For my money, this is the best work of director "Bloody Sam" (Sam Peckinpah). The violence is raw and visceral as are the characters. Peckinpah was a pioneer of the revisionist genre and "The Wild Bunch" is one of the seminal works of the genre. The Production Code was no more and that freedom allowed Pekinpah to present a film with innovative depictions of violence as well as portraying anti-heroes. Pike Bishop (William Holden) is the central character but his shooting of a comrade early in the film solidifies his position as an anti-hero and prepares the viewer for a film that will challenge some of the conceptions of the Western Genre.
Set against the early teens of the 1900's, the story follows aging outlaws whose time is coming to an end. The automobile makes an appearance in the film and the initial gunfight includes actual sidewalks and park benches. This places the film at the end of, rather than the beginning or prime of an era. No longer is all the shooting with Colt revolvers and Winchester rifles, but with Semi-Automatic Pistols, Springfield Rifles and a Browning Machine Gun. The outlaws are dirty and you can almost smell them as you see them on screen. Strother Martin plays a despicable bounty hunter aptly described as "gutter trash" by Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan). The Wild Bunch have to shoot their way out of town with the haul of "steel holes" and lose a significant number. The gunfight is almost climactic in feel and would usually be seen at the end, rather than the beginning, of a movie.
Attempting to make one "big score", they take on the US Army now to steal weapons for Mexican General Mapache (Emilio Fernández). Note that one of his henchmen was Lt. Herrera played by Alfonso Arau, who moved up the ranks of Mexican banditry and by 1986 was El Guapo in "Three Amigos" with Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. No, I don't know why Three Amigos isn't on the AFI list either. It really is a travesty! OK. Yes I'm kidding but I did have to do the research after I realized I'd seen Arau in other movies. The robbery goes off and they get paid their gold by Mapache. But, then Bishop gets noble and attempts to save one of their own, Angel (Jaime Sánchez). A lot of slow motion and blood would be one way to describe the fight sequence and it is very well done. It's raw just as intended.
The movie runs just under 2 1/2 hours and did move slowly at times. The influence from "Seven Samurai" is then passed on to Tarantino in "Reservoir Dogs" and other movies. Film makers John Woo, Martin Scorsese and others directly attribute influence from "Bloody Sam". Another film on the list, "Unforgiven", is heavily influenced by the Wild Bunch and portrayal of the anti-hero. Later Spaghetti Westerns were certainly influenced as were other movies with Clint Eastwood. The cast is great and includes Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Ben Johnson, all of which you'd recognize from other works. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay up against "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Bob and Carol & Ted & Alice", "The Damned" and "Easy Rider". Losing to Butch Cassidy et. al. had to take some of the sting out of it.
Peckinpah's work influenced a generation of film makers. His hard drinking and drug abuse are legendary as well as his combative personality. Anyone who is mentioned alongside "The Duke, John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin" with a case of whiskey by Denis Leary had to have done something wrong/right.
Certainly should be on the list. It's a seminal work of a genre. Great Movie.
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