User reviews

Greg Powell (James Woods) recruits recently released ex-con Jimmy Youngblood (Franklyn Seales). They're going to rob a liquor store for the money to get to San Francisco. Det. Karl Hettinger (John Savage) is the new partner for Det. Ian Campbell (Ted Danson). They pull Powell over with broken tail lights. Powell pulls a gun on Campbell and take them both hostage. Powell promises to release them in Bakersfield. They drive to an onion field. Powell shoots Campbell and Youngblood screams in disbelieve. Hettinger escapes. Youngblood takes off with the car. Powell end up stealing a car and gets caught. Powell gives up Youngblood right away. The following investigation and trial take a toll on Hettinger's mental state.

This is based on a 1973 book about a 1963 incident. It definitely has the dated feel especially with the dialog. The first half is quite tense and compelling. James Woods give an interesting performance as the weirdly controlling crook. The second half isn't quite as compelling. It's very detailed and it suffers for it. It rambles on with complicated fragmented details. Wambaugh's script may be trying to follow the true story too closely and fails to follow the emotional story more truly.

Great true life movie of two L.A. police officers whose lives were changed forever in on onion field on the outskirts of Bakersfield, CA. As always, I will not set here and go over the entire movie. I will say that James Woods did an excellent job portraying Powell, and of course, Ted Danson was his usual best as officer Ian Campbell. This story grips you right from the minute that the two officers are taken hostage. I can only imagine the terror that Campbell and Hettinger went through on the ride from L.A. to Bakersfield. The scene in the onion field and what transpired after the murder of officer Campbell, with Hettinger fleeing the maniac Powell through the fields at night, is breath taking. It is just so sad that in reality, all this really happened, and a good man lost his life at the hands of a crazed-ass lunatic.

Most people have commented here about the film being let down by a rather slow, poor and melodramatic second half. I agree but won't dwell on it since it's already discussed by better reviewers.

So let's discuss the acting. James Woods is very good as Powell, the main villain so to speak. Danson is very good as one of the detectives. Unfortunately, Savage (who plays the other detective) is a mediocre actor, and Seales (the other criminal) is awful and seems to have walked out of a 1930s theater with his hamming (there's no other word for it).

The direction is tight in the first half but pretty much loses it in the second. I give it points for honesty and not going for gimmicks etc, but it doesn't do the truthful storytelling very well. The director should have known his limitations and tried to go for a more entertaining angle. It'd have been nice to see more of the early Powell and his attempts at crime, and a longer set up of the post crime events and how the two come to be caught. This could have been a much better movie.

The Onion Field was a story that needed to be told. This is a story that will really make you angry, angry at a legal system that lets vicious criminals off the hook and brutalizes their victims. I was outraged at the horrible crime committed against Officers Ian Campbell and Karl Heninger. They were both abducted and taken to an onion field and Campbell was shot and killed while Heninger managed to get away. As cruel as it may sound, I think Heninger would have been better off if they had killed him as well. Campbell's death was quick, Heninger suffered a living death. He was ostracized by his fellow police officers as a coward and they actually made him tell his story to young officers as an example of what not to do in a crisis situation. I was so angry watching this at how this poor man was treated. I thought policemen were supposed to stand by each other. Heninger was so traumatized by this that he became a kleptomaniac and was forced to resign from the department. What was even more obscene was that the trial of the two killers became the longest most drawn out affair in legal history, it literally dragged on for years with Heninger being forced to testify again and again. Gregory Powell (the triggerman) was represented by a lawyer named Irving Kanarek (who would later represent Charles Manson). Kanarek was legendary in Los Angeles courts for being a professional "obstructionist", a lawyer who dragged out proceedings by objections and legal "foot dragging". Kanarek spent a year and a half on pre trial motions before his own client fired him in disgust. This film is a searing indictment of a legal system that protects the deadly spider and ignores the innocent fly. James Woods was absolutely chilling as this psychopathic killer. He was a young actor just getting started at the time and what a way to debut! The late Gene Siskel said that he was almost like Frankenstein's monster. Yes The Onion Field is not a pleasant story, but it is one that needs to be told. There is one tragic footnote that I would like to add involving Karl Heninger. He died in 1994 of a liver disease. I wrote a letter to Joseph Wambaugh and he told me this. He said Heninger was an alcoholic and he never ever escaped the horror of what happened that night. May he rest in peace.

Interesting drama.

The true story of how two men killed a policeman in California in the early-1960s, and what happened afterwards. Starts off as a crime drama and ends as legal/courtroom drama.

Movie starts slowly as it sets the scene and provides some background to the characters. Maybe too slowly and with too much detail. Some things just feel overdone.

Once the murder occurs, however, that's when things get interesting. The legal side, especially, is quite eye-opening and demonstrates how easily the US judicial system can be manipulated and exploited by criminals.

Performances are mostly so-so. James Woods is probably the best of the lot, putting in a solid performance as one of the criminals. John Savage is pretty flat in his role and Franklyn Seales is hammy.

I never saw James Woods in a film before the Onion Field. To this day I have never forgotten his performance. Whenever I see him, I think of The Onion Field. He often is cast as the bad guy, and he usually pulls it off very well. He was excellently bad in Once Upon a Time in America, The Getaway, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and others. The Onion Field was, however, absolutely a masterpiece performance by Woods. Greg Powell was an evil person, and Woods nails the role. This film does not seem to be on TV often any more, but is worth looking for. It is truly chilling.

A Los Angeles cop and his partner stop a car at night for a minor traffic violation. The car contains two petty criminals. One of the criminals panics, and orders the two cops into the car, at gunpoint, and then commands one of the officers to drive the car out to the desert. Near Bakersfield, the car turns off onto a lonesome dirt road next to an onion field. Shortly thereafter, a violent confrontation occurs. Not everyone survives.

With a plot that is direct and easy to follow, "The Onion Field" tells this story in a straightforward manner. There are almost no plot twists or turns. And the film has a breathtaking sense of authenticity. Indeed, the film's kidnapping scene takes place at the intersection of Carlos and Gower, the exact location where the real life kidnapping occurred.

The film's pacing is rather slow. Scenes tend to be lengthy, with emphasis on character development. The first half gives us a snapshot of the everyday lives, both of the cops and of the two thieves. It also describes the kidnapping incident that brought them together, and the ordeal on the deserted road. Much of the second half takes place in a courtroom setting, as we see how the criminal trial plays out. This second half of the film renders a scathing indictment of the American judicial process.

The film's cinematography is fine, if perhaps somewhat dark. The background music is low-key and appropriately ominous. Production design is adequate.

Based on Joseph Wambaugh's book, the screen story itself is the strength of the film. But the acting also is quite good. James Woods, Franklyn Seales, and Ted Danson are all convincing in their roles. John Savage gives a great performance too, despite his tendency to talk as if he's got marbles in his mouth.

Fact-based films have an inherent advantage over fictional films, in my opinion. And, "The Onion Field" is made with such authenticity, with such a sense of purpose and dedication, it easily makes my list of the best crime films of the 1970s.

The true story of the so-called Onion Field murder case, in which a pair of ex-cons gratuitously killed a Los Angeles policeman at the Bakersfield location of the film's title, has been adapted by Joseph Wambaugh from his own bestselling novel into a skillful if unimaginative screen drama. It's reassuring to see (for once) an honest film about real cops (however grim the scenario), but except for the more colorful details of criminal low life (a bloody San Quentin suicide; some prison shower fellatio) it might have been just another routine TV movie-of-the-week. As it would in real life, the story begins to drag during the protracted, inconclusive courtroom trials, and did we really need so many scenes showing (in all-too vivid detail) the domestic trauma of surviving cop John Savage? Sitting through his portrayal of an alienated, kleptomaniac, child-beating potential suicide isn't nearly as much fun as watching yet another typically psychotic performance by James Woods, as the bisexual cop killer.

Ted Danson usually is found jokin' and schmoozin' in sit-coms. But there's no jokin' or schmoozin' in this movie. Here, Mr. Danson plays a police officer who is brutally murdered by two no-account thugs while his partner, completely terrified, looks on and does nothing and then is methodically hunted and only by sheer luck escapes. Remember, the two thugs actually kidnap and terrorize not two hapless civilians, but two police officers armed with their weapons. The message of this movie to me is clear: if this can happen to two police officers, it can happen to anyone, so beware. This is a powerful movie, not only because of the story, which is intense and provocative, but also because of the acting, which offers chilling portrayals of two psychopathic criminals who offer no apologies for their wanton and heinous acts and of an emotionally shattered police officer who is experiencing a nervous breakdown secondary to post-traumatic stress exacerbated by his overwhelming feelings of guilt over having done nothing to save his partner's life. This movie also shows how the criminal justice system reduces this act of terrorism to the level of being just another case as the case drags on for years in the courts. Indeed, the tragedy and terror of the event soon becomes eclipsed by the sheer mountain of legal paperwork it generates in the courts. This is a great movie which is based on an excellent book, which in turn is based on an actual event.

Two aspects separate this film from movie obscurity. Without doubt, James Woods manages the most frightening criminal psychotic since Richard Widmark's giggling nut-case in Kiss of Death (1947). In fact, the film fairly crackles with unbalanced energy once Woods appears. His idea of "family values" is patting you on the back one minute and sticking a gun in your face the next. At the same time, the onion field sequence is superbly staged, the suddenness of the gunshots truly unnerving. Plus, Franklyn Seales' unscripted screams are chillingly appropriate, adding greatly to the raw impact.

This gripping first half, however, gives way to a more pedestrian-- though well-meaning-- second half that could use faster pacing and narrower focus. For example, what's the point of showing us Hettinger placing plants in his pick-up and then driving off. The scene consumes about 30 seconds of pointless screen time since we already know that gardening is returning him to mental health. At the same time, the screenplay pursues a number of diverse threads that tend to divide audience interest instead of concentrating it.

The film is ex-cop Wambaugh's personal project, and it's clear he uses the case to illustrate certain aspects of the criminal justice system. Not surprisingly, the appeals process comes in for special scorn. Shrewd cop-killer Powell is able to manipulate both court proceedings and the appeals process in seemingly endless fashion for his own advantage. Wambaugh is also in sympathy with the unlucky Hettinger who's been scapegoated for his partner's death. That scene where the beat cop exposes the unreality of a departmental rule is a little gem and also, I suspect, Wambaugh speaking through the actor.

Anyway, that first half amounts to a minor masterpiece of criminal derangement brought to life by Woods' unforgettable performance.

Released in 1979, "The Onion Field" is a true crime drama about a disturbed two-bit criminal, Greg Powell (James Wood), and his partner (Franklyn Seales) who kidnap two cops (Ted Danson and John Savage) and kill one of them in the sticks by an onion field. Can justice be done with the California court system? How will the murder affect the surviving officer?

The entire crime sequence, which takes roughly one quarter of the runtime, is outstanding. The remaining hour is a negative commentary on the justice system and survivor guilt/PTSD. The film sticks to the facts and is gritty realistic with actors who even appear like their true-life counterparts. With the exception of the crime and its immediate aftermath this is a slow drama, but somehow compelling, perhaps partially because it really happened.

Interestingly, the character played by Woods reminds me of a former good friend who was in my wedding party, also named Greg. Like the character in the film, he's currently in prison for murder!

The film runs 122 minutes and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area and Maricopa & Taft, California.

GRADE: B+

Fact-based movie are always interesting to me. I'm surprised this happened way before the Kennedy assassination. WOW! The true story about "The Onion Field" murder in California mysteriously got my interest for some strange reason. I quickly read the book when I was in college, and I imagined myself in 1963 when the horrible crime took place. When I got the chance to see the movie after 15 years, I was stoked, I was filled with wonder and awe, in what Campbell's partner(Officer John Hettinger) was going through. He has a wife, he has a family, DON'T THROW IT AWAY!, I said to myself. Only the baby's cry saved him from total destruction. John Savage played the role very well in this movie, and James Woods and the late Franklyn Seales(Dexter Stuffins on the 80's cult "Silver Spoons") did their parts well as Powell and Smith. I would like to give thanks for former LAPD Joseph Wambaugh for the book and his courage for doing such a thing. I wished this movie would get a Oscar for it. It was outstanding! 5 STARS!

A vastly comprehensive staging of a real-life case that begins with a brilliant opening title tracking shot, this non-fiction novel of a film fuels its two hours with mortality and guilt complexes, and the exploitation of the judicial system to spoil fair dealing. Set in 1963, this is a potent, disturbing story but it's also a messy one, colonized by peripheral figures and various plot strands. The criminals' back stories are every bit as drawn-out and fascinating as those of the policemen they kidnapped. Even the courtroom drama is uncommonly full of twists and turns, indeed introducing a new legal team with each new trial.

The film is by and large brisk and periodically thrilling, but it's also thick with incidents that are just hastily elucidated, sans the key storyline that might have offered a lucid point of view. Not even Savage surfaces as hub for our concern, though the film's structure seems to imply that he's intended to be. Regardless, John Savage's everyman LAPD plainclothesman is intensely, horrifically felt. His self-reproach about the incident brings about nightmares, impotence, sudden reduction in his body mass, shrinking by a full inch, kleptomania and a penchant toward suicide. When the film begins to speed headlong into its convoluted proceedings, the performances take on a strong naturalism that negates how things start out.

For the first 45 minutes, each actor seems somewhat creatively stifled. Despite the presence of a given performer, they all give deliveries that feel like the screws were tightened in the read-through stages. Surprisingly, Ted Danson, in his feature film debut, seems the most natural. Still, perhaps because the hues of lockstep theatricality by the cast during the exposition are so bright, I, knowing hardly anything about the plot coming in, could predict who would be murdered. Maybe that's not a flaw on the part of the film, but I'd like a film with a vision that allows me to be sure of where I stand in terms of what its story reveals.

Nevertheless, Seales and particularly James Woods, who is always interesting anyway, grow less overstated and more chillingly credible. Woods has some excellent exchanges with Ronny Cox, who gives another of his exceptional performances as the detective in command of interrogating the two. Woods as the sociopathic Powell, charismatic, controlling, and mainly the driver packing heat, creates a flakiness in the character that gives off the threat of a bright spark near a swimming pool.

In 1965 Los Angeles, two undercover police officers have been partners 9 days. Ian Campbell - Ted Danson - is the senior cop, who once was a pre-med student. His Scottish heritage includes his ability to play bagpipes. He's also married and has young children. As the junior partner, Karl Hettinger - John Savage - is also married and gave up the study of agriculture to become an officer. Unhappily, these two happen upon a suspicious car which makes an illegal U-turn. Inside are two life criminals. Jimmy Smith is a biracial, mostly petty thief. The other, Greg Powell - James Woods - is an evil guy with many crimes on his record. Once stopped, Powell deftly gets his gun at Campbells back and forces Hettinger to give up his weapon, too. Now in charge, the perps drive the 2 cops north to an onion field near Bakersfield. Soon after, Campbell is executed. Amazingly, Hettinger runs away as clouds cover the moonlight and escapes. Almost at once, the two killers are caught. But, will justice follow? And will Hettinger be able to handle the trauma that was inflicted on him and continues long after ? Here is a deeply sad and disturbing look at a famous true crime. Joseph Wambaugh wrote the screenplay from his epic work. As the unfortunate police officers, Danson and Hettinger give haunting performances while James Woods scares the living daylights out of most viewers as the evil Powell. If crime thrillers are interesting to you, the Onion Field is a fine choice. But be prepared to cry and rage.

The directing is good. The acting is excellent. Even the underused score nicely fits, filling in certain gaps. It's the script that I find underdeveloped.

There's a reason authors of source materials rarely craft their own screenplays. It's a different medium that's usually delegated to established writers of adaptations. This story, based on fact, has multiple layers of complicated elements; and I think it tries too hard to cover all of them.

That being said, the story speaks volumes about a then-legal system rife with opportunities to exploit and manipulate it. It also shines a spotlight on the concept that the aftermath of violent crime is basically a lose-lose situation. The loss of loved ones due to murder is never something one "gets over"; it's something one comes to terms with on a day-to-day basis.

I've never read the source material, but I can't help to wonder if there was a deeper, more sexual relationship between the criminals than portrayed onscreen.

James Woods gives a striking performance here, working with a fascinating eccentric character, but otherwise there is little in the way of virtues. The first half of the film is far too slow moving, taking much too long to build up, and then the second half of it is as randomly assembled as a tossed salad, going off on tangents here and there, without much logic, and totally lacking in any sense of time. The scenes in the first half lack excitement, and the courtroom sequences in the second half lack intensity. In addition, it is always too dark, with characters constantly set up in the shadows, and although the first half is arguably competently filmed, the final hour is a mess. The overall execution is extremely uneven, which makes it hard to recommend this film, except to followers of James Woods, who should be impressed with his delivery here.

James Woods(Gregory Powell),"This Girl's Life'03", played a very hateful person, who was cold blooded and heartless, and claimed to be a family man. John Savage(Karl Hettinger),"The Drop",'93 played the role as a detective who seemed to lose his gun to Gregory and was subject to all kinds of problems at home and on the job. Franklyn Seales(Jimmy Smith),"Southern Comfort",'81 was a convict who just got out of the slammer and got involved with Gregory and also makes love to Gregory's pregnant wife and starts out on the wrong foot. Jimmy Smith tells the police: " I don't know what a conscience is nor the feeling of Wrong or Right". Franklyn Seales was a great supporting actor to James Woods, it is sad that Franklyn had to die at a very young age. If you love James Woods, don't miss this film!

I met the Judge who sentenced Powell to death recently. He filled me in on the behind the scenes. The movie is accurate. Powell was a degenerate even once masturbating in court. His escape attempts all true and when the Judge asked him how did you smuggle razor blades onto death row Powell replied: You can smuggle anything on to Death Row stating you would be surprised. The Judge was saddened to see Powell beat the death penalty and the system as he was a hard, cold blooded killer beast of a man. Powell at one time agreed to have Sodium Pentothal administered and to be asked questions under the influence of the truth drug. When asked: did you fire the shots (both men accused the other), he twice stopped short of answering. The third time, when asked again, stated under the drug, I rather not say.

Based on his 1973 true crime novel of the same title, 'The Onion Field' is an okay watch, that works primarily due to the Strong Performances it offers.

'The Onion Field' Synopsis: Two criminals kill a cop & later suffer the consequences.

'The Onion Field' is extremely slow-paced & even dull in parts. Of course, some scenes are chilling & the second-hour is interesting. But, the first-hour moves very slowly. A faster pace & A stronger Screenplay were certainly needed. Harold Becker's Direction, however, is excellent. He captures each scene with a sense of paranoia.

'The Onion Field' is packed with Strong Performances. James Woods is simply astonishing as the bad-guy. Woods has delivered many remarkable performances all through his career, but his performance in here is amongst his finest. John Savage is masterfully restrained. Franklyn Seales excels. Ted Danson is fantastic.

On the whole, 'The Onion Field' is flawed, but fine acting saves it.