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The Wild Bunch - 30th Anniversary Edition
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305237082
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, NTSC
ISBN: 6305237085
Label: Warner Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language), AnalogGerman (Original Language), AnalogSpanish (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: May 11, 1999
Running Time: 179 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1969
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Editorial Review:
Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon
One of the best action movies ever made, in a cleaned-up print restoring crucial parts of the story. No cavalry ever rode in with more epochal impact than the Wild Bunch in the legendary opening scene. Their steel-eyed leader, Pike (William Holden), and his robbers in stolen army uniforms help an old lady across the street, and then spark a massacre led by Pike's old crony Thornton (Robert Ryan), sprung from jail to hunt down his old gang. In just a few minutes, Sam Peckinpah sets the scene--a dusty Texas town in 1913--sketches a dozen vividly individualized characters, and choreographs one of the most realistic, influential, brilliantly photographed shootouts under the pitiless sun. The cast is superb (even Ernest Borgnine!), the dialog crackling, the bitterly ambiguous moral of the story hard-earned. It's the deeper, dark flip side to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Consider buying the letterbox Wild Bunch, the review collection Doing It Right, and the Peckinpah bio "If They Move... Kill 'Em!" --Tim Appelo
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Look At What "Bonnie and Clyde" Did!
This Original Director's Cut version of "The Wild Bunch" is a real treat as they did an excellent job with the restoration and especially with the sound quality as the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound is excellent although despite heroic attempts at picture quality restoration, there are many white spots and other imperfections in a number of frames. Hopefully the Blu-ray version took the opportunity to clean these up.
This is a good adventure flick although I do call its originality ... Read More
Rating:  - The Wild Bunch
Bought this for my husband and he really enjoyed it. Just his kind of movie.The movie got here within a few days after I ordered it.We are very pleased. I would highly recommend buying DVDs from Amazon. Excellent to deal with.
Rating: - Warner Brothers need to release the Uncut Version for the full artistic effect of the movie!
I took a college course in 1979 named "Film as Literature" and "The Wild Bunch" was one of the premier films that we studied. But the version that we saw was the "uncut" version - not the shorter so-called "director's cut" version. The purposefulness of the original longer version brings into focus the very meaningful look of the purposes of violence and that sometimes the violent have a purpose, and sometimes those that oppose the violent actually have less of a purpose and cause much more damage (witness ... Read More
Rating: - Imagine Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid married to the Reservoir Dogs.... Peckinpah's ruthless masterpiece
I just finished seeing this film and was immediately compelled to write a review. This has definitely got to be ol man peck's finest, which up until now i thought was Straw Dogs. This film is raw, real, cold blooded in a way you cannot imagine and the sheer genius of all this, he brings out that sense of humanity even among the most heartless in a very practical way.
The key thing in Peckinpah films is, the characters will be cruel, evil and cold, but he will still justify that even they are capable ... Read More
Rating: - Best Western Ever Made
Not only is this the best Western ever made, it's one of the best movies. Everything about it, from the acting to the editing to the story, is outstanding. Powerful film!
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