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 (1)
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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)
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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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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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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This is unique. At a time when the western genre was already primarily based on the balladic, character-building and "Kubrick-esque" precision of Once Upon a Time in the West, and when monotonous stories were taking a back seat to popular scenic gems (man-on-man fights, bank robberies), Peckinpah, the violent man of cinema, came up with a picture-perfect ode to manhood in the form of thrilling gunfights, tautly constructed action scenes, excellent actors and, most importantly, that shocking final massacre, quite unconventional compared to the classic John Wayne happy endings, which taught us that a machine gun has a cadence of TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA. It may be a bit tedious and emotionally distant at times, but if even I, a born opponent of westerns who at most follows in the footsteps of Sergio Leone, had a great time and got so carried away by the tough male element, there can be no doubt about its enormous and undeniable quality. 80%
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For everything that happened after the train robbery, I would be delighted to give Peckinpah’s most famous picture full marks and I would also gladly place the Wild Bunch on the pedestal of best westerns right behind Leone’s masterpieces. But I can’t, I just can’t. What prevents me doing so it the hour it takes to get going. It’s not bad, but it is so desperately ordinary and confusable with any other western (with the exception of the opening sequence, of course) that it’s hard to watch.
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