Cinema
The Wild Bunch
Sam Peckinpah · 1969
Synopsis
Texas, 1913. Pike Bishop and his gang, disguised as United States army cavalrymen, attack the railroad pay office in San Rafael; Thornton, a former accomplice of Pike turned bounty hunter, waits for them with his gunmen on the hotel roof. A temperance league parade passes in the street and the shooting kills bystanders. Five men escape, but their sacks contain only metal washers. Crossing into Mexico, they are offered gold by General Mapache to steal a train of United States army weapons; Thornton stays on their trail.
Context
The film has about 3,640 shots, a record for a colour film. At a preview in Kansas City, on a first cut of one hundred and ninety minutes, more than thirty viewers left the theatre. After release, four scenes were cut to allow more screenings, and the long version of one hundred and forty-five minutes was not restored until 1995, in a theatrical re-release.
Who it is for
A western of two hours twenty-five minutes in its long version, in Technicolor, with long and detailed shootouts.
Prizes and reception
Two Oscar nominations, for original screenplay and score, sixth among the American Film Institute's westerns, and added in 1999 to the National Film Registry.
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