Review of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) by George D — 22 Dec 2010

This was one of the last of the good western movies made before the demise of the western movies in the 1970's. It came out in 1969 and broke the pattern of ultra-violent Italian Westerns. This was a light hearted but serious story about two true life old west outlaws that robbed many banks and trains but never killed anyone.

The exploits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were first put on film in the first silent movie to tell a story in 1903 called The Great Train Robbery. In 1903 this was considered a current event. In 1969 it became the story of two anti-establishment characters.

The movie became the basis for the 1970's TV show Alias Smith and Jones. I didn't see the movie when it first came out, I saw it when it was re-released in 1974 at the Leachman Theater in Stillwater Oklahoma.

When I got my LaserDisc player in 1982 I bought this movie on a Magnetic Video LaserDisc. It was in stereo with a pan and scan format. I just got the DVD. You do get a little more of the picture in the wide screen format.

The DVD does have some good special features on the second disk. This movie made Robert Redford a star. The real Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid lived at the end of the post Civil War Wild West era. Jesse James was dead, Frank James and the Younger brothers were in prison.

Bill Dolan and the Dalton Gang were also all dead when the Hole In The Wall gang started their train robbery exploits. In the early 20th century the old steam engines in the west were being replaced by larger faster engines that could outrun a horse making train robbing impractical.

Also new communication technologies such as the telephone and improved cheaper photography made law enforcement easier. The movie tells a fictionalized version of how the advances in technology and a super posse forced Butch and Sundance to flee to South America.

There are lots of good one liners in this movie.