If a portion of American cinema is going to remain devoted to violence, it could learn a lot by revisiting Malick's thoughtfulness.

In the fall of 1973, one could see signposts of cinema's future in Mean Streets and The Exorcist, yet with this youthful pair of proto-indie dreamers, Malick was paving a whole new road. It turned out to be the path most traveled.

It's a testament to Bruce Greenwood's acting that Adan never becomes entirely as insufferable as the words that come out of his mouth.

…Terrence Malick's Badlands was, and still is, an American classic, a dark story of connection and love in a time of alienation and loss…throwaway shots of fish, trains, and household fires punctuate the narrative in a way that’s realistic and yet poetic.