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Customer Reviews of The Killing Fields

Based on the true story of New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterson) covering the battle with his native translator Pran (Haing S. Ngor), this film covers their friendship as they conduct investigative reporting while trying to avoid getting killed, at least until the reporter and his crew is sent home, minus Pran. The second half of the film follows the captive Pran trying to escape from his prison camp while Sydney helplessly awaits state side.

It seems this film stays true to real events, and it is convincingly portrayed by its actors, especially the nonprofessional actor Ngor, who won an academy award for his role as Pran. It is also beautifully photographed and shows the horrors of war first hand. But unfortunately the film has one major weakness: Lack of focus. You never really have a feel for where the movie is trying to take you. Of course, it's based on real events and that's how life often is, but the filmmakers could have made the film more cohesive and unified without distorting fact.

Despite this flaw, the film still manages to be an engaging and honest look at the atrocities of war. It especially hits home in the second half, sharing its glimpse into the brutal world of prison camps. Definitely worth your time for both its historical context as well as its horrific account of war in the Third World.

A watershed movie
Before "The Killing Fields," the Hollywood entertainment industry generally turned a blind eye to the enormous crimes committed by Communists around the world: the Gulag Archipelago in the Soviet Union, the massive mortality in China, and the stupefying slaughter in Cambodia -- where apparently almost half the population was killed in the space of 3-4 years.

This movie opened the door, but it did so on Hollywood terms. There is an attempt to have an American be the lead character (the NY Times reporter), and the movie tries very hard to blame all the misery depicted on... the United States!

But the story comes through regardless. Superb acting job by Dr. Haing S. Ngor, a true gentleman who resided in Los Angeles with a publicly listed telephone number (and answered the phone himself, much to my amazement). The villains are obviously the brutal thugs called "Angka" -- and their indoctrination at the hands of the Stalinists and the Maoists.

This film, in my opinion, played some part in the world-wide collapse of Communism (well, not complete yet) in the next few years. And it may have done so unintentionally.

War Drama about Cambodia
Most war movies from the 80's are about Vietnam and sometimes the horrible events in Cambodia are snowed under.
'The Killing Fields' is about the friendship between NY Times Reporter Syd and his Cambodian interpreter and later friend. When the western journalists flee the country they try and get him with them by forging a passport but it fails and Tran stays behind. He gets caught by the Khmer Rouge and forced to work in slavery, by not letting known he speaks English he survives and escapes and finds his friend Syd again.

The movie is great and emotional. Some scenes are awful but lifelike. Though shot in Thailand, the scenery is beautiful. The acting is fine too, the man playing Tran won an oscar. His own personal life is very closely linked to the events in Cambodia too and this movie is also in part about him. He unfortunately got killed in the late 1990's, possibly by the Khmer in LA.