The Wild Bunch

A bloody masterpiece with several powerful scenes. In my opinion, stealing the weapons from the train is slightly better than simply a destructive finale. The setting, shortly before the outbreak of the world war, gives it the necessary feeling of the end of the Wild West as we know it, and the beginning of a new era. (02/09/2019)

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)

For everything that happened after the train robbery, I would be delighted to give Peckinpah’s most famous picture full marks and I would also gladly place the Wild Bunch on the pedestal of best westerns right behind Leone’s masterpieces. But I can’t, I just can’t. What prevents me doing so it the hour it takes to get going. It’s not bad, but it is so desperately ordinary and confusable with any other western (with the exception of the opening sequence, of course) that it’s hard to watch. (05/12/2009)

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)

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)