Badlands is a Terrence Malick masterpiece, and it also happens to be his first film. True crime and teen romance (two of my favorite genres) are combined to sublime effect, creating a crazy mix of dreaminess and danger.
Watching Badlands is an immersive experience, where you co-exist with the characters, in their time and place. The look and feel are so unique that we had to call attention to Malick’s incredible way of looking at the world as our first reason. The other two reasons had to feature the two amazing stars of the film—young lovers played by a very young Martin Sheen (looking like an insane combination of his sons Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) and Sissy Spacek (a few years before her breakthrough performance in Carrie).
