Z-View: “The Wild Bunch”

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The Tagline:  “Unchanged men in a changing land. Out of step, out of place and desperately out of time.“

The Overview:   *** Beware –  spoilers are found below ***

The year is 1913.  An aging gang of outlaws is on the run and looking for one last score.  They know their days are numbered.  The west is changing.  The bounty hunters are on their heels.  Will they find the score they need to fade into retirement or will they go out in a blaze of glory, dying as they lived?

*** Even More Spoilers Below ***

The Good

  • The Wild Bunch is a classic.
  • William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Jamie Sanchez, Edmund O’Brien, Strother Martin, LQ Jones, with Bo Hopkins and Dub Taylor [in smaller but important roles] are perfectly cast.
  • This is Sam Peckinpah‘s greatest film.
  • The opening sequence would be the finale in many movies.
  • So many great lines:
    – “If they move, kill ’em!”
    – “We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.”
    –  Bishop:     What would you do in his place? He gave his word.”
    Dutch: “He gave his word to a railroad.”
    Bishop: “It’s his word.”
    Dutch: “That ain’t what counts! It’s who you give it *to*!
    – Dutch:  I think the boys are right. I’d like to say a few words for the dear, dead departed. And maybe a few hymns’d be in order. Followed by a church supper. With a choir!”
    –  Bishop: “We’ve got to start thinking beyond our guns. Those days are closin’ fast.”
    –  Bishop: ” If you two boys don’t like equal shares, why in the hell don’t you just take *all* of it?”
  • The perfect mix of humor, action and suspense.
  • How Holden and Ryan‘s past have led them to the situations they’re in.
  • The train robbery sequence.
  • The plan to trade guns for money.
  • The interactions between Coffer [Strother Martin] and TC [LQ Jones].  Same for Lyle Gorch [Warren Oates] and Techtor Gorch [Ben Johnson].
  • The tense moments after Bishop kills Mapache.
  • The final gun battle between the Wild Bunch and the Mexican Army.
  • The final scene with Robert Ryan.

The Bad:

  • Coffer and TC.  Crazy Lee.  Mapache.  The Wild Bunch.  Almost everyone.
  • Robert Ryan’s situation.
  • Getting washers instead of gold.
  • When you can’t see to ride.
  • Shooting your ex-lover while she is in Mapache’s arms.

The Ugly:

  • Being forced to hunt a former partner and being teamed with idiots.
  • Seeing your way of life is getting away from you.

 

Rating: 5 out of 5