The Wild Bunch

This is unique. At a time when the western genre was already primarily based on the balladic, character-building and "Kubrick-esque" precision of Once Upon a Time in the West, and when monotonous stories were taking a back seat to popular scenic gems (man-on-man fights, bank robberies), Peckinpah, the violent man of cinema, came up with a picture-perfect ode to manhood in the form of thrilling gunfights, tautly constructed action scenes, excellent actors and, most importantly, that shocking final massacre, quite unconventional compared to the classic John Wayne happy endings, which taught us that a machine gun has a cadence of TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA. It may be a bit tedious and emotionally distant at times, but if even I, a born opponent of westerns who at most follows in the footsteps of Sergio Leone, had a great time and got so carried away by the tough male element, there can be no doubt about its enormous and undeniable quality. 80% (07/04/2014)

A solid ride, whose the moral values and strength of friendship inspired of some of the creators of the contemporary film industry (John Woo, Michael Mann). Sam Peckinpah's fondness for blood and violence is very evident, especially in the action scenes, which are excellently shot, unusually clear and realistic, though at times the too hectic editing can be bothersome, but otherwise, more or less satisfaction. The actors deliver exactly what is needed: rough faces, tough gestures, and decisive actions. The central duo forms a perfect example of enemies. It is hard to distinguish between good and evil, which plays only to the advantage of the film. (21/10/2006)

Plenty of dead civilians as an inevitable part of a harsh life; men who only use the word "law" when it suits them; a woman as a symbol of a man's mere distraction... Sam Peckinpah had balls like no other director before or since, and the male superiority simply oozes out of his films. Yet it is a superiority that's honest, uncompromising, and harsh at the same time. This ensures that it can only be seen as an expression of an unmistakable creative genius, one that puts an almost mystical equivalence between the words violence and art and expands the film western to indescribable greatness. (11/02/2007)

By western standards, a solidly brutal film whose final machine-gun massacre in Aqua Verde is one of the most memorable scenes in the history of cinema. Sam Peckinpah just likes violence, The Wild Bunch doesn't look shabby in that respect and has a very realistic edge to it. This is also true of many scenes in which the horses in particular must have had a lot of fun (I would single out the slow-motion shots rolling down a sand dune and falling from a mined bridge into a river, which take on an almost bizarrely aesthetic impression). The production design with its impressive period Mexican realism with dirty hirsute locals is downright incredible. Women have no place in Peckinpah's harsh world of rough men, they only play the minor role of cheerleaders or treacherous bitches. Last but not least, we must mention William Holden (Sunset Boulevard), his charismatic performance brought back memories of his heyday in the 1950s. (09/08/2006)

It's a good western, no doubt about it. It's incredibly bloody, incredibly action-packed, incredibly tough, but I simply found that Sergio Leone and his approach to the western suited me more. The Italian is more American, more emotional, and more Western than the Americans themselves. Here, it is very much influenced by the Mexican setting of a large part of the plot. But as I said, it's an excellent western, it just didn't resonate with me as much as "Once Upon a Time in the West." (13/07/2015)