Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

atlasmb "Executive Action" provides an alternate explanation for the evidence surrounding the assassination of President John Kennedy. Released only 10 years after JFK's death--too soon for the public to accept it--it was a box office flop. But its use of both dramatized scenes and archival footage provides an interesting, though controversial, story written by the talented Dalton Trumbo.Much of the conspiracy theory is similar to Oliver Stone's "JFK", and it does a good job of integrating known evidence (such as witness reports and information we know about Lee Harvey Oswald) and nearly mythologized explanations of the assassination (like the "grassy knoll").Starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in his penultimate film) and Will Geer as the three men who organize the hit, the film carries an emotional content for anyone who lived through the event in 1963. It also serves as an indictment of the Secret Service and the Dallas Police Department, criticizing their sloppy procedures and their unprofessional methods.Though many people have accepted the Warren Commission's lone gunman explanation, conspiracy theorists abound even now, especially since some of the evidence is difficult to explain.As we view the film today, it is nearly amusing to hear the conspirators say, in ignorant naivete, that JFK's reputation and personal life are smear proof. But the mystical spell of "Camelot" that surrounded the Kennedys and his presidency was still in place at the film's initial release in 1973.

LeonLouisRicci Ten Years After the Fact, this Film Combines Fact and Speculation on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, and is one of the First in the "Conspiracy Wave" beginning in the Early Seventies, not just on the Assassination but other Important Things as well. It is a Low-Budget Precursor to Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991).Hitting a number of "Points" that have been Regurgitated Endlessly since, it must be Credited for its Big Screen Recreation of the Anti-Warren Commission Theorists. The Movie, as were said "Theorists" (at the time), considered Absolute Bunk and Anti-American.The Movie was not received favorably among the Public and Critics and Obviously the Power Elite were Not Pleased. Long Forgotten, Little Seen Movie with Two Mega Stars, Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan is Now Considered a Cold Tempered, Cold War, Minimalist Movie that is to the point and Endlessly Engaging, especially if one is Not of a Single and Closed Mind on the Subject.The Tone is Bleak fitting the Story at hand and makes its Case with a Calculated Effort using Real Newsreels and Ominous, Rogue Elements of Corporations and Government. Must See Viewing for Anyone Interested in Informed Speculation, Misinformation, Disinformation, and the News Beneath the Headlines.

Michael_Elliott Executive Action (1973)** (out of 4) Almost exactly ten years after the assassination of President Kennedy, this film was released to theaters and quickly disappeared due to the controversy it started. This film is meant to show an alternate version of what really happened to Kennedy including there being three gunmen and Lee Harvey Oswald being set up. EXECUTIVE ACTION was made well before Oliver Stone's JFK and while it's always unfair to compare films, that's pretty hard not to do here. There's no question that the Stone film is so much better on every level but this film here remains somewhat interesting even though in the end it's a failure. I think the most interesting thing is how it tries to present itself as a documentary while at the same time admitting that it's not sure anything it's showing really happened. The documentary style includes stock footage being used to help tell its story but this here never really works and in many ways just makes the film seem cheap. I think the biggest problem with the film is that it doesn't know what it wants to do. Yes, it wants to present this alternate theory but in the credits it tells us that it's not certain if this really happened. What made JFK so great (and hated) is that it stood for something and ran with it. EXECUTIVE ACTION doesn't know what it stands for so the film tells us something and never comes close to convincing us of anything. Rich businessmen are afraid blacks, Jews and foreigners are going to take over. They gather up the cash to hire men to kill Kennedy. The performances in the film are good with Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan leading the way. The direction is pretty bland and the laid-back style really doesn't do anyone any favors and especially the viewer. There's really no drama or tension in anything we're watching with the exception being the stock footage showing the countdown and aftermath of the assassination. EXECUTIVE ACTION is certainly worth watching but it's a failed attempt, although you can still give it credit for being ahead of its time.

Ange Kenos Could Prescott Bush have been the right wing politician? Certainly the movie plays a pivotal role in convincing even some of its stars - Donald Sutherland and Robert Ryan - that the plot line could have been very close to what did happen that fateful November when a President was gunned down under very mysterious circumstances. It also proves why one shooter had little chance of pulling it off, especially with the Italian Manlicher rifle, but "triangulated co- ordinated fire" could easily succeed. But, have you ever read the info sheet that came out with the movie? And how many witnesses dies within 3 years. And the enormous odds of that happening? Sais a great deal to me.