THE WILD BUNCH (1969)

SAM PECKINPAH

Western Violence 1900-1919 Gangster/Mob Drama Guns Historical Recommended

Cast

WILLIAM HOLDEN ERNEST BORGNINE WARREN OATES JERRY FIELDING WALON GREEN PHIL FELDMAN

Plot

Peckinpah completely rewrites John Ford's Western mythology by looking at the passing of the Old West from the point of view of marginalised outlaws rather than law-abiding settlers. While never ignoring their brutality he contrasts their code of loyalty with that of the corrupt railroad magnates. In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision.