The Wild Bunch - 2 Disc Special Edition [DVD]

For me this rather than The Searchers or Red River is the greatest western ever.
I love it not for the violence but for the mournful tone that is omnipresent. unlike say Leone (whose work I love), Peckinpah makes films about the West rather than about other Westerns. The violence DOES remain shocking & exhilarating, despite the fact that he's been plagirised by directors in subsequent years. This is the DVD that finally does justice to a highpoint in American cinema, with a fine,loving but unsparing documentary. The film itself looks spectacular in this transfer and it comes highly recommended.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Cross of Iron, The Wild Bunch...all decades old, all very different - and all imprinted with Sam Peckinpah's peerless ability to depict the visceral shock of violence in a stunning cinematic way - in that he pretty much stands alone. It's the end of the road for the Wild Bunch, as they look for that last big robbery that will release them from their life of crime - but you know that's never going to happen. The legendary bank job opens the film, as the gang go about their business in an unsettlingly calm and professional way - and the town's population gets blown all to hell. After that it's cat and mouse as Deke Thornton (a quietly impressive Robert Ryan), having sold his soul, tries to track down his old buddies. William Holden as gang leader Pike Bishop is in imperious form, marked by his world weariness, his recognition that it's the end of the road, and his utter loyalty to his crew. The last walk of the four remaining members of the Bunch to reclaim fallen colleague Angel is a nerve tingling lead up to the thrilling finale. Whilst you know what's coming, that thunderously bloody climax is still one of cinema's all time classics. The noise, confusion, blood & gore, balletic slowmo death throes, rough and ready editing (so appropriate here) - in my view this is the most dramatic and gripping shoot out of them all (and that includes the epic climax of Saving Private Ryan). It's Peckinpah's greatest - and that's saying something...

This is a master class in film making, even by today's standards this film would hold its own over 40 years on, a seminal achievement.

Pekinpah's grasp of character fleshes out the cast as real people. People who have to make decisions and who sometimes get it wrong, with fatal consequences. All the Pekinpah traits are present, loyalty, honour, betrayal and the passing of time.

Typically he pitches his western in a specific period, the time is 1913 a world of advancing automation and machines, the old West is fading, Corporate America is moving in and the Railroad are changing the landscape.

The opening title sequence leading up to the gang getting cornered in a bloody bank robbery is superbly edited and filled with menace. You know straight away these men are killers. The film grabs you from the start with its freeze framing and slick editing, turning from a nonchalant but edgy pace to a menacing tone.

Although there are some lighter moments in the film, for Pike Bishop (William Holden) and gang, what unravels throughout is the realisation that their time is over and a changing world will leave them behind, something Bishop know's all too well. "Those days are closing fast" he philosophically ponders in one of the films several intelligent scenes.

Following the bungled bank robbery and having been outwitted the gang soon realise they need to keep one step ahead of the law. "We need to think beyond our guns" muses Bishop. "I would like to plan one more score and then back off"... "back off to what!?" is the response from his trusty cohort Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine). The gang have nowhere to go and its this which drives the film to its mournful conclusion.

The one more job involves the gang fleeing to Mexico with Bishop's ex partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) and posse in hot pursuit. The gang set up an uneasy alliance with a group of Mexican revolutionaries aided by the German military and led by the Tequila soaked and unstable General Mapache. The deal is to steal guns from the US Army, an explosive sequence filmed with tension and violence.

After delevering the guns to Mapache they collect their pay and move on, but in doing so have to leave behind a gang member as a captive of Mapache. Still pursued by Thornton's posse and the US army, tired and in need of shelter they decide to return and hole up in Mapache's stronghold, "no one will follow us there" boasts Bishop.

What follows is an iconic piece of cinema, holed up and trapped between Mapache and posse, Bishop's lament is superbly acted and realised as he utters in defiance to the gang "lets go", ..."why not"! is the knowing reply as they swagger their way to certain death in pursuit of rescuing their captured gang member, and for one brief moment they have it all, but fatally their time is over and they can't think beyond their guns.

The film is book ended by two epic shoot outs, the last one is fierce and frenetic. When the directors cut went before the MPAA in America it was considered for an X rating. The violence is still powerful, the carnage of indiscriminate gun fire claims not just men but women and horses, bullets hurt, and for Pekinpah its all in the detail.

The shootouts and the aftermaths are filmed in grim melancholic detail, the desolation and despair in these scenes capture the staggering care and effort Pekinpah and crew put in to the production. Redford and Newman never rode in Pekinpah's West.

This film is not just another horse opera, its a work of art disguised as a Western, a true great of American cinema, 5 stars with fantastic extras and the award winning documentary an album in montage