Directed by:
Sam PeckinpahCinematography:
Lucien BallardComposer:
Jerry FieldingCast:
William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Alfonso Arau, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Albert Dekker, Bo Hopkins (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Outlaws on the Mexican-U.S. frontier face the march of progress, the Mexican army and a gang of bounty hunters led by a former member while they plan a robbery of a U.S. army train. No one is innocent in this gritty tale of desperation against changing times. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
A bloody masterpiece with several powerful scenes. In my opinion, stealing the weapons from the train is slightly better than simply a destructive finale. The setting, shortly before the outbreak of the world war, gives it the necessary feeling of the end of the Wild West as we know it, and the beginning of a new era.
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It's a good western, no question about it. It's incredibly bloody, incredibly action-packed, and incredibly gritty, but I simply found that I prefer Sergio Leone and his approach to the Western genre. The Italian is more American, more emotional, and more Western than the Americans themselves. Here, a large part of it is also influenced by the Mexican setting, where much of the film takes place. But as I say, it's a great Western, I just didn't connect with it as much as Once Upon a Time in the West.
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Plenty of dead civilians as an inevitable part of a harsh life; men who only use the word "law" when it suits them; a woman as a symbol of a man's mere distraction... Sam Peckinpah had balls like no other director before or since, and the male superiority simply oozes out of his films. Yet it is a superiority that's honest, uncompromising, and harsh at the same time. This ensures that it can only be seen as an expression of an unmistakable creative genius, one that puts an almost mystical equivalence between the words violence and art and expands the film western to indescribable greatness.
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It is a bit paradoxical that the only film in Sam Peckinpah's filmography that I have a major problem with is the one that definitively captured the attention of film critics and audience interest. The Wild Bunch once fascinated people with its bloody violence (according to comments on FilmBooster, it still captivates many today, even though the standards have shifted and we are much more desensitized). Journalists tended to consider Peckinpah's film an artistic reflection of the Vietnam War or the rise of violent crime in American cities. Peckinpah, however, rejected one of the important genre rules. A classic western usually works with polarized black-and-white characters, where the positive hero faces villains. In The Wild Bunch, you will find exclusively more or less dirty characters, mostly driven by base motives. The director justified the behavior of his characters with instincts and animality, but this explanation lacks logic. Instincts have their own laws, and they function based on the need for defense, reproduction, acquiring food, and so on. The outbursts of violence in The Wild Bunch defy logical explanation. It is not about the film hero knowing less than the viewer and having only a fraction of the time for crucial decisions. The aggression in the film is actually built on effect, and the characters' decision-making is contrary to their interests and often even natural instincts. At the same time, I was disturbed by the use of humorous relieving elements. The film is strangely inconsistent in its pace, mood, and expressive means. On the other hand, Peckinpah is undoubtedly strong in his visual style with the slow motion technique and careful editing. Moreover, he utilizes the traditional advantages of westerns, expertly enchanting with panoramic shots of the beautiful and wild landscapes of the American Southwest. But sadly, this one won't be getting more than 2 stars from me. Overall impression: 45%.
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I'm afraid my expectations were too high after reading other people's reviews. One thing is clear, the movie is much grittier and rawer compared to classic Westerns; traditional gun duels cannot compete with these wild explosions of violence. However, if I put aside the opening and final scenes, all that was left in the extensive middle was a train robbery. The part where they traveled from the place of the previous massacre to the place of the future one was quite time-consuming, and there was only a limited amount of action in it. It dragged on for me, and similarly divided plots in contemporary Westerns are often the main reason for my decreased satisfaction. It's a shame because I enjoyed the movie otherwise. It's quite possible that it's just me, as the majority opinion disagrees with me. Well, I can't do much about how I perceive things, so I'll conclude by saying that if I hadn't been somewhat bored in the middle of the film, I would have given it at least four stars. / Lesson learned: A machine gun with unlimited ammunition is every shooter's dream.
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