Based on a true story, The Killing Fields follows several journalists as they cover the war in Cambodia during the early 1970s. The Killing Fields is one of the best war films I've ever seen. It documents the 1970s war in Cambodia without resorting to a sterile retelling or, for the most part, unnecessary sentimentalism. The characters are believable, and the acting is superb. The movie is very compelling, and it helps that the protagonists are constantly having guns aimed in their direction.
Death is in the air.
It is all the more moving since this story is largely based on the writings of Schanberg, a New York Times journalist who really was in Cambodia and really had a friend named Dith Pran. Reality can sometimes mean dull, but this movie is anything but. A more fleshed-out backstory for the journalists would have really added to the interest of the characters. But that aside, the film features terrific performances. What really irks me about this is that Ngor was not a supporting actor in this film, he was the main actor.