In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision.
Comment
01/26/06
The Wild Bunch (1969)
97 %
Reviews Counted: 35 Fresh: 34 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.8/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 59 mins
Synopsis: As a counterpoint to the heroic horde of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, the aging gunmen of Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece break the very laws of honor which bind them in this bloody and meditative tale of the American West--widely considered to be the self-conscious nail in the coffin of the genre.... [More]
Genre: Westerns
Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Jaime Sanchez
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Producer: Phil Feldman
Screenwriter: Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah
Story: Roy N. Sickner
Composer: Jerry Fielding
Producer: Phil Feldman
Screenwriter: Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah
Story: Roy N. Sickner
Composer: Jerry Fielding
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
07/04/08
...a landmark Western and a good, thoughtful, rousing adventure besides.
10/11/07
Film at 145 minutes is far over-length, and should be tightened extensively, particularly in first half.
06/26/07
Top Critic
The on-screen carnage established a new level in American movies, but few of the films that followed in its wake could duplicate Peckinpah's depth of feeling.
06/26/07
Peckinpah's masterpiece, which is replete with poetic and violent imagery, demystifies the Old American West where no group (outlaws, railroaders, businessmen) is spared critical scrutiny. A highlight of the Western genre, it's one of 1969's best films.
12/20/06
the sign of change in the old formula, the advancement of technology and time in a genre that brutally snuffed both
10/23/05
The Wild Bunch takes the basic elements of the Western movie myth, which once defined a simple, morally comprehensible world, and by bending them turns them into symbols of futility and aimless corruption.
05/20/03
Top Critic
The film does not highlight genre traits, and replaces them with a violence unparalleled in the genre’s other entries; it is Sam Peckinpah’s trademark punch, and The Wild Bunch is his showcase.
04/10/03
Time may have diminished the film's shock value, but time hasn't faded The Wild Bunch's immense appeal.
11/07/02
Peckinpah tells intense tales of male bonding, where honor and loyalty are the codes to follow, even if it means a bloody end. When paired with the mythology of the Western, it adds up to a fascinating movie.
09/10/02
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