The Wild Bunch

Summary

Introduction by scholar Garner Simmons, author of Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage – The Definitive Edition: 50 Years After “The Wild Bunch” from the Writer Who Knew Him Best:

Blacklisted and virtually unemployable following the debacle surrounding Major Dundee and being fired off The Cincinnati Kid, it was several years before Peckinpah would get a chance to direct another major motion picture.  Finally, after being given a chance by producer Daniel Melnick to adapt and direct a novella by Katherine Ann Porter titled “Noon Wine” for ABC television, Peckinpah was able to once again demonstrate his unique talents. Staring Jason Robards and Olivia de Havilland, Peckinpah brought the project memorably to the screen. As a result, he was given another shot, this time by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The film was The Wild Bunch, a Western that would change forever the way in which violence is portrayed in film.  Keenly aware that there could be no margin for error, Peckinpah oversaw every detail creating an epic Western against the backdrop of the US-Mexican border in 1913. Casting William Holden, Earnest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates as the Amercan outlaws on the run, he added brilliant supporting actors like Robert Ryan, Strother Martin and LQ Jones then insisted on using Mexican or Hispanic actors in all Spanish-speaking parts including the unforgettable Emilio Fernandez as the Mexican General Mapache. Employing both regular and slow motion camera speeds along with a new technology called “squibs” (realistic bullet hits), Peckinpah recreated a sense of uncompromising realism unlike anything ever seen on screen before.  It is a controversial masterpiece that continues to mesmerize audiences 50 years later.

Review

After proving his capabilities with his adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter’s novel Noon Wine for television, Peckinpah was once again given a chance to film a movie for theatrical release. Peckinpah was ready to prove himself and make a Western unlike any Western made before it. The resulting film was The Wild Bunch. In my opinion, this is Sam Peckinpah’s finest film (although I do love Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) and it stands as one of the greatest Westerns ever made. It is a true tour de force that deserves to be experienced by any cineaste worth his salt. The first time I saw the film, it absolutely blew me away. On every time that I revisit the film, it becomes even more visceral and at the same time more touching. Warner were kind enough to give the film a release on Blu-ray all the way back in 2007, which means that hopefully we will be seeing the film on 4K UHD in the near future. I sat down the other night to revisit the film so that I could try my best to gather all my thoughts on a film I admire for many reasons.

The film begins with Pike Bishop (William Holden) leading his gang into a small town in Texas near the Mexican border. The year is 1913. Pike and his men are dressed in Union soldier uniforms as they enter a railway office. As the robbery begins, Pike looks at his men and tells them, “if they move, kill ‘em!” Outside the railway office, Thornton (Robert Ryan) and some bounty hunters (L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin) look down on the railway office from a rooftop. They have been hired by the railway’s man (Edmund O’Brien) to take down Pike and his gang. Thornton was partners with Pike years earlier before he was injured and captured. As Pike’s gang attempts to escape with the bags of loot they have grabbed, a parade led by the local temperance union fills the street. In the ensuing chaos, many of Pike’s men and the innocent townspeople are shot down in the street. It’s a massacre. When all is said and done, the bounty hunters begin to claim the dead in the street while Pike regroups with his men in the desert. All that remains of Pike’s group are Dutch (Ernest Borgnine,) Lyle Gorch (Warren Oates,) Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson,) and Angel (Jaime Sanchez.) When they get to where they can split the loot that should have set them up for life, it turns out that the bags are full of metal washers. Pike’s dreams of retirement are dashed, but he must continue on with his men into Mexico with Thornton and the bounty hunters on their trail. In Mexico, the men stay in the village of Angel for the evening. The village is under the control of General Mapache (Emilio Fernandez,)  of the Mexican Federal Army. Mapache has not only taken control of the city, but has also slept with Angel’s love. When Angel sees his love with Mapache, in a fit of rage he shoots her down. Pike and his men talk with the General and after fixing the situation, they come to an arrangement to work for the General. The General wants them to rob a shipment of arms so that he can resupply his troops. They agree to the job, but the job comes with a moral dilemma for Angel. Angel would like to see some of the arms end up with his village so they can defend themselves.

The Wild Bunch immediately struck a chord or struck a nerve with audiences when it was initially released. It is important to remember that when the film was originally released in America, some important emotional sequences of the film had been relegated to the chopping floor to trim the running time. These sequences included some of the crucial flashbacks that showed the more sensitive side of the characters. Without these scenes, the humanity of the characters did not come across as strongly and the film felt even more violent than was intended. Some reviewers of the film were repelled by the violence and accused the film of being fascist. Some critics, including Roger Ebert, immediately praised the film as a masterpiece. Luckily the film was restored completely to its original Director’s Cut in 1995, which is the edition that all subsequent home video releases have used as their source. Peckinpah may have been unlucky to have so many of his films recut, but he was certainly lucky to have so many of his films lovingly pieced back together to close to what he intended. The resulting Director’s Cut placed back all of the important flashbacks and allowed viewers to fully comprehend the emotional depth of the characters. Critics were much kinder to the film all those years later and it was elevated properly to the classic status that it deserved.

The Wild Bunch shows off exactly how skilled and capable a writer Peckinpah could be. Working with Walon Green on the screenplay, Peckinpah’s distinct ear for dialogue lent a gritty realism to every word said in the film. When I think of his film Major Dundee, my mind goes to Moby Dick. When I think of The Wild Bunch, my mind goes to the work of Cormac McCarthy, with a principal difference being that Peckinpah interjected humor into his work on top of the grittier aspects. The opening sequence and shoot out still feels completely chaotic and wild. It is unlike any shootout that I can recall in any film before or since, due to the amount of careless bloodshed in the crossfire. It’s masterfully done. Peckinpah had seen Bonnie and Clyde and he knew that in The Wild Bunch he would undoubtedly show a far bloodier shootout in the finale than that film had been capable of producing. Peckinpah wanted to put the violence right in the faces of the audience and make them feel uncomfortable by the ugliness that they saw. This was not the Hollywood style of violence where hundreds of people are mowed down, bu they are all bad guys and there is no blood. No – this was a violence where women and children hide under tables; where innocents could be gunned down for simply arriving at the wrong place and wrong time. The final sequence showed exactly how much Peckinpah had taken command of action direction and it is one of the best edited sequences put to celluloid.

The film continues to enthrall viewers with its sort of morally ambivalent main characters. Pike and his men are truly bad men, certainly the type that no one would like to ride into their town. Violent thieves with little care for the amount of harm caused by their actions. They are also loyal to one another and portrayed as being for the most part joyful. There is a reason that the end credits don’t show them shooting or riding horses. The men are smiling and laughing. The film takes every opportunity it can to show the men carousing and enjoying life. When the men are given a chance to stand up for something even with the inherent possibility of death, they have no trouble making the decision that fits their unique moral compass. These characters may be devils, but they are lovable devils that the audience can not help but root for. 

The film is aided by some of the best acting imaginable. William Holden gave the performance of his lifetime in the role of Pike. He manages to bring so much gravitas to a character that just as easily could have come off as a caricature with a worse actor and less skilled director. Holden’s hard drinking lifestyle lends an air of credibility to the proceedings that I am not sure would be possible otherwise. It’s iconic for good reason. Similarly strong is the performance by Robert Ryan. I have loved Ryan in every role ranging from his work with Sam Fuller (House of Bamboo) to his work with Robert Wise (The Set-Up.) In his role as Thornton, Ryan brings so much to the character. The scene at the end where Ryan sits next to a wall outside the town rests squarely in my memory. It is a damn tragedy that he only lived for four more years after this picture. The smiling face of Ernest Borgnine as Dutch is hard to beat. He did so well in his role that he actually brought tears to Peckinpah’s face. Warren Oates is great as Lyle. His final stand behind the machine gun is one of my favorite moments in the film. I am thankful that Sam would use Warren for the lead role in Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia. Ben Johnson is perfectly cast as Tector. Jaime Sanchez does a commendable job as the world worn Angel. The smaller roles are just as memorable with great turns by L.Q. Jones, Strother Martin, Edmund O’Brien, Bo Hopkins, and Emilio Fernandez.

Aside from the great acting, directing, and writing, there are numerous people behind the scenes that did some of their very finest work. Lucien Ballard’s cinematography on The Wild Bunch is his finest moment. The only film where his cinematography rivaled this was for Stanley Kubrick on the film The Killing. The film is a master class in the use of close-ups, slow motion, and fast cuts. The score by Jerry Fielding is absolute perfection. Lastly, it is worth commending Gordon T. Dawson for the six thousand or so costume changes he had to produce for the infamous final sequence. 

I can go on and on about my love for this film or how the film becomes more meaningful and beautiful on every viewing, but anyone who has seen the film more than once already knows that. In my eyes, this was Sam Peckinpah’s finest moment and truly one of the best Westerns ever made.

Video

Although this transfer arrived on Blu-ray as the format was first introduced, all the way back in 2007, Warner Bros. did a good job on the transfer with a VC-1 encode in an aspect ratio of 2.42:1. The wonderfully shot cinematography by Lucien Ballard shines on Blu-ray. The film’s iconic use of close-up shots, slow motion, and more transfers well to Blu-ray. Fine detail is pretty good given the age of the transfer. Obviously, technology has continued to improve since it was released on Blu-ray, but for the time being it is the best that the film has ever looked. Fans will be pleased, even if they can’t help but dream of what the film would look like on 4K. 

Audio

Warner Bros. provided a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that sounds good. The fantastic score by Jerry Fielding fills the speakers and has never sounded better. Peckinpah payed a lot of attention to the sounds used in his films, and the action sequences benefit from his great ear for detail. While the surround track may not be able to compete with some of the surround treatments currently done, it sure sounds great for the time in which the film was made. Dialogue is clear and no hiss was present. A really good track overall.

Supplements:

• Commentary by Biographers/Documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle: The four foremost authorities on Peckinpah discuss the film that in some ways changed all of their lives and set them on the course of learning all that they could about the enigmatic maverick director. The track is incredibly informative and thorough, but it is also nice to listen to a track where the participants are obviously thrilled to be talking about one of their favorite films. Commentator Garner Simmons also wrote the introduction attached to this review!
• Sam Peckinpah’s West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade – this feature length documentary, narrated by Kris Kristofferson, is a great overview of a significant portion of Peckinpah’s career (primarily focusing on his work at Warner and MGM.) Many people are interviewed that worked with Sam along with numerous admirers of his work. This is well worth your time. 
• The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage – this documentary from Paul Seydor and Nick Redman was an Oscar nominee for best short documentary in 1996. The genesis of this project occurred when some raw footage was found in the Warner Archives of Peckinpah filming The Wild Bunch. Nick and Paul were able to turn that into an engaging documentary about the film and filmmaker. Ed Harris provides the voice for Peckinpah’s quotes.
• Excerpt from A Simple Adventure Story: Sam Peckinpah, Mexico and the Wild Bunch – in 2004, Nick Redman along with Lupita Peckinpah, Garner Simmons, David Weddle, and Paul Seydor made a pilgrimage to Parras de la Fuente to see the locations where The Wild Bunch was filmed. A really nice piece that shows the main authorities on Peckinpah seeing Las Parras for the first time. Outtakes from the film and a conversation with wardrobe supervisor Gordon Dawson are included. Given that Nick is no longer with us, this documentary has become even more touching for the many fans of Nick and his great Twilight Time label. As Nick says at the end, “we wouldn’t have it any other way” either.
• Peckinpah Trailer Gallery: Trailers are included for: The Wild Bunch, Ride The High Country, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Getaway, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
• Outtakes

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 5/5

The Wild Bunch is arguably the best film made by maverick filmmaker Sam Peckinpah. It is certainly one of the greatest Westerns ever made and is still unlike any Western made before or since. It’s a violent and uncompromising vision, but it also has a lot of heart and brotherly love at its core. The performances are absolutely wonderful in the film with career best turns by both William Holden and Robert Ryan. Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, and many more are great in the film as well. Warner’s Blu-ray from 2007 still looks and sounds pretty good and features as good a supplementary package as one could ask for on a catalogue release from a studio. It would be incredible if we could get a 4K UHD release of this film sometime in the near future, but for the time being this is still an essential purchase for any film lover. The Wild Bunch is a truly unforgettable film that stands as one of the greatest ever made. It earns my very highest recommendation.