WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

theodorapilates Well maybe I should have watched this when it came out to be as impressed as most viewers here, but I was 6 so even if I did I don't remember it. But I do remember the hype about it. I only watched it in 2018 because so many people reviewing Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father kept insisting that this is THE movie to watch if you want to know more about the Cambodian genocide. And that Jolie's movie was uninformative and cheesy. Well, this one is equally uninformative and way more cheesy! Maybe reviewers preferred the story being told my a guy rather than a girl? I have no idea. At least FTKMF left me intrigued to find out more about the situation and I was also immersed in its atmosphere. I can't say the same for this one. It looked like a poor man's Empire of the Sun. Such important stories that need to be told, but it doesn't work every time just because of the shock value. Lastly, as few others already mentioned, this movie was in need of editing. Too long with little substance. Sorry!

jovana-13676 Well, casting Julian Sands was the right decision because you can't go through hell without something beautiful to look at. He's gorgeous! So, allow me to be shallow, because this film's set is entirely made of human bodies, dead, half-dead, dismembered, bleeding, rotting, sick children, dead children, wounded children crying and then there's mud, mud, mud, more mud and dirt... it's hell on earth. Yes, the film looks great, if you can stomach it, with the soundtrack that would make your hair stand on end. But, without the photojournalists in action, it would have been a little too boring. The most exciting scenes are the passport forging scenes. That one made me think - how I miss REAL MEN on screen. And in 'real life'. The four leading actors, Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich and Julian Sands all have such a strong presence. With each Haing S. Ngor closeup, I want to cry. Here is something real. I am sorry that journalism has since become a joke.

Jackson Booth-Millard From Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated director Roland Joffé (The Mission, Captivity), this film features in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I didn't know much about it, apart from one of the cast members, so I just hoped it would be worth the five stars out of five critics give it. Basically in 1973, American journalist Sydney Schanberg (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Sam Waterston) is a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, he has been sent to Cambodia to cover the civil war between the Cambodian national army and communists the Khmer Rouge, a result of the Vietnam War. Schanberg is joined by local representative Dith Pran (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning Haing S. Ngor) as his guide and interpreter, they also meet a number of times with photographer Al Rockoff (John Malkovich), who gives them updates on the latest situations. Over the subsequent years Schanberg and Pran, with Pran's family, become friends, the bond between two men largely due to watching out for each other during potentially deadly situations. Schanberg is able to secure evacuation from the country for Pran's family, when western powers believe an escalation in the war will bring imminent indiscriminate bloodshed. The Khmer Rouge ultimately take over the country in 1975, Schanberg and other members of the western media make it out of the country in April, Schanberg returns to New York, but attempts to evacuate Pran failed, his life is in danger, every western-friendly Cambodian journalist captured has been killed. Schanberg leaves the U.S. begins what becomes a four and a half year campaign to get Pran out of the country, with no knowledge of the atrocities he may have suffered from the Khmer Rouge and/or their North Vietnamese allies, and no knowledge if Pran is still alive. This campaign for Schanberg ends up being a mission out of guilt, he feels largely responsible for Pran's predicament, he receives acclaim during his reporting of the conflict, in the end Schanberg calls Pran's family with the news that he is alive and safe, Schanberg and Pran reunite at the he Red Cross camp, they embrace with a hug. Also starring Julian Sands as Jon Swain, Craig T. Nelson as Military Attaché, Spalding Gray as U.S. Consul, Bill Paterson as Dr. MacEntire, Athol Fugard as Dr. Sundesval, Graham Kennedy as Dougal, Katherine Krapum Chey as Ser Moeum (Pran's Wife), Oliver Pierpaoli as Titony (Pran's Son) and Lambool Dtangpaibool as Phat's Son. Waterston gives a good performance as the journalist filled with both shame and ambition, Malkovich does well in his many moments, but the best performance is indeed newcomer and deserved award winner Ngor, at the time he was a gynaecologist and obstetrician, he is a fantastic embodiment of all emotions of the time, sadly Ngor was murdered in 1996. I didn't know anything about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia myself before this film, I read it was a genocide initiated by Pol Pot, it was also known as Year Zero, the film shows both the humanity and the agony of the time, based on the experiences of the real-life characters, the most gripping moments are obviously those filled with conflict and suffering, all in all I found it an interesting biographical war drama. It won the Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and it was nominated for Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, it won the BAFTAs for Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film for Haing S. Ngor, Best Production Design/Art Direction and Best Sound, and it was nominated for Best Make Up Artist, Best Score for Mike Oldfield and Best Special Visual Effects, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. Good!

Mobithailand 'The Killing Fields', is Roland Joffé's ground-breaking, British-made drama about the Kymer Rouge's brutal, 5-year regime in Cambodia. This Academy award-winning film, made in 1984, tells the true story of an American newspaper journalist, (Sydney Schanberg) and his Cambodian Assistant, (Pran) before, during and after the takeover by Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge regime.The film is beautifully directed, shot and acted and it accurately portrays a truly harrowing and heart-breaking period in Cambodia's recent history. The Killing Fields should be compulsory viewing for anyone who lives in this region, particularly in Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. This genocide only took place some 37 years ago, yet for most people under thirty, they have little or no knowledge of what took place, right on their doorstep. Here in Thailand, there seems to be universal ignorance of tragic events that happened so close to their common border. Estimates of the total number of deaths resulting from Khmer Rouge policies during the period they controlled the country (1975-1979), including from disease and starvation, range from 1.7 to 2.5 million out of a population of around 8 million, or give or take, 25% of the population. One American reviewer recently described this film as 'The Ultimate Ugly American Movie' and goes on to say: '….that amazing film about the human price of American involvement in Southeast Asia….' The film includes some 'telling references' about America's dubious role in the terrible events that overtook Cambodia, such as: "After what the Khmer Rouge have been through, I don't think they'll be exactly affectionate toward Westerners…." (spoken by a US embassy official) and: "Maybe we underestimated the anger that $7 billion in bombing would unleash." (Sydney Schanberg.) During the U.S. war in Vietnam, Cambodia was embroiled in a bloody civil war between the communist Khmer Rouge, backed by China and North Vietnam, and Cambodian government forces backed by the U.S. From 1969-73, the U.S. military covertly carpet-bombed eastern Cambodia in an attempt to disrupt North Vietnamese operations and defend the government against the Khmer Rouge, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cambodian citizens. For a country which at the time had a population of about 6 million, the losses were enormously devastating. Amongst the Cambodian populace, resentment grew against the U.S. and what was perceived as the American "puppet government" in Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge represented resistance to the U.S. and consequently, as bombs continued to fall, Cambodian citizens flocked to join them.Sydney Schanberg, who was a New York Times reporter and renowned for his experience in Cambodia at the time, said the Khmer Rouge "… would point… at the bombs falling from B-52s as something they had to oppose if they were going to have freedom. And it became a recruiting tool until they grew to a fierce, indefatigable guerrilla army." Eventually, the Khmer Rouge were able to overwhelm the government forces and establish control over Cambodia, leading to Pol Pot's "agrarian revolution", the killing fields, the torture centres and the loss of some 2 million Cambodian lives.In his memoirs, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has denied that the U.S. is at all responsible for the rise of the Khmer Rouge. But bitterly recounted descriptions of the bombings by survivors of the Khmer Rouge terror demonstrate that there is little to separate the U.S. bombings and Khmer Rouge brutality in the minds of Cambodian survivors. Who better to determine accountability than those who most directly suffered? It is impossible to say for certain, but such personal accounts are a powerful condemnation of the bombings and evidence that the U.S. government at the time was significantly responsible for what occurred thereafter.It is impossible to know for sure whether the bombing of Cambodia from 1969-73 led directly or indirectly, to massive suffering and the deaths of a full one-third of Cambodia's population at the time. But worse is the dysfunction caused by that tragedy which continues to profoundly affect Cambodian society to this day. I have been to Cambodia several times in recent years, and it was a very rare occurrence when I met anyone over 40 years of age.If you missed the Killing Fields when it was first released, or you were too young - or yet to be born - go search it out and watch a piece of truly horrifying history within living memory.