उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

Peckinpah has a rep and this is the film which provided most of it. I had the privilege of actually seeing this on the big screen once, in the late seventies. As the beginning credits end, Pike (Holden) tells his bunch "If they move, Kill 'em!" Then Peckinpah's credit appears. A woman seated behind me gasped, whispering "oh, no..." Oh, my. It sounded like the lady didn't know she'd wandered into a Peckinpah film and she knew what she was in for. When you enter Peckinpah-land, you need to be prepared. There are no punches pulled, no sidestepping the unpleasant aspects of life. Peckinpah's characters are tough men; I mean, really tough, not phony-Hollywood tough. In this case, they are coarsened by what seems to be years on the trail, blasted by the sun, snapped at by rattlesnakes, and harassed by bandits. And at this point, they've pretty much had it.

Not that they're complaining, mind you. They've lived their lives how they saw fit, this bunch, and they make no apologies for any of it. I believe the actual year is around 1913, just before World War I begins. Most of the action takes place in Mexico, where the Bunch becomes involved with a local general (Fernandez) with the usual delusions of grandeur. If you go by the name of the character Angel, the general can be viewed as a version of the devil. That would make the Bunch avenging angels at the end. But heroes? No, not at all. They have their own code, they know instinctively they're stronger together than on each own, but they reason this concept out also - Peckinpah wants to make sure it's clear these are not unthinking savages. They're just men, who've reached a point in history where they must make a crucial turn. History, it seems, has no real use for them anymore. It's quite simple - they either fade slowly or go out quickly. In a film such as this, with its now insurmountable rep, you tend to wait for those big set pieces, especially the climactic battle. Wait for it, wait for it... here it is. Bam! - you're in Peckinpah territory. You're a part of history.

"The Wild Bunch" is one of those movies people don't agree on, even those that agree it's great. It's definitely complex, entertaining in a disturbing way, and manages to be at once nihilistic and moralistic, not an easy trick, especially for a cowboy film.

The first problem we have to deal with when watching this film is the fact there's very quickly a gunfight going on and, against all movie convention, no one to root for. There's an all-star cast on one side, including William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson, and Warren Oates, but against all expectation, they turn out to be a pretty black crew. About the first thing out of Holden's mouth, said about a cowed group of innocents, is "If they move, kill 'em," and before the battle is over, we've seen him and his team commit all sorts of savagery. About the only reason we don't immediately see them as evil is that the people they battle are no better.

Over time, we are encouraged to find something of value in Holden's Pike Bishop and his ruthless confederates, as they ride away, lick their wounds, and try to figure out how to get something else going, anything. The only problem is its 1913 and these outlaws are running out of time and options. "I'd like to make one good score and back off," is how Pike says it, to which Borgnine's faithful buddy Dutch exclaims: "Back off to what?!"

Chasing the bunch, and offering the viewer the film's one sympathetic character, is Robert Ryan as Deke Thornton, a former partner of Pike's who doesn't want to go back to jail and for whom killing the bunch is the one unpleasant means of securing his freedom. Ryan, who died in 1973, is probably not as recognizable as the other leads today, but he lends a sad, elegiac presence to his on-screen moments that give the film much of its grace and warmth.

The final star is director Sam Peckinpah, who made a truly revolutionary film that not only pushed the art of film forward but holds up today as a cinematic experience. Time has been kind to this film in a way it hasn't to other ground-breaking auteur moments from the same era, like "MASH" and "Easy Rider." When "The Wild Bunch" came out just as the 1960s were ending, people were truly shocked by the violence and cruel characters. Today, of course, such things are so common, and so mindlessly celebrated, that we find ourselves admiring what Peckinpah does for the surprisingly subtle and restrained way he goes about presenting us with mayhem and carnage, and his refusal to glorify it, however exciting and entertaining the overall package.

Surprisingly for a director who had trouble getting work at the time, Peckinpah landed three Oscar winners in the cast, and a fourth, Ben Johnson, who'd win his a couple of years later. Obviously, the acting is strong, each player investing his spare lines with the right degree of space and spirit, but it's probably worked even better that the movie game in 1969 was in the process of passing the fuddy-duddy likes of Holden, Borgnine, and Edmond O'Brien behind. This makes them very believable as a group of hard-nosed has-beens. In that light, it's kind of cool how hip this film so quickly became when it was released.

It's such a good film it's easy to overlook minor weaknesses. There's a nice bit of symbolism in the beginning, now famous, where the gang rides past a group of children tormenting scorpions and ants, but the point, once made, is beaten into the ground. There are some bits of convenience that stick out, like when a gunned-down outlaw rises and mows down his attackers with a few too-precise shotgun blasts. The general dislikeability of just about everything and everybody does feel a bit of a weight after a couple of viewings.

But what's great is just awesome, especially that opening sequence and the final showdown at Bloody Porch. Such terrific punch-drunk ambiance, it's almost a shame to watch it sober. The feeling of a new era coming upon us, which we see in everything from the doughboy uniforms at the outset to the car General Mapache rides around in, is redoubled by the glorious splendor, even clarity of this picture. Is it too much to praise a movie for the quality of the film stock itself? This is a paradox film, one about obsolescence and growing old that remains startling new-looking and fresh 35 years on.

Outlaws led by Pike Bishop on the Mexican/U.S. frontier face not only the passing of time, but bounty hunters (led by former partner of Pike, Deke Thornton) and the Mexican army as well.

In 1969 Sam Peckinpah picked up the torch that Arthur Penn lit with 1967's "Bonnie & Clyde", and literally poured gasoline on it to impact on cinema to the point that the shock wave is still being felt today. The death of the "Motion Picture Production Code" in 1967 ushered in a new era for cinema goers, it was a time for brave and intelligent directors to step up to the plate to deliver stark and emotive thunder, and with "The Wild Bunch", director Sam Peckinpah achieved this by the shed load.

The Wild Bunch doesn't set out to be liked, it is a harsh eye opening perception of the Western genre, this is the other side of the coin to the millions of Westerns that whoop and holler as the hero gets the girl and rides off into the sunset. Peckinpah's piece is thematically harsh and sad for the protagonists, for these are men out of their time, this is a despicable group of men, driven by greed and cynicism, they think of nothing to selling arms to a vile amoral army across the border.

The film opens with a glorious credit sequence as we witness "The Bunch" riding into town, the picture freeze frames in black & white for each credit offering, from here on in we know that we are to witness something different, and yes, something very special. The film is book-ended by ferocious bloody carnage, and sandwiched in the middle is an equally brilliant train robbery and a slow-mo bridge destruction of high quality. Yet the impact of these sequences are only enhanced because the quality of the writing is so good (Walon Green and Roy N. Sickner alongside Peckinpah).

There's no pointless discussions or scene filling explanations of the obvious. Each passage, in each segment, is thought through to gain credibility for the shattering and bloody climax. There is of course one massive and intriguing question that hangs over the film - just how did Peckinpah make such low moral men appear as heroes, as the "four outlaws of the apocalypse" stroll into town, their fate to them already known?. Well I'm not here to tell you that because you need to witness the film in its entirety for yourself. But it's merely one cheeky point of note in a truly majestic piece of work. A film that even today stands up as one of the greatest American films ever made. 10/10

Probably one of the most controversial films ever made, the Wild Bunch was equally hated and admired upon it's release over 30 years ago. Even today, as proof of it's staying power, it is still widely debated if Sam Peckinpah made a masterpiece or a monstrosity. Personally, I'm of the firm belief that Peckinpah contributed one of the finest American films of the last century.

The chemistry that Peckinpah was able to put on celluloid for this film is brilliant. William Holden and Ernest Borgnine as the leaders of the Bunch, play their roles with conviction and tenacity. Robert Ryan, once an outlaw with Holden, and now forced to hunt him down, portrays the tortured individual caught between an old friendship and the threat of incarceration in a vicious prison. Ben Johnson and Warren Oates are solidly believable as real life brothers as they depict their roles as Tector and Lyle Gorch, and finally Jaime Sanchez rounds out the gang as the fiercely patriotic Mexican, Angel.

Also a Peckinpah movie wouldn't be complete without L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin portraying the cowardly, scheming, body robbing bounty hunters eager for the money on the heads of the Wild Bunch.

This is a film that you can re-visit time and time again and relish the depth of the characters and feel their desperation as the west that they once knew has now become a distant memory.

Apart from the great casting, the tight scripting , exciting stuntwork, wonderful cinematography, gripping dialogue, and first class editing of the gunfights, this movie will be continually looked upon as one of the most important films of American cinema.

See it, enjoy it and experience great movie making!!

This is simply one of the best westerns, maybe overall best films ever made. Peckinpah's best by far. It is one of those films that grabs you by the thoat and doesn't let you go until it is over. Brilliant casting. I would be hard pressed to find someone who could have played Pike's part better than William Holden. But the rest of the cast for the main characters: Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates Ben Johnson, Jaimie Sanchez and Edmund O'Brien are equally effective in their respective roles. Even the secondary actors, namely Strother Martin and LQ Jones are also great as the "gutter trash" bounty hunters Robert Ryan has to lead in chasing down Pike and his band.

This movie deals with aging gunfighters who had outlived their era, and see their "code of conduct" now passe' in the early 20th Century on the eve of World War I. Technology

in the way of cars, planes, and machine guns has rendered living and dying more impersonal than in Pike's et. al day. In some ways, with the end of the millennium at hand and all the vast technological changes, and changes in values, habits, and lifestyles that have taken place, even in the last couple of decades, many of us viewing the picture can sense just a bit of empathy with the main characters... Although this movie is an action film, there is a sort of foreboding throughout the film that the end is near for them. Yet when it occurs it will happen on their terms. One of my favorite scenes is when Pike and Dutch are sitting in their bedrolls by the fire at Angel's village. Pike talks about the railroad man Harrigan and how "some people just can't stand to admit they're wrong... or learn by it!" And then Dutch asks Pike if he believes they had learned anything today, referring to the bloodbath in the opening scene in Starbuck, to which Pike replies "I sure hope to God we did." The movie when released in 1969 received a lot of criticism for the violence, which was indeed unparralelled at that time. But it is relatively tame by today's standards. Moreover, the violence is not gratuitious as we see in so many films today. You see consquences to the violence hence the "death ballet." the two children holding each other during the shootout in the opening scene, and Robert Ryan's agonizing chagrin at carnage in the street and noticing the young children emulating the gunfighters in the street, the dead bodies not yet removed.. A suprising number of people who have seen this film have not seen the Director's Cut which was re-released in 1994. It puts back in many key scenes, which develops Pike and Deke Thorton's past, which is crucial to tying the movie together and making it a brilliant film. Without these scenes, then it makes little or no sense.. Unfortunately, many television stations when showing this film show the "butchered" version........

A 30th Anniversary addition has recently come out that includes a half-hour documentary "The Wild Bunch: A Portait in Montage, " which, made in 1996 received much acclaim, including an Oscar Nomination.. It makes the viewer even more appreciate Peckinpah's brilliant improvisational skill as well as the technical feats, such as the unforgettable Rio Grade river bridge scene.

This film offering may be more geared toward die-hard western fans. You would think that "The Wild Bunch" would be a sure thing with a host of name talent including William Holden and Ernest Bourgnine directed by Sam Peckinpah. But for some reason, I never quite felt brought into this movie. It is certainly watchable but it never pulled me in the way that the Leone/Eastwood spaghetti westerns or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did. To me, the problem did not lay with the brutality of the opening sequence in which townspeople are caught in the cross-fire between the outlaws and the bounty hunters. The problem I had was with the character development and the dialog.

The script, particularly the dialog, comes off too contrived for its own good, often falling into the trap where the characters are constantly "discussing" the situation. The leaders in this movie yell a lot, particularly when they are making some speech concerning morality or motivation which occurs among both the outlaws and the bounty hunters out to get them. It was hard for me to swallow, particularly with William Holden as Pike Bishop, the leader of the outlaws. And the characters also were a little too cookie cutter to believe in them as real people. Some of them seemed they were there to fulfill the western story formula, like the old geezer with enough facial hair to catch a colony of flees, and it does. You know the one, with teeth missing and he has the most hideous high-pitched laugh. Would he really be with this gang of outlaws? One of the outlaws wants to put him out of his misery but Holden prevents him. I didn't buy it for a second. Lee van Cleef would have done him in long before the movie began!

Holden's character is just to too much of a hot-head to believe that he is really the leader of a gang of outlaws. He doesn't really act like an outlaw, more like an over-worked sheriff. I would probably have believed in him more as the head of the bounty hunters than the outlaws. At one point he even says he is "the leader". Leaders would never say that! Such renegade groups usually choose the leader not only because of leadership capabilities but because there is something fearsome and enigmatic about him (or her). The best outlaw leaders, particularly in westerns, engender an air of mystery. They are not privy to instant anger at the drop of a hat. Instead, the most compelling leaders are the ones who are often soft-spoken but incredibly intense, never quite revealing what they're thinking or even who they are, which only enhances the mystery and fear about them, such as Indio in the Spaghetti Western "For a Few Dollars More". Indio is always slightly apart from the other outlaws, almost like a dictator, not easily accessed, which made him all the more fearsome. I never saw any mystery in Holden's character. It's not all his fault as a lot of it has to do with the script. To me, the writing was much better for him in Stalag 17 then in this movie.

The story concerns a group of misfit outlaws who have been doing this for awhile headed by Holden. They're being hunted by a band of bounty hunters that make Lee van Cleef (from the Sergione Spaghetti Westerns) seem like a cultured gentleman. The outlaws flee to Mexico during the time of the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa where the climactic episodes of the film take place. The recurring theme of loyalty vs criminality is maybe applied with a sledge hammer. A decent movie, but, in my opinion, cannot hold a candle to the likes of A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Once Upon a Time in America. Maybe because Leone's movies allowed the story to make its own point. Pekinpah's Wild Bunch seems a little bit too self-conscious to make it seem real.

An incredible performance by Bill Holden is the high point of this sensational, landmark film. Holden made a whole career out of laid-back, easy-going, what-the-hell sort of characters but here, at his zenith, he departs from type and plays a character so mean and so embittered that in some ways he even out-Bronsons Bronson himself.

The Wild Bunch is a group of disillusioned outlaws who are out of time and they know it. When Sykes says that they've got one of those things (a car) up north that can fly, they gloomily accept that this new-fangled 20th Century is not for them.

It is a movie all about values and about a man's loyalty to his companions. Holden brilliantly declares that if you cannot stand by a man who rides with you, you are like some kind of animal. In the end, that is all these hunted men have: their loyalty to each other.

And so they band together for one last walk to try and rescue their doomed Mexican comrade. The bloodbath that follows is an eloquent summary of their lives. They who live by the gun.....

Superb performances by Holden in particular and also by O'Brien, Ryan, Borgnine, Oates and Johnson. Peckinpah's finest hour. Definitely ten out of ten.

A bunch of outlaws wreak mayhem in the American West with the law closely nipping at their heels. William Holden and Ernest Borgnine are the grizzled veterans who lead this pack into trouble and a blaze of glory. Gunshots, dirt, the desert, the Spanish language, saucy Mexican wenches and a lot of blood are to be had in this late Western. Slow-going and nothing essential, the film takes advantage of the freedom of the times with expletives and nudity coming through. As an artifact of an old film tradition you could do worse.

Critics of Sam Peckinpah generally focus on the gore and violence in his films. "The Wild Bunch" will probably not assuage these critics, but the violence is not gratuitous. In fact, it is almost perfectly meshed in this story of a group of outlaws held together by some frail and some strong bonds who realize that their era - and probably their lives - are almost at an end. The story also deals with a man (Robert Ryan) who was wounded and forced out of the gang, and who must now capture and kill his friend (William Holden), with no option other than to succeed. This film is also about loyalty, choice and honor, and is carried by surprisingly strong acting and writing. Yes the violence is on a large scale (which seems to be commonplace for films portraying the Mexican Revolution), but it is completely in place with these characters and the era in which they live. This is not always a pleasant film to watch, but it is very rewarding, and may be the best film Peckinpah made.

I'm certainly in the minority in not really liking this film. It is in the AFI's Top 100 list at #80. Why? The editing and color make it appealing to the eye, and the brutal violence was shocking for the time (due to Hays code being lifted in 1968). I can see why others find it fascinating. Just not me. I really like William Holden, Ernie Borg-9 (that's how he signed an autograph for me), and slow drawlin' Ben Johnson. But their talents were wasted. I kept getting the impression that Holden was trying to make the best of poor lines, and doing poorly. I usually don't like Robert Ryan, but he was almost likable. I wish he'd a shot the "gutter trash" early in the movie. If I had a gun, I'd a got Mr. "Black Liar" while he was happily running from corpse to corpse claiming guns, boots and other loots.

Throughout the movie, I struggled to figure out what was going on and why. Why are they together? Why are they being pursued by the "gutter trash"? Why don't they mourn their own dead? Why are they in this town? How can they stay put for so long without Thornton catching up, yet when their out in the brush, Thornton's right on their trail? Ugh. I could go on... I've heard there is a version of this film with scenes deleted. I must have seen this version.

I'm a huge fan of classic films. I find many movies made these days are splashy, flashy, "fresh", edgy, action-packed, and a big waste of 2 hrs. The Wild Bunch reminds me of a movie made these days, lots of flash and "style", but no substance, coherence, continuity, or reasonableness.

If you want to see a high quality Western, try "Once Upon a Time in the West". If you want to see Holden's best, watch "Stalag 17". Rating 5/10

I got this movie on DVD at the suggestion of my brother. I admit to knowing nothing about it's director and a complete lack of familiarity with most of it's actors or the mythology behind it's production (I was born years after it was made). I can, however, safely say this: this is one of the greatest movies ever made. Every aspect of the film is flawless, from the acting to the cinematography to the script.

This is also the most truly macho of all macho movies. It's not cartoonish machismo, rather it's the kind of machismo you see in drywall hangers: no-nonsense comments like "We're after men" and "Let's go" predominate, the men don't swagger around and violence is approached (fairly) honestly. The reserved dialogue and physicality reminds me of "Seven Samaurai" (to which this film owes a great deal). To me, that is the highest praise that I can give a movie.

The photography is amazing: the desert looks sweltering and parched, the close-ups of actor's faces outdoes Sergio Leone and the action is probably the best ever filmed. Scorcese and Tarantino obviously owe a lot to Peckinpaw. The scene during the opening credits of "Reservoir Dogs" is a direct lift from this movie, just to cite one of countless examples.

The acting is on par with the direction. Robert Ryan steals the show and, c'mon, who doesn't love Ernest?

Some would poo-poo the films treatment of women, and I am not going to get involved in that debate. Just go see it because, like the best movies, it immerses you in a time and place. Smell the sage!

1913, nine men who came too late and stayed too long . This is the story about some men making their last stand . At the beginning , the wild bunch holds up a bank of Texas , but it goes wrong . The misfit group is formed by Dutch (Ernest Borgnine) , the Gorch brothers (Ben Johnson, Warren Oates) , Angel (Jaime Sanchez) , Sykes (Edmond O'Brien) and commanded by Pike (William Holden) . After that , they go to Mexican territory , being pursued by Thorton (Robert Ryan) and his ragtag band (Peckinpah's usual : Strother Martin and L. Q. Jones) . At the ending the Wild Bunch makes their last stand against a cruel Mexican general (Emilio Fernandez).

This excellent Western packs lots of action , shootouts, and explosive violence . Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and spectacular bloodletting filmed in slow moving . Rich in texture and including intelligent screenplay full of incredibly lyrics scenes by Peckinpah and Roy Sickner , also producer . Vibrant as well as brilliant all-star-cast displays exceptional performances . Holden and Ryan are perfect as the older gunfighters with their own ethic codes . Furthermore , good secondaries as Bo Hopkins , Albert Dekker , L.Q Jones and Strother Martin gives one of the best performances . Colorful cinematography filmed in Mexico by Lucien Ballard in Technicolor and Panavision . Spectacular and sensitive musical score by Jerry Fielding , including Mexican popular song titled 'Golondrina' that is emotively sung when the bunch comes out of the Mexican village . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Sam Peckinpah , creating a true classic . Restored and reissued various times with diverse running . The Wild Bunch is a real must see for fans of the genre .

The "old" West was changing, and director Sam Peckinpah recognized those changing times. By 1969, Sergio Leone and his "Spaghetti" westerns were the real deal, but when Peckinpah brought forth his film, "The Wild Bunch," that same year, it ushered in a whole new wave of films as its vision was simply landmark. Building on the violent stylistic template and chic of "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), "The Wild Bunch" begins and ends with two of the bloodiest screen battles ever envisioned, and it tells the story of an aging group of outlaws, led by William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, as they attempt one last score, with Robert Ryan as an ex-Wild Bunch member in hot pursuit. They become involved with Mexican rebels and from that point on, we get an engaging story as the outlaws party with the Mexican army, their hookers, and their alcohol - all of this leading up to the notorious ending where the Wild Bunch man their guns and duke-it-out with their enemies. "The Wild Bunch" has obtained a notorious reputation for being one of the most violent movies ever made and is credited for being the movie that changed the way we looked at the "old" West and action cinema in general. Sam Peckinpah was a true revolutionary during a time when America was not so innocent, as proved by "Bonnie and Clyde" two years before it.

10/10

Flawless, powerful, fantastic, this piece of jewellery is the turn of the western history, the transition movie between the old western, and the new one; the link between the American and Spaghetti western. There is a before WILD BUNCH and an after WILD BUNCH. So many directors have been inspired by this terrific piece of work, the best of Peckinpah and also not the most amputated, unlike MAJOR DUNDEE or PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID. Characters are so poignant, fightng in a combat lost in advance, in this so magnificently filmed and edited gold nugget. I don't even speak of the climax, the most brutal gunfight ever filmed in the movie history, so brilliant, jawdropping sequence, where the audiences are stuck to their seats, grabbed to their armrests watching those fantastic characters at last fighting their gloomy, tragic fate. We suffer for them, we nearly weep for them, that's precisely the strength of this unavoidable movie. Among the best western ever made.

Bookended by two of the rootingest-tootingest blood and guts shoot-outs you might see in a Western, Sam Peckinoah's revisionist movie is otherwise a story about men out of time, raging against the dying of the light. Set on the eve of the first world war, which explains the presence of gun-running high-ranking German militia, against the backdrop of revolutionary Mexico at the time of Psncho Villa, but encountering for the first time modern contraptions such as a motor car and machine-gun, William Holden's motley cowboy outfit attempts one last heist near the Mexican border, but have to escape over it when the job turns out to be a trap orchestrated by ex-compadre Robert Ryan, who Holden double-crossed once before. Unfortunately for Ryan his posse is the cowboy equivalent of the Keystone Cops, making his U.S. sponsored mission often seen like the blind leading the blind-crazy.

Things head even further south for the bunch when they run into a tin-pot Mexican general and his moveable feast of ragbag soldiers and it would seem traveling women, the latter there it seems to fulfil one purpose only, which test their in-house loyalties and unsurprisingly ends up in an all-time blazing climactic shoot-out where it's fair to say not many get out alive.

Those two action sequences, brilliantly choreographed, if that's the right word, for me however, somewhat overshadowed the rest of the film. While Holden, Ryan and Ernest Borgnine as the three main leads all put in fine performances, I wasn't quite won over by their characters' motivations. I also didn't appreciate the cavalier and blatantly sexist way women were depicted in the movie either.

So while there was much to admire, I have to confess I found little to love in this pumped-up, genre-defining or should that be genre-defying western.

After the bitter experience that was to make "Major Dundee" in 1965, director Sam Peckinpah spent years without working on any theatrical film (although he did made a small TV movie in 1966), disenchanted with the studio actions over the film he thought was going to be his masterpiece. Fortunately, the years in silence payed off when in 1969, Peckinpah returned to film-making with a vengeance in the form of a film that would change the face of the Western genre for ever: "The Wild Bunch". Peckinpah was not a stranger to the genre, as he had directed several Western TV series and also already had a classic in his resumé ("Ride the High Country", which in many ways predates the themes of "The Wild Bunch"); but it was with "The Wild Bunch" when he finally started a new stage for American Western movies, after the revolution that the Spaghetti Westerns meant in the mid part of the 60s.

Set in 1917, "The Wild Bunch" is the story of an aging gang of outlaws and their attempts to make a final big score before retiring. Led by Pike (William Holden) and Dutch (Ernest Borgnine), the Bunch attempts to rob a bank in Texas where a vast amount of money is supposed to be kept. After the robbery becomes a savage massacre, only five members of the group manage to escape to Mexico: Pike, Dutch, the Gorch brothers (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson) and the Mexican Ángel (Jaime Sánchez). With their hopes broken after the failed robbery, Pike's gang decides to work for General Mapache (Emilio Fernández), a Mexican general who hires them to steal a shipment of U.S. military equipment in order to have the upper hand in the Mexican Revolution. Without nothing to lose, and knowing that they are being followed after the shootout in Texas, the Bunch prepares for a last ride.

Based on a story by Walon Green and Roy N. Sickner, the movie follows the themes that Peckinpah had already explored in his previous two films: aging outlaws facing change, the end of the Wild West, and most importantly, honor between friends. With a script written by Peckinpah and Green, the film is an epic story that, like Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West", deals with the arrival of civilization, the final taming of the West and the effects this had in the persons that made it what it was. However, unlike Leone's epic, "The Wild Bunch" gives special importance to the characters and the relationships between them. Not only every member of the Bunch is explored, but also the men pursuing them, and a lot of accurate background is given to the Mexican Revolution and their fighters. It's remarkable the way that the characters are written, in the sense that more than protagonists they become almost like living persons that one can easily sympathize with.

Peckinpah once again proves that this was his favorite genre by making one of the most beautiful Westerns ever made. With an excellent use of slow-motion and a cinematography that shows the influence of Italian films, Peckinpah creates an opera of violence that fits perfectly the epic tone of the story. His care for realism and obvious respect for the many cultures present in his film sets the tone for what in the future would be called "revisionist Westerns". As he did previously in "Ride the High Country", Peckinpah focuses on the themes of redemption and adaptation to change, and his use of the 20th Century's modern machinery to imply change is considered one of "The Wild Bunch"'s main icons. The influence of this film in modern action films has probably been covered many times in other reviews, so I'll only state the obvious: it's enormous.

The cast of the film is simply perfect, all giving a terrific performance and making the most of their characters. Story says that many big names were considered before William Holden, but honestly I can't see anyone delivering a better performance than him as Pike Bishop, the Bunch's leader. Ernest Borgnine as the complex Dutch Engstrom probably gave his best performance in this movie too, and makes an excellent counterpart to Holden's troubled character. Personally, I find Robert Ryan to be the highlight of the film, even when his character has very few screen time, he probably symbolizes the best what Peckinpah had in mind in this film. Finally, the performances by Oates, O'Brien, Johnson and Sánchez as the rest of the bunch are definitely excellent. Legendary directors Emilio Fernández and Chano Urueta appear in small roles, but both deliver unforgettable performances.

Many words have been written about the visual violence of this movie and its influence in future films, but personally, what makes "The Wild Bunch" a unique Western, is the high quality of the script it has. Many films have quotable phrases or one-liners, but the brilliantly written dialogs of this movie have a power akin to the best works of literature, as often there is a deep meaning in every line and every scene. Peckinpah is very honest in his portrayal of the dying American West, and is not afraid of showing both the good and bad sides of the human soul. Like in spaghetti Westerns, there is not a defined "good" or "evil", but Peckinpah goes beyond the Italian films and completely demythologizes the concept of "heroes" and "villians", keeping his characters simply as "humans".

It's certainly grim and nihilistic at first sight, but few films capture the concepts of true friendship and loyalty like this movie does. The Western genre is often misunderstood a simple stories of cowboys and Indians; but "The Wild Bunch" proves that there is more than that in the genre. With the possible exception of "Straw Dogs", Peckinpah never get the chance to make a movie the way he wanted after this classic, so "The Wild Bunch" proudly stands as the masterpiece of the rebel director. 10/10.

For some people who aren't familiar with his work, the name of Sam Peckinpah remains associated with two films: The Wild Bunch (1969) and Straw Dogs (1971). These two pieces of world are linked with a feature that became a trademark in Peckinpah's cinema: violence. The filmmaker who signed remarkable westerns prior to the 1969 film always contended about The Wild Bunch that violence was the inevitable consequence of a world about to collapse. Although, it is usually revered as one of the most important westerns ever made, I do not think it's a work on a par with other unforgettable westerns made by Anthony Mann or John Ford.

Numerous elements that pigeonhole "The Wild Bunch" as a pessimistic western are here. William Holden and his gang appear to be jaded men who only want to call it a day. They have a strong tendency for alcohol and prostitutes. Even if they are linked by a strong friendship, they are conscious they have no place to go or to be in a changing world: see the sequences with the car. Furthermore, the machine guns they have to snatch was just being invented. Without mentioning, of course, the famous opening sequence with the children playing cruelly with the scorpions being eaten by ants.

So, why is The Wild Bunch ultimately underwhelming? Because if Peckinpah had focused and tightened all the aforementioned features instead of letting his taste for gratuitous violence explode, the result would have been much more palatable. Besides, the only real violent sequences are located at the beginning and at the end of this overlong film. The massacres end up looking like slaughters and they are superfluous filler with the rest of the film. Filming men being killed with massive amounts of blood in slow motion doesn't help matters. Claude Chabrol who sadly died three months ago said about it that it was an example of hateful violence.

Between these two would-be pivotal sequences, the film loses its "raison d'etre" dealing with violence if we can put it this way. The action is often sluggish and the events aren't worth a good storytelling. And Robert Ryan's gang is particularly hateful.

If you want blood, Peckinpah's film has got it. And as for me, the omnipresence of violence to epitomize the end of the western genre isn't proof of an artistic success. There are more subtle devices to express it. See Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992).