Movie of the Week: The Wild Bunch

   

 

    Movie of the Week (12/15/13-12/21/13): Well, it's time to pull an oldie again, but not just any oldie, an oldie from my favorite genre in film. The western genre is probably the oldest of all genres and its heyday lasted a good forty years. There were so many westerns made between 1930 and 1970 that it is impossible to count them all. However, that is a good thing because there were so many different stories to be told that many of them were original stories and turned into classics. This film here is a classic but not as big of a classic as some others, but that was because it was apart of the groundbreaking graphic westerns in the late 1960's. This is The Wild Bunch.
    The title tells you that this could be a graphic story and from the opening sequence that proves to be true. It opens with a prolonged bank robbery by the main characters and from there on it is one fun ride. The film follows a group of older outlaws who want to do one last job before the officially retire. Once they escape the bloody shootout a bounty hunter is on to them and then they run into more trouble as one of them is captured. As the time around them is changing and the west is no longer wild, it is now 1913, they stick with their old habits in a new era and attempt one last rescue mission of their captured friend. The film then ends as it began, in a bloody and gory shootout that you must see to believe.

     The film has a great cast and the best being the late great Ernest Borgnine as Dutch along with William Holden as Pike, Robert Ryan as Deke, Edmond O'Brien as Freddie, Warren Oates as Lyle Gorch, Jaime Sanchez as Angel, and Ben Johnson as Tector Gorch. This cast is really fantastic and one to forever remember and unfortunately all of them have now passed. But, at the time this came out in 1969, they were all at the top of their game. They all deliver us great and heart pounding performances and as the movie goes it they only get better. By the end they become a wild bunch that we come to love but ultimately know their demise just by watching their actions throughout and it is a group of performances to remember.
     The very first thing that we notice about this film, because it is use so much and so well, is the editing. From the opening violent sequence the editing essentially becomes a character on its own because it adds so much to the shootouts. The editing is intense during specific scenes and helps shows multiple things at once, which is quite cool and impressive to see considering the time this came out. We also have great writing here, the screenplay is written very well because it digs us deeper into each character as the movie goes on, we learn more about each character, some through flashbacks, which is why we end up liking each one.
    We also have great direction as Sam Peckinpah adds to his resume of graphic films. He is known for his graphic and bloody films, especially during a time where that had just not come around yet. He was pushing the limits and changing film with this graphic picture as he does a fantastic job yet again. You can tell that each and every scene has his personal touch. Along with his touch is a haunting score that drives the film further. This is not just a violent western as the reign of that genre came to end, it is about a group of older, out of date per se, outlaws who continue to stick with their old ways as times change and the Wild West came to an end. From opening to close we are given a great story with an even better cast along with some fantastic gory shootouts that helped changed film and turn it into what we know it as today.
3.5/4 Stars.