The Wild Bunch

Released: June 18, 1969

Studio: Warner Bros.

Genre: western/action

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 11.0 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: ? Worldwide: 35.26

Directing: Sam Peckinpah

Screenwriting: Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah, Roy N. Sickner

Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien

Review:

“For the first half-century of cinema’s existence, the Western was the medium’s defining genre, in America at least. But hundreds of movies — plus primetime television series like Bonanza and Gunsmoke – wore it out, until Sam Peckinpah gave things a New Hollywood kick.” ^VY

“Peckinpah completely rewrites John Ford’s Western mythology – by looking at the passing of the Old West from the point of view of the marginalized outlaws rather than the law-abiding settlers.” ^T95 “Acting, dialogue, direction, score, photography, and especially editing are world class; an authentic American classic.” ^LM

“All-stars Ernest Borgnine, William Holden, and Robert Ryan deliver stunning performances as outlaws past their prime” ^ST who still cling “to codes of honor, loyalty, and courage.” ^FS They “want to pull one final heist before retiring” ^A98 but meet their demise when they are attacked by “relentless bounty hunters…at the US-Mexico border in 1913.” ^A07

“The film about men trying to contend with the ever-evolving world around them caused a stir for its raw depictions of survival and what was then considered gratuitous violence.” ^ST It “is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard’s superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah’s darkly elegiac vision.” ^T95 It has been hailed as “one of the best films ever made and instrumental in its introduction of slow-motion violence.” ^VD It “became Peckinpah’s calling card after the success of this Western masterpiece.” ^A07 That and “Lou Lombardo’s editing are considered milestones in the Western genre.” ^A98