Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch

Yeah, definitely.

Ironically that was on TCM just a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen it in many years and although I surfed in on it when it was almost over I watched it again (about the last 30 minutes or so). It is on my list of Peckinpah movies to revisit in entirety as I get through this book.

 

Osterman Weekend is one of my guilty pleasures. I watch it once a year.

 

Never saw it, but it's now on my list.

 

Cross of Iron is also much better than the reviews said it was. It's held up well.

 

I just watched that today. Didn't do much for me. Had never seen it before or even heard of it! Was looking forward to seeing what Peckinpah could do with a WWII movie. From what I read it seems to have been hampered by $ problems with the producer, issues with working overseas with many non-english speaking workers etc. Kind of a mess.

Very much of an effective anti-war statement though, and from a German perspective. I thought that a much better and effective movie in this regard is Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange.

 

The performances that Sam drew out of the cast was amazing. Of course, having a cast like that made it easier. For guys like Holden and Ben Johnson, they seemed to be in the moment and not even reciting their dialogue. Robert Ryan tends to get overlooked, but he was a fine actor as well.

The number of cuts in the movie is incredible. The editing was groundbreaking, along with the cinematography and score by Jerry Fielding. Heck, the whole film is amazing .

By the time they go back for Angel, you know something is going to happen.

 

We'll be aware that critics and many viewer don't like it. Convoluted plot. Who knows.
I think the shootout at the end of Osterman is classic Peckinpah.
And I love just about every movie John Hurt is in.

This thread really should have been a Peckinpah film by film thread.

I'm kind of on the fence on Straw Dogs.

The Getaway was good and would have been improved had the producers let him use Jerry Fielding's score in the film

Noon Wine was interesting but not as great as people have said it was

 

I haven't seen it in a while, but isn't there are another classic Peckinpah scene involving a car or several cars? Or is that the scene you mean?

 

Back to Wild Bunch. Apparently the final shoot out wasn't even storyboarded. Nor was the Bunch's final walk into the General's compound. Sam spent some time deliberating on the set and thought it through on his feet.

You might check out Major Dundee. The first half is as good as anything Peckinpah's done. Then it pretty much falls apart - most of the conflicts just left unresolved or glossed over. Its basic themes are very timely: racial conflict, the Mexican border (or lack thereof), appropriate role of the military. If a studio dared to make a western now, this story offers a lot of substance and some scathing dramatic possibilities. Back to WB: clearly Dundee taught Peckinpah what he'd have to do to realize a vision as ambitious as Wild Bunch. I guess he sort of forgot what he learned, or misplaced it in that alcoholic fog.

 

You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those who like both of these movies and those who don't.

 

I like Dundee, but you're right about the second half: it pretty much dwindles to an end.

 

Peckinpah had the idea for that walk kind of at the last minute, decided to add that. And it is just an awesome scene, really sets up the tension for the final battle. Seeing those guys walk in side by side like that, shotguns in arms, knowing they are probably all going to die, but on their own terms....fabulous.

I also love that moment after Pike shoots the drunken General (who had just cut Angel's throat). All the soldiers/crowd just stand their aghast with their mouths open trying to take it in, not knowing how to react. The Bunch just stand there for the longest time, guns drawn, doing nothing. It's possible they could have just walked out at that point, who knows. But then they just look at each other, grinning, start shooting up the place, to the inevitable conclusion they know is coming (they are all going to die), but it doesn't matter, they did it their way etc. That part where no one moves though....wow....brilliant writing/directing, classic Peckinpah. The whole final battle is so - I dunno - poetic. Loved the ending with Thornton as well, almost a happy ending, but unlike an usual Hollywood one.

 

Go for it (if anyone wants to start that). Or feel free to just write various comments in this one.

 

Rutger Hauer and John Hurt directed by Peckinpah. That's good enough for me. Got to be worth the $12 I just spent for the Blu-ray on Amazon.

 

I'll admit I've never been able to try much of his later stuff after reading about all the various snafus and his personal troubles in the various extensive bios.
I'll do it at some point though.

I hold Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett (preview rough cut), and Alfredo Garcia as masterpieces.
Major Dundee (extended with original mono mix) is a near classic that should have been if not for the endless cutting and studio meddling. As it stands it's one hell of a mean dirty scathing picture that is so close to greatness. Despite being in a completely different theater it really nails the feeling of the Civil War time period and is in my mind Heston's definitive performance-easily by far and large his best son-of-a-bitch on screen.

Cable Hogue is a great little picture too.

 

The Blu-ray is excellent, the movie is a classic. If your still rocking the CRT, then I guess you won't need Blu-ray, stick with your dvd.
Great acting, real sense of the gunfighter era ENDING, and these old gunmen trying to come to grips with old-age catching up to them. I love the remaining survivors riding off together. Its a harsh movie showing a hard life in a brutal world, an American 'spaghetti-western' almost.

 

Perhaps repulsed by the Ben Johnson bath tub scene. That's one dude you wouldn't want to pick a fight with.

 

I think his true masterpiece is'Garcia...Not another date movie though.

 

I'm gonna pick it up soon anyways, it's pretty cheap. I think it has some features not on the DVD version that I have, plus at least with the blu-ray I won't have to flip the disc over in the middle of the movie

 

I'm slowly making my way through his catalog, several to go still, but have revisited Wild Bunch, Cable Hogue, The Getaway, Major Dundee, Cross of Iron, & Straw Dogs so far.

Wild Bunch and The Getaway are my favorites, I rate them both very very highly, 4 star movies in my book. I thought Straw Dogs was good and the tense "battle" in the end is vintage Peckinpah the way things escalate, I rate that one 3 stars.

I love the touches of comedy in The Getaway in between all the violence. The scene on the train with the kids & the squirt gun is classic. And he even gave us a happy ending!

The rest are pretty meh to me. Cable Hogue bored the heck out of me. Major Dundee had some promise but seemed to get bogged down/fell apart. Cross of Iron was just a mess (again IMO).

Still working through some other ones.....

 

Here's my subjective rankings of the Peckinpah films:

1. Ballad Of Cable Hogue 9/10
2. The Wild Bunch 8/10
3. Ride The High Country 8/10
4. Junior Bonner 8/10
5. Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia 7/10
6. The Getaway 7/10
7. Straw Dogs 7/10
8. Noon Wine 6/10
9. Major Dundee 6/10
10. Cross Of Iron 5/10
10 1/2. Salad Days 5/10
11. Convoy 4/10
12. The Deadly Companions 4/10
13. The Killer Elite 4/10
14. Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid 3/10
15. The Ostermann Weekend 3/10

I realize three of my top four picks are probably as gentle as Sam ever got. He had a surprisingly deft, light touch when he exercised it!

 

Cool idea, I'll publish my rankings after get through some more.

 

Interesting rankings. Convoy higher than Pat Garrett? Hmm.

 

Straw Dogs
What did Peckinpah think of it?
His only film made in England.

 

My favourite of his is Ride the High Country, with Wild Bunch, Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett, Junior Bonner, Cross of Iron and The Getaway not far behind. Not big on the rest, though Dundee and Alfredo Garcia have their moments.