The Wild Bunch (1969)

the leading man is my tpye

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The Wild Bunch is not only one of the best westerns ever made, but is easily one of the best films ever made. Hands down. This is Sam Pecinpah's masterpiece that was very controversial at the time of its release for its shedding of western clichés or conventions and for violence. As far as violence goes there was already Bonnie And Clyde, but The Wild Bunch far surpasses Bonnie And Clyde and to this day, is the most violent western I have ever seen. The Wild Bunch more than delivers on bloody action and I am sure audiences nearly lost their lunch as violence had never been portrayed so graphically or realistically before. The film is about violence and that is the world that our main characters are part of as outlaws in the early 1910's. While the violence/slow mo blood splattering is a lot of what the film is about, this is a very well written, directed and acted film with great dialouge, exceptional camera-work and a great score by Jerry Fielding. The characters are interesting and complex, with layers and quirks. Performances are the best of the best and the actors had exceptional chemistry. With a brilliant cast of William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson and others you really can't miss. However, even the lesser characters are interesting and have a lot to do. In my mind, The Wild Bunch is a flawless masterpiece and if this is a film you can't appreciate, you have poor taste.

"You've got 30 days to get Pike or 30 days back to Yuma, you're my judas goat Mr. Thornton."Sam Peckinpah's classic 1969 Revisionist-Western "The Wild Bunch" is a true masterpiece of film-making and has long ranked as one of the all-time best films of the genre (and I don't even like Westerns, much) and nearly 50 years since it's release, it has aged remarkably well. I find this movie to be beautiful in many ways and I'll tell you why..... part of me is actually hoping that you'll disagree with me.Peckinpah assembled the perfect cast for this picture, a partial list being: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Edmund O'Brien, Ben Johnson, Albert Dekker and Bo Hopkins all of which (with the exception of Hopkins) were seasoned actors and terrifically effective in their respective roles. Filmed almost entirely on location in the deserts of Mexico, the movie comes across as a very gritty one, "earthy" you might say. Sam Peckinpah, ever the colorful one, reportedly (and quite backhandedly I'm sure) cast actual Mexican whores to be in his movie and it's just those types of touches that lends a certain authenticity to this marvelously well-realized film; an authenticity that many Westerns often tend to lack. Set in the year 1913 or so, the so-called Wild West was soon to be at an end and The Wild Bunch depicts all of that on a grand and epic scale. In addition to that, it's plot also happens to be intertwined with the Mexican Revolution - with extremely colorful results. And on that note my fellow gringo's - beware the dastardly Mapache! Beware the general's wrath and deceit.Epic in every sense and clocking in at well over two hours, this film boasts several spectacularly-staged action sequences (that were truly pioneering in their day) of which most, if not all, involve "guys on horses" all taking turns shooting at each other. Nothing remotely inventive or original about that, but in terms of the filming and editing of the action, it was cutting-edge for it's time and has proved to be highly influential for many film-makers thereafter. In short The Wild Bunch is a beautifully filmed and intricately edited piece of cinema that artfully depicts a gritty, violent world filled with desperado's on horseback, out raisin' hell, drinking whiskey, "bedding down with whores" and all other sinfully salacious clichés of the Wild West. Throughout the course of the film you'll witness many betwixt events, always rife with violence and/or treachery, continuously unfolding, seamlessly forming together to create a unique and striking film.Of particular note is the movie's beginning and ending, as it opens and closes with some amazingly vivid action set pieces, that again for their time where "something new" and pioneering in their day. "The Battle of the Bloody Porch" is what you're treated to as the films blood-drenched finale and it's ultimate climax: The Bunch, surrounded in the general's fortress, with the odd's being: 5 vs 200. The level of blood-soaked mayhem that "Bloody Sam" and company achieved in this exceptionally lurid sequence - simply set it apart from anything that had come before it. Shot by no fewer than six camera's, all moving at different frame-rate's, the battle of the bloody porch strikes it's viewers with a hellish fury of hot lead, geysers of blood, explosions and bombast, splintering wood and hot shrapnel and very much in the heat combat - a lot of YELLING..... which eventually grows deathly silent. Indeed, Sam Peckinpah and his crew brought this climatic scene to life with a superlative level excellence and excitement, though that pretty much sums up the movie as a whole. Special mention of the performances of William Holden and Ernest Borgnine must be made, they are the leaders of The Bunch and it's largely because of their great acting that the movie, as violent and as turbulent as it is, always seems to keep on an even keel, this is chiefly due to their unfailing leadership and level-headedness no matter how heated the situation may get. And I'm pretty comfortable in assuming that The Wild Bunch is easily the best film either Holden or Borgenine were ever involved with. Western's simply don't get any more colorful (that word is ever apt when describing The Wild Bunch) and entertaining than this and despite being nearly two and half hours long, that doesn't seem to hinder it's replay value in the least.Met with highly mixed reviews upon it's initial release in the summer of 1969, apparently to a very gentile crowd, back when viewers weren't yet calloused and desensitized to rampant on-screen violence. One gets the sense that The Wild Bunch has still, as of yet, to reach the level of universal praise and appreciation it definitely deserves. That being said this remarkable film has been a part of the Nation Film Registry since 1999, so evidently more than a few of us dig it. Plaudit's must be lauded to the The Bunch!In conclusion: A brilliant western and almost as good as Serio Leone's Man With No Name series, almost; ultimately I think the key reason WHY it's only "almost as good" is simply this film lacks that Eastwoodian bad-ass-ness. It's scary to think how awesome Eastwood and Peckinpah could have been together, but it never happened.

Like a Western version of "The Lord of the Rings" without a catalog of place names, the characters in this film travel, travel, travel, sandwiched between two epic Peckinpah gun battles. The motive for the final gun battle seems contrived--characters probably would not behave similarly in reality--so it comes off as nothing more than gratuitous violence.The film contains long stretches with no dialog. That's not necessarily a problem. However, when dialog does occur, it lacks acuity. Standard, stereotypical dialog for a Western. In Peckinpah fashion, the dialog mainly serves to give a mild sense of brutality or offensiveness (e.g. "Damn gringos").Does the film warrant a 2:24 run time? Depends upon the type of experience that a viewer wants. If a viewer prefers compact storytelling, lots of scenes should have hit the editing room floor. If a viewer prefers the full ambiance of traveling three days by horse, the original length satisfies.What's not unique? Standard, stereotypical events for a Western* Drinking and dancing around a campfire * Whores in a hotel room * Brief glimpses of redeeming qualities in bad guysWhat's unique? Everyday sights that are usually expunged from formulaic Westerns* Children in many scenes (they tend to look bored). A simplistic technique to accentuate the roughness of criminals and bounty hunters via contrast. * Breast-feeding Mexican woman who wears a bandoleer * Extended portrayal of Mexico. Lots of Spanish dialog; viewers might want a thorough English subtitles file to achieve the fullest comprehension.

This is certainly not a TV movie; and, it is certainly not for those who fear the sight of blood. In other words, it's not "The Apple Dumpling Gang!"This is a no-nonsense, shoot-em-up, hardcore western about a gang of bank and train robbers called "The Wild Bunch" who make outlaws in most other movies look like "The Brady Bunch." It was the first movie of its kind in this genre, and, many movie-goers were shocked and/or amazed when they saw this for the first time. I know I was!Directed by the ultra-violent ex-US Marine, Sam Peckinpah; and, with an all-star cast lead by veteran actors William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, and, Robert Ryan; this movie is 'still' held in very high regards by both directors and actors of today...as well as lovers of westerns, crime-dramas, and, high-adrenaline action flix. I've never met any guy who didn't like this. It will never lose its luster!I read that the DVD includes all or most (can't remember which) of the edited footage that wasn't in the original release.If you like westerns-with-a-kick like "The Long Riders" (1980) (directed by Sam Peckinpah's protégé, Walter Hill);" or, crime-dramas like "The Getaway" (1972) (directed by Sam Peckinpah) - you'll like this movie!