elshikh4
Oh boy. I've read about how great this movie is since I was a kid. In books, in magazines' lists for the best westerns, or the best movies of all time. I've never ever read something remotely bad about it. And I've never imagined that when I got to watch it, I would be the one to say something bad about it (actually, it's "some things" !).First off, what a trivial script. I read that this was the ultimate elegy about the old west's end. OK, that itself is an elegy about the honesty of whoever wrote it ! The movie's plot summary on IMDb says : "An aging group of outlaws look for a last big score as the traditional American West is disappearing around them". Now that meaning is embodied in that line more than it is in the movie ! We have no character development, or characters. What we have is : a Mexican revolutionary wannabe, a man who had a fling with a married woman someday, a fat man who is called the Dutchman, and a Mexican general with inexplicably sad eyes. They don't talk much, and when they do, no valuable thing is uttered. Plus, every time the leads laugh, I don't get it. And they laugh a lot throughout the movie. These moments could have been classic, touching, or just funny. Though it ended up as incomprehensible ! Speaking of which, I didn't get why the whole Mexican village went to bid farewell to the American thieves ? How a gang member complains continually about its leadership, then forgets that utterly later ?! Why nobody moved when the Mexican general is killed ? Why William Holden character killed the German leader ? And how the gang's oldest member survived while he was left alone, seriously injured, in the middle of the desert ?? The odd moments are many. At one, 2 of the gang members follow a girl in a Mexican village, while their leader jokes about the child's part in the man. Clearly the 2 men were sexually frenetic over the girl ! At another, a gang member tries to detonate his fellow while the latter is about to excrete. What's the meaning of that ?! Is that they're crazy ?? We know that since the start. Was is a relief moment ?? It wasn't played that way !! And then, a recruited Mexican child looks extremely respectful to the Mexican general. Is it about false gods ?, the infancy of whoever believes in a dictator ?? What was the meaning of it ??!! Robert Ryan's character is the worst conflict's part I've seen. He doesn't make a thing for all the time, being more of a laughingstock, and – worse – presented in a massively serious way !And I got enough when the leads had THE WALK to save their Mexican fellow. Well, 4 men against 2 hundreds isn't heroism inasmuch as stupidity. And if it was made like they have a death wish, since their world was falling apart, then it wasn't built well, or at all. Btw, they were about to kill that same guy themselves after the first robbery gone sour (they did kill one of them already while the escape of that robbery !). So when some critics babble about the movie's so-called "strong thematic standpoint about friendship, betrayal, and self-destruction", you have to ask "Where is that ?". Nevertheless, I have to admit that the movie's drama "destructed itself" indeed ! I recall another critic saying "It has legendary actors in legendary roles". OK, where are those roles for god's sake ?! Nobody can evaluate acting in a movie that didn't care of making any characters ! This movie cared of 3 things only. Firstly, smashing the legend of the decent west, which was established in all the previous westerns done while The Motion Picture Production Code (1930 – 1968). Simply the past's bank robbers were super violent, whore-loving, and foul-mouthed; meaning a lot of on-screen violence, nudity, and swearing. However, ask yourself what was director Sam Peckinpah's true goal when he showed us bare breasts and an orgy ? If it's realism, then why didn't he – with greater reason – showed us CHARACTERS ?! So when violence, nudity, and swearing are all the realism you have, with the absence of drama too, then it's degenerated commercialism masquerading as art. And it's what gradually ate up Hollywood movies, of all genres, since 1968, till they became cheap exploitation, and pornography with a story !Secondly, the editing. It's a wild, rather crazy, insurrection towards the old school of Hollywood, assuring a new age, with new generation, that has new snappy pace. And thirdly, the visuals, which were beautiful and grand. Though Peckinpah had a zoom-in fetish, immersing the movie with hundreds of it. So with all of these aspects, 143 minutes running time, and huge bloody sequence as a climax—the movie looks epic, but the thing is it doesn't feel epic.I admired the moment of Holden character while he couldn't ride his horse, and then did it with pain and pride. It represents, single-handedly, the movie's doleful heart. Plus moments like when Ryan couldn't kill Holden, and Holden greeted Ryan sarcastically; they seem like splinters of a potential drama which was exploded by the movie's devoted frenzy. And the train robbery sequence, it's the only perfect thing here.The Wild Bunch is a cool western but not meaningful, being a good example for style over substance. It can be a pioneer among the mindless violent movies, not one of the best movies ever. And the worst thing about it is that how critics inflated it from a bit stylistic commercial movie about a gang, to artsy thought-provoking film about the end of an age !
BA_Harrison
The westerns I prefer to watch are of the spaghetti variety, but The Wild Bunch is a Sam Peckinpah western, and as such promises to be a little more violent and uncompromising than any John Wayne or Gary Cooper flick.Sure enough, the film opens with one hell of a shootout, as the film's anti-heroes, a group of ageing outlaws led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), carry out the daring robbery of a railroad payroll. Leaving countless bloody bodies in their wake, the gang escape only to find out that they have been tricked, their swag bags full of silver washers instead of coins.Still keen for one last big score before they retire, the desperadoes make a deal with a Mexican general, offering to sell him a shipment of rifles and ammo that they plan to steal from a heavily guarded army train. The deal goes sour, however, when one of their number, Angel (Jaime Sánchez), angers the general by keeping some of the rifles to protect his village.With its ultra stylish ballistic action, with slow-motion deaths and juicy squib-work, The Wild Bunch forever changed the face of the western genre, and became a highly influential film for years to come (John Woo and Quentin Tarantino clearly owe a debt to Peckinpah).The film closes with an impressive bullet ballet that still holds up today, with a tripod mounted machine gun cutting a swathe through numerous Mexican extras, before Pike and friends are finally overpowered.Also starring: Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien and Ben Johnson.
Fella_shibby
As a fan of Westerns, I saw this film many times in the early 90s. Saw this recently again on a DVD aft many years. The film is groundbreaking and beautiful and extremely violent. It tells the story of an aging gang of outlaws going for one last big score with the plan to retire aft its completion. Times r changing, towns n people r getting civilized, automobiles r replacing horses. An older n tired looking William Holden stars as Pike Bishop, the leader of his gang of outlaws. He's a bad guy but he's also noble. Ernest Borgnine is William Holdens second in command. Their scene together around a campfire is very good. Warren Oates, Ben Johnson n Jaime Sánchez r the remaining gang members. The camaraderie n chemistry between the gang members is what makes us root for the bad guys. The 4 men must put their collective code of honor to the test when they come to the aid of one of their member, Jaime Sánchez. I loved the scene where the gang of four r walking with their guns for the final confrontation after Pike (Holden) mutters "let's go," and no one questions him. The film has many great scenes. The bank heist n shootout in the beginning, the train robbery, the bridge explosion, the out of control machine gun scene and of course the final shootout. Robert Ryan plays a former member of the gang, released from a Yuma prison in order to lead a gang of bounty hunters in tracking down his old partners in crime. He has no choice but to hunt down his old friend (Holden) or else be sent back to the prison. Peckinpahs direction n screenplay is brilliant. His filming techniques were awesome. The Wild Bunch is beautifully shot by Lucien Ballard. The editing by Lou Lombardo is awesome.
punishmentpark
I've been looking forward to this one a long time, expecting a brutal western full of senseless bloodshed and what not... and I can't really say I'm disappointed!Putting William Holden in the lead was a great idea - looking like a civil enough guy. Ernest Borgnine has always been one of my favorites 'old-timers' anyway, so it was fun to see him here as well. Warren Oates played a terrific role, even if (or exactly because) he got the short end of the stick here all the time.The opening scene is instantly classic. I don't know if anyone had done such a thing before (freezing frames and switching between present and past), but I'm sure lots of directors got their inspiration here.Apparently, some people don't care for the heavily accentuated characters and humour at times (who gets that last drop of whiskey?), but it didn't feel out of place to me. The finale could be dismissed for the same reasons, but I don't think it deserves to be - at all.A big 8 - or a small 9 out of 10... what do you think?
