Review of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) by Hannah I — 27 May 2009

A key influence on Tarantino-era cinema with its fast cutting and hip amorality (this is the movie that upped the ante on acceptable levels of screen violence and popularised slo-mo bulletfests before even Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch of two years later), this ode to real-life Depression-era bankrobbers Clyde Barrow (Beatty, who also produced) and Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) scored a surprise hit for Warner Brothers.

Encouraging then hit-starved studios to target the previously dismissed youth market, which had responded so enthusiastically to the film, Bonnie and Clyde - for better or worse - paved the way for future cultural milestones like Easy Rider and, of course, Star Wars.