1969
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
After I write this review I will FINALLY be caught up on this blog and be able to go to sleep. So I apologize if this post is a bit rough but I have been writing all day and am eager to finish.
After a particularly disgusting opening sequence, we are introduced to Pike Bishop, an aging outlaw who just pulled off one last robbery before retirement. Unfortunately, most of his posse are killed by pursuing bounty hunters. This is a real shame, since the loot wasn't even real money. Anyway, the remaining members of the gang decide to seek their fortune by stealing American weapons for the Mexican army.
I have watched so many Westerns now for The Book that they are all starting to blur together a bit. The most notable thing about this film had to be how bloody it was; I have never seen this much violence in the genre before. While I don't have that much of a problem with gore in films, I don't think blood alone is enough to sustain a movie. I found myself bored throughout most of the movie. Really, could they have picked a less sympathetic character to torture?
Not the best Western movie I have seen but it may be the most overrated.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Ranked #79 in AFI's top 100 movies.
John Wayne claimed that this film destroyed the myth of the Old West.
Many of the characters' names in this movie were used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Do you have any idea how happy this makes me?
Body count of 145.
Yawn.
ReplyDeleteAnother gratuitously violent flood of testosterone from Sam Peckinpah. Hey look, I'm all bloke, i can invent more gore than my last films and have more snarling and grimacing.
But any film that pisses of John Wayne and his idealised view of the 'old west' cannot be that bad... Can it?
One to be endured....
I am glad you feel this way. I hate violence for violence's sake.
DeleteThat opening scene IS disgusting! I have to agree with the other comments that the amount of violence was ridiculous. but this is one of those movies you have to see if you like Westerns and like to compare them.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite western of all time, and one of my favorite films. I completely disagree that this film is overrated. Besides, anything referenced in Buffy must be good, LOL. I am glad you at least liked this film a little, based on your rating.
ReplyDeleteWow we really have a sharp divide in the comments! I am glad everyone respects the Buffy aspect, at least.
ReplyDeleteAnimals were definitely harmed in the making of this movie. And another half-point off for the odd way everyone kept breaking out into forced uproarious laughter when nothing was funny.
ReplyDeleteA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!
It feels like highs and lows to me. Yes, it was extremely violent. But that was the point, to dispel the myth of clean, noble deaths in westerns. Still, the gun battles in the opening and the end of the film didn't seem terribly real either if we take them as a whole where random people run in random directions getting shot up.
A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!
There were periods of purposeless, I can't think of a single likeable character and some of the moments designed to build character depth were even more wooden than the laughter.
A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!
But some of the lead performances, the doomed atmosphere and the cinematography were fantastic. I can see why it was very influential. And I can see why Monty Python made that sketch about Sam Pekinpah.