Slaughterhouse-Five

I couldn't track it down, unfortunately, but remember that Rolling Stone interviewed Vonnegut in the late 70's, and he stated that there were two movies that Hollywood had done that were better than their books: Gone with the Wind, and Slaughterhouse-Five. Kurt said Hill left out stuff that he should have left out of the book. I finally watched the film just yesterday, and agree that it was masterful at capturing the book. The time-traveling was exactly as Kurt described it. The characters were nailed. If only Hollywood could be this good when it interpreted books every time. If you're unfamiliar with the book and the film, I'd suggest reading first, then watching. It'll make the more obscure parts of the film clear, and you won't be disappointed by George Roy Hill.

Kurt Vonnegut's novel detailing the strange odyssey of Billy Pilgrim was probably unfilmmable, though--to his credit--director George Roy Hill gives it a noble try. Stephen Geller adapted the popular book about a man living his life out of sequence, going back and forth in time before finally settling down on a distant planet with a movie-actress as his companion. 'Odd' is an understatement for this patchwork film. At first, all the scattered puzzle pieces are fun, but eventually the pacing flags and you're left with the main character, who simply isn't very compelling. Valerie Perrine gets stuck with the vulgar role of the actress, yet she manages to give the brightest performance in the picture. *1/2 from ****

Slaughterhouse-Five is my all-time favorite movie. If you haven't seen it, don't be fooled by the title (it's not the fourth sequel to a horror movie) or the fact that video stores, if they carry it, typically file it under "Sci-Fi" (it's not a space movie, well, not primarily). Slaughterhouse Five is a movie about war, family, business, pets, space, time, aliens, friends, bitter enemies, revenge, overeating, fascism, communism, and mostly about just wanting to be left alone. It is the funniest and saddest movie you're likely to see, and it encompasses more aspects of life than you could imagine. Worth repeated viewings.

This is a very clever, thoughtful, well made movie. It succeeded in doing what I thought was nearly impossible, i.e. to put this amazing book on film. There are one or two small points that keep me from giving this picture anything higher than a 7, the main one being Ron Liebman playing the Paul Lazzaro role - highly irritating. Other than that, a brave and imaginative, clever, witty film that I would heartily recommend to anyone.

"Slaughterhouse 5" is perhaps the best book-film translation I've ever seen. Let me safely say that Kurt Vonneguts 'Slaughterhouse 5' is my favourite book ever. It is incredibly funny and moving above any book I've ever read. But it is also a very complex and philosophical story with many deeply rooted undertones. As such, I strongly urge people to READ THE BOOK before you see this movie. A great many points are left unexplained to the viewer, assuming they have read Vonneguts version. As I read it beforehand, the movie didn't insult my intelligence by putting Vonneguts ideas in plain view. Instead, it relies faithfully on the viewers interpretations, not unlike the book. Once again, unless you have a mind open like a 7-11, READ THE BOOK. Take my advice, and be immersed in the greatest story of the 20th century.

There is a definite 70s feel to this production of a book that does an amazing job of spanning the most fascinating period of American history -- 1945-1970. I first saw this film in 1986 as a late teen at the height of Regan America, the cold war, nuclear detente. Billy Pilgram was the beginning of that world that I was just starting to pay attention to. The movie had a really profound effect on me at the time. Reading the book afterwards and getting into his other books, didn't detract at all from my assessment of the movie adaptation. Even seeing it now many years later doesn't detract from an amazingly solid film. The transitions as Billy gets unstuck in time are some of my favorite movie images. Also beautiful is the music which totally turned me on to Glenn Gould.