Review of The Wild Bunch (1969) by Forrest P — 20 Oct 2010

I love this western. The Wild Bunch is one of the greatest westerns of all time because it does not shy away from showing violence for what it truly is.

The Wild Bunch stars William Holden and Ernest Borgnine as Pike Bishop and Dutch Engstrom, respectively. These guys are outlaws who make deals with the Spanish army in the dying old west. It's an astonishingly violent movie. However, unlike many violence exploitation films I've seen (Cannibal Holocaust), this movie is not about the violence. This movie has an excellent story to tell by some truly superb actors. But the violence is very important to this film. The violence is what makes it stand out from other westerns. Director Sam Peckinpah made an effort to distinguish this film from any other western ever made by having blood shown. That's something I had never seen in a western before (and haven't seen too much of it since, outside of Unforgiven, Open Range, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller). I think this is the film's strongest quality; in fact, I would say many films should follow its example. The violence is shocking at times, but it needs to be. A lot of times, I don't even register film violence anymore at all. People have grown up watching people getting shot without even truly registering it as a violent act. I think The Wild Bunch puts that back into perspective a bit-and it does this extraordinarily well.

In addition to the violence, this film has a great story to tell thank to a expertly written screenplay from Peckinpah and Walon Green. These men have meticulously crafted a story that will get people caring for the characters on screen more and more through each moment-including the antagonists of the picture. That is something that's very hard to do, but The Wild Bunch does it very easily.

I loved The Wild Bunch the first time I saw it, I loved it the second time I saw it, and I will go on loving it and recognize it as one of the greatest westerns ever made.

10/10.