For the past few years, I have been interested in Western novels and films and am using the mandated time staying home to watch Westerns I haven't seen before. I am more interested in the earlier Westerns from before the time the genre fell out of favor. But I greatly enjoyed to see this famous "revisionist" Western from 1969, directed by Samuel Peckinpah, "The Wild Bunch", Although still controversial, "The Wild Bunch" is on virtually every list of top Westerns and top films. It is on the National Film Registry selected by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
The film includes a large cast of outstanding, aging actors headed by William Holden as Pike and Ernest Borgnine as Dutch, the leaders of the wild bunch, a small violent, tightly-bonded group of aging outlaws. The film is set in 1913 at the outset of the Great War and opens in a small town in southern Texas, but most of the film takes place in Mexico and was filmed on-site.
The film depicts the tired outlaws at the end of their careers after a life of crime and the rise of a more technologically advanced society with automobiles and dreadful sophisticated weaponry, among other things. The small aging band is looking for its last main chance. After a disaster in Texas it tries its luck in Mexico which is in the middle of its own internal war.
The film is extraordinary in many ways in addition to its realism and its harsh portrait of the West. With all of the this revisionism, it is difficult not to feel for the outlaws with their camaraderie, toughness, and persistence. The acting is convincing throughout, from the gang members through the soldiers and leaders of the Mexican army, to a pursuing posse, and through the many Mexican women. The movie features a train robbery and a blowing-up of a bridge. These are staples of Westerns but they are handled in this movie with unusual tension and depth. The film includes a wonderfully apt musical score. But it is primarily known for its cinematography and for the many innovations it introduced in pacing and scoping.
The film is brutally violent particularly in its opening and closing gunfights, that continues to make many viewers uncomfortable. The level of violence may have been meant as a commentary on the Vietnam War which was raging at the time. I found it fit within the theme of the film and enhanced the view of the West and the story the film had to tell.
This film portrayed a way of life that vanished, for well or ill. With all the brutality and violence of the outlaws, they tried to live honorably among themselves and to have a life of adventure and toughness rather than routine.
I found it a more than rewarding use of my stay-home time to watch this film, which deserves its reputation as a classic.
Robin Friedman
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| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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DVD
November 9, 2010 "Please retry" | — | 1 | $8.53 | $3.54 |
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DVD
January 1, 1969 "Please retry" | Director's Cut | 1 | $4.00 | $1.79 |
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~ The Wild Bunch gets a beautiful treatment on HD ! ~
This is a fabulous western movie and deserves to be in the top 5 of all time for the genre! It's about a gang of thieves going after the Railroad and turns into a small war with the Mexican army as they get out of the states and into Mexico. With the "leader" of the Railroad wanting the "bunch" caught, he hires a band of misfits that include Robert Ryan as their leader. They stop at nothing to catch "Holden" and his "Wild Bunch", even as "Holden's" character tries his very best to elude that of even the US Army, of which they just stole a trainload of weapons to use for trade with the Mexican General. It's a violent movie with lots of shooting and people getting shot. Some "tame" nudity also, and I say tame compared to today's 2016 standards. The "good guy" here is that of Robert Ryan who tries to lead his misfit bunch to stop William Holden and his "Wild Bunch". Huge all star cast for the time period and they are all male actors. I didn't recognize a single woman actress in this picture. I think Sam, the Director, did a great job on this movie and it shows for the most part. For me, there are a few other westerns that are better than this one, "The Magnificent Seven", "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "High Plains Drifter", "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly", "The Searchers", "The Undefeated", "Once Upon A Time in the West", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Just my opinion. There are many, many others that are good as well. This Blu-ray edition looks just beautiful! It has some really good features as well! I have taken a picture of the Blu-ray menu to add to my review. Recommended, but not for kids.
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Top reviews from other countries
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JohnnyReviewed in Germany on September 29, 2006
Kein Spagetti-Western - Und das ist auch gut so!
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GAMESBOSSReviewed in Italy on December 12, 2011
The Wild Bunch - alias - Il mucchio selvaggio
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