---
title: "Point Blank: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/point-blank/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/point-blank"
critics_score: 76
critics_reviews: 8
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Point Blank (1967): what the critics said

Critics' score 76 from 8 reviews: 7 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to Point Blank, with praise clustering around Boorman’s unconventional visual style and fractured storytelling. The reviews repeatedly describe a disorienting, dreamlike crime film whose menace comes as much from disrupted memory and narrative as from its revenge plot. The Guardian singles out the way past violence haunts the story’s forward movement, while Empire and Film Comment emphasise Lee Marvin’s performance as an anchor for the film’s strangeness.

The differences are chiefly matters of emphasis and enthusiasm: some reviews celebrate the visual experimentation, while others concentrate on the force of the crime story or its elusive quality. There is little documented disagreement about particular weaknesses, and the available assessments range from measured approval to strong praise. The lowest-scored entry has no accessible review text, so it cannot support a specific reservation or establish a clear dissenting position.

## Evening Standard — The Standard

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2013. 

The critic calls it Boorman’s best film and a landmark thriller. They praise its brilliant cinematography and experimental approach to crime, punishment and revenge.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/point-blank-film-review-8553139.html)

## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager

Rating 4/5. 13 April 2026. 

Schager praises the film as a bleak, inventive noir masterpiece and calls the Criterion release generously supplemented. He singles out Boorman’s unconventional visual style and disorienting narrative for creating a powerful atmosphere of alienation.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/point-blank-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-john-boorman/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2013. 

Bradshaw finds the film an angular, disorienting thriller whose strange menace and cool intrigue endure. He singles out its treatment of memory, with past violence haunting the forward-driving revenge plot.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/mar/28/point-blank-review)

## Time Out — Tom Huddleston

Rating 4/5. 25 March 2013. 

The review gives the film four out of five stars and describes it as a slippery beast. It singles out the film’s elusive quality as its defining feature.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/point-blank-1)

## Sight and Sound

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 

The capsule is positive about the film’s modernist, dreamlike approach. It singles out Boorman’s fragmented landscape and narrative as especially effective.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/99d8045d-6dd8-55ec-bebb-c5a6816f651c/point-blank)

## Empire — Clark Collis

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2012. 

The review is positive, presenting the film as a stylish, hard-hitting crime story. It singles out Lee Marvin’s exceptional performance as the source of its force.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/point-blank-2-review/)

## Film Comment — Mark Harris

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 

Harris presents Boorman’s debut as a distinctive, Antonioni-inflected film. He singles out Lee Marvin’s gravitas as its anchor.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/cinema-67-revisited-point-blank/)

## The New York Times — Fred Cavaye

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 29 July 2011. 

The accessible page provides no review text, so its verdict cannot be established. No praise or criticism can be verified from the supplied page.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/movies/point-blank-by-fred-cavaye-review.html)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/point-blank.md