10. The Wild Bunch

Ah heck, it's been a while hasn't it?

So what went wrong? I was making such good progress. Well as you well know the mind is a fickle thing and sometimes you just don't have the stamina to sit in front of a movie. Sometimes you just want to veg out and watch a video game (a revisit to Batman: Arkham Asylum has been guilty of this), a tv series (step right up Bake Off and One Foot In The Grave) or a comic series (I can confirm that Superior Spider-Man, Symbiote Spider-Man, The Punisher and Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel are all good reads).

And that's not even mentioning YouTube...

But with a day off looming tomorrow and my stubbornness, we shall progress, I warn you though, if you've had your fill of Lil' Nas X and Red Dead 2, you might want to give the old blog a miss at least for the next four movies as we crack open the Sam Peckinpah western collection and watch:

THE WILD BUNCH (1969 dir. Sam Peckinpah)

 
I can assure you, no one gets engulfed by the sun as implied by the box art...

Why I bought it/Why I liked it:

It should be made clear that this is the first film of a four-film Sam Peckinpah collection.  Logically I should have just filed it under 'S' or 'P' depending on which way the wind blows especially considering I do something similar in later entries.

I had owned the Wild Bunch before on the standard vanilla edition first released through Warner Bros. It was, of course, the dreaded flip DVD and so needed to go post-haste. During my trials at CEX, this rather interesting box set fell into my lap and while it asked a high price for Mr Cheapskate over here, I was willing to part with it for this deluxe version of this and our next film alone.

Not much can be said that hasn't been said in past entries about my love of Westerns. The Wild Bunch is often one of the big important ones that often pop up on '10 Westerns you need to watch before you die' lists. With good reason, it is indeed an excellent western that effectively has no heroes in it.

I personally love a film where there's no clear cut good guys and the heroes are essentially less nasty people than the other antagonists, that's essentially what The Wild Bunch is. Lashings of grimy, dusty Western action with a good smattering of violence and character development in it too. It also features my boy, Ernest Borgnine...

I know I do Ernest.

If I think it'll stay in the collection:

A pretty comfortable yes. I'm a bit of a sucker for Peckinpah films, owning the majority of them (Although Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is a slog and was traded in).  There's only one let- down in this set and it's the third film, so, let's sit back and enjoy some gory Western action.

The review:

Well, I certainly forgot the body count in this movie.

Truth be told, I'd forgotten most of the plot as I haven't watched the film since my days of living with my best bud Ross. Part of me does sort of want to revisit the original theatrical cut merely to make notes of how it differs but regardless, this is still a tasty slice of western pie.

It kicks off with a fantastic bank heist leading into our first shoot out. When happens next is a blur of quick cuts and gunshots as the audience is hit with a barrage of different camera shots, leaving them breathless when the smoke clears and the bodies start piling.

William Holden is brilliant as Pike (he told them his name), an ageing outlaw in a changing world, realizing that he needs that one last score in order to get free of his life. Beside him are his loyal comrade Dutch, the aforementioned Borgnine and the Gortch brothers played by Peckinpah stalwart Warren Oates and Ben Johnson,

Here they all are, walking side by side as gangs are often prone to do in these films...

As previously stated, these are not nice men, but they're nicer than the Mexican Generalé they run into who they agree to secure arms and ammo for. What proceeds is a daring train heist, all the while being hunted down by former crew member Deke Thornton while aiding revolutionary ally Angel. As their unit bonds, the promise of gold seems to mean less to them than loyalty and friendship ultimately leading to the breathtaking finalé.

If there are faults in the movie, it slows down a little in between the big action scenes, there's a bathroom scene that goes on for perhaps a little TOO long and there are some gratuitous shots of ladies breasts that just sort of comes out of nowhere.

Overall this is still a thrill ride of a movie and even more so when you consider the year it was made. Had Peckinpah strayed from the bottle, we could have had far more great movies from the man.

Should it stay or should it go?

It is indeed an easy keeper.  While there are other westerns in my collection that I enjoy more than The Wild Bunch, it's still an excellent example of the western genre and gets a solid 8 out of 10 from me.

It also managed to conjure up images of the unrelated ZX Spectrum game too:

Don't laugh, that was cutting edge back then. Also, who bets just $2 on 4 of a kind?

Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things with the next few reviews.

Until next time, I remain,

Matt Major.