor crime spree. Murder was involved. Very Patty Hearst.

The "bad guy" in the movie is a very young Martin Sheen.

[SpacePerson]

so this is based on Patty Hearst's story? or am i confused?

eef

[purplemystic]

No, it's not based on Patty Hearst. It's nowhere near that exciting. The actual incident happened in the late '60s (and "kidnapping" is probably the wrong word: from what I got the impression the girl went along with it out of her own free will - ie accepted a ride with an interesting person - and ended up going on a crime spree but mostly participated in it out of her own free will). The movie came out in 1973 (I *think*) and Patty Hearst happened in '74.

The whole point of the movie is who Spacek & Sheen are really blase about the whole thing - they don't seem to care about any of it. Which makes the movie very boring.

I read about the real-life connections in this CD-Rom about the history of movies at a place where I was baby-sitting. I really don't know much about the actual case.

[SpacePerson]

hey thanks purp!!!

eef

[Queen Grimson]

I've seen this movie years ago, and its not about Patty Hearst.

The movie is based on one of the worst murdering sprees that has ever occurred in the history of the United States that took place back in the late 1950's. That murder spree is the Charles Starkwether and Caroline Fugate murders that occurred in Nebraska in 1958, that started in a rural town just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska and went all the way into Wyoming. I think they murdered 10 people in their path, including Caroline Fugate's parents, which is depicted in the movie with Martin Sheen murdering Sissy Spacek's character's parents.

The reason why I know this is that I read this about this movie. Although it takes place in western South Dakota and Montana in the movie it is definitely about the Starkwether-Fugate murders. I grew up in Nebraska and heard this story many a time. My mother use to tell how she was scared back in 1958 when this was happenning as she lived in a small town just outside Lincoln (not the one where Fugate's parents were murdered, that was southeast of Lincoln, and my mother's/my hometown is just west of Lincoln 25 miles). I think my mother said that Starkwhether and Fugate drove through town, which scared the living daylights out of her.

Here's a following link to the plot summary from the IMDB:

INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE PLOT SUMMARY

This story has been the basis of several other movie and music pieces. Most notably, it is the basis of the story for the title track of Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album 'Nebraska' (which preceded 'Born in the USA'). This album:



In fact there is a tribute album to this album called 'Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska'

Here are the lyrics to the title track to Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska', and you can see how the plot of Badlands, the true Starkweather-Fugate story and the lyrics are basically the same story:

"...I saw her standin' on her front lawn just twirlin' her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died

From the town of Lincoln Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path

I can't say that I'm sorry for the things that we done
At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun

The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death
Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back
You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap

They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world..."

This very album brings us from Classic Rock right back to inspiring yet another movie. In fact it is Sean Penn's directing debut, 'Indian Runner', which was filmed in Nebraska and stars David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Patricia Arquette, Charles Bronson, and Sandy Dennis. Sandy Dennis is a native Nebraskan and this was one of last movies, if not her last movie before she died. It is similar to the Starkwether-Fugate story, but is more about the song 'Highway Patrolman' from Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album. Anyway here is what the IMDB has to say about 'Indian Runner', which I think is a fascinating film:

INDIAN RUNNER explained on IMDB

A couple of more things on the Starkweather-Fugate story in which Badlands is based. Starkwether was mentioned in a 1989 pop/classic rock hit by Billy Joel, 'We Didn't Start the Fire'

You know the one that goes:

"...We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it..."

Also during the early 1990's there was a short mini-series on one of the major networks on the Starkwether-Fugate story.

Sorry to babble about this, I just heard and know the Starkwether-Fugate murder story quite well as it happened during my mother's and father's lifetime and remembering their fears about living in Nebraska when this was happening at that time is something that it, and is quite well known by people that grow up there. Its well-known, though very aweful and extremely tragic, part of Nebraska's history.

QG

[purplemystic]

With all that information, you would think a much more interesting movie could have been made.

I never saw the beginning of the movie: the information I read about the case was a long time ago, back in high school. I'm sure it was mentioned that her parents were murdered, though I don't remember reading that. Spaek's character basically acts as the good-girl girlfriend to Sheen's bad-boy act, certainly not like someone who was picked up by a strange guy who killed her parents. Maybe that wasn't the case and she was just his girlfriend but I seemed to read something about a kidnapping element involved. Maybe that was just assumed because the girl involved was a teenager. Dunno.

Anyhoo . . .

The point of the movie is that they are basically sociopaths and very boring sociopaths at that, no caring about what they do. The end result is not very entertaining.

Which is too bad, because Sissy Spacek is one of my favorite actresses.

The whole real-life scenario sounds very interesting. It's surprising that people today remember Patty Hearst and Charlie Manson much better or eve someone as ancient as Lizzie Borden or Jack The Ripper, yet if I neversaw this mve Iwouldn't have know th his even happened.

[Queen Grimson]

Purplemystic,

I really wasn't commenting on the quality of the movie. I would probably have to watch it again to say what I thought about it, as it has been about 15 to 20 years since I last saw it.

Sorry about babbling, its just that I know this story quite well.

Indian Runner I have seen recently, and I think it is well-directed by Sean Penn, and is a fairly good movie. Though dark, it treats Bruce Springsteen's Highway Patrolman from his album Nebraska quite well.

And yes Sissy Spacek is a great actress. I saw her in another great performance recently, 'In the Bedroom' which is another dark theme. There's a thread about that movie, I think on this same page.

*edit*

And yes, Caroline Fugate I believe was 14 years old when Starkwether did these killings. She was not put to death. She did serve some time in a woman penitentary in Nebraska, but was eventually released and later married.

Cool topic btw purplemystic.

QG