Directional debut for Milius (who also wrote of course)
Features countless homages and references to peckinpah’s the wild bunch which Milius lists as one of his favorite films. It’s not just the violence and some of the slow-motion usage (though Milius, by paying homage to Peckinpah, shows he is not quite up to the task here). Even the casting of Ben Johnson and Warren Oates make it hard not to think of the wild bunch
There could be some interesting duality/doppelgänger at play here- it’s hard to notice that Johnson and Oates look almost identical and are facing off against each other
The Dillinger story has been done many times in the history of cinema- probably the best version is 2009’s public enemies by Michael Mann- these films are very similar.
Narrative form- Johnson smokes a cigar every time he kills
Milius is the “Walter” character from big Lebowski- little trivia here
Lots of newspaper montages
The ending is a nonstop blood fest shootout- again- mirroring the wild bunch
[…] Dillinger – Milius […]