Shoot to Kill

Shoot to Kill is fast-food moviemaking - quick, satisfying and transient. Read full review

This is essentially a formula film, and as such it's nothing fancy. But it has crisp, spare direction, enormous momentum and a story full of twists and turns. For anyone who thinks they don't make spine-tingling detective films the way they used to, good news: they've just made another. Read full review

The action is rousing and the suspense is relentless in this adventure yarn about a San Francisco cop and an Oregon mountain-man chasing a psychopathic killer through the wilderness. [19 Feb 1988, p.21]

Actually, Spottiswoode's film has its moments. Read full review

Poitier is Poitier, and that, after such a dry spell, is reason enough to see the movie. [12 Feb 1988, p.C5]

Nice to see Poitier back and full of pep, albeit in a routine thriller. Read full review

His first confrontation with Berenger allows Poitier to display the overwhelming, nearly palpable moral force that was his great strength as a performer, but the balance of the film makes very little use of his special skills. [12 Feb 1988, p.A]

Despite the avoidance of fundamental surprise -- there are a few good ones along the way -- Shoot To Kill is still an OK suspense adventure. Director Roger Spottiswoode (Under Fire, The Best of Times) makes the most of the wild, sometimes vertical terrain, and the acting is fine. [15 Feb 1988, p.C04]

A half-baked FBI drama in the 48 HRS.-Lethal Weapon buddy-buddy mode. [12 Feb 1988, p.7]

It marks the first time in a decade that Sidney Poitier has worked in front of the camera. Well, after such an extended absence, maybe he wanted to limber up slowly, just a little light stretching to iron out the kinks in his actor's reflex. If so, the guy made the perfect choice. As flicks go, this is definitely a low-impact workout. [12 Feb 1988]

The movie is grisly, illogical, contradictory, borderline tasteless, riddled with plot holes--and at the same time, decently photographed, cleanly edited and crisply directed. All in all, the waste it represents--of talent, of intelligence, of fine craftsmen and of the audience’s good will--is enough to make one howl like a dog. Read full review