The Wild Bunch

R

Released Jun 18, 1969

2h 22m

Western

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List

91%

Tomatometer

67 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In this gritty Western classic, aging outlaw Pike Bishop (William Holden) prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, which includes Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine) and brothers Lyle (Warren Oates) and Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson), Bishop discovers the heist is a setup orchestrated in part by his old partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan). As the remaining gang takes refuge in Mexican territory, Thornton trails them, resulting in fierce gunfights with plenty of casualties.

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Critics Consensus

The Wild Bunch is Sam Peckinpah's shocking, violent ballad to an old world and a dying genre.

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Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

Apart from Peckinpah's simple technical control and the cut of his script, which is a knife that never slips off the bone, there is an angry quality to his mind.

Jul 7, 2022

Full Review

Tom Milne

Sight & Sound

The film drives to its foregone conclusion with the sureness of an arrow.

Mar 18, 2020

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

If you must see The Wild Bunch, be sure to take along a barf bag.

Jan 1, 2020

Full Review

Bianca Garner

InSession Film

While I don’t exactly have the stomach for the violence, the sexism or the racism/xenophobia of The Wild Bunch, I do admire it for its artistic and technical aspects. There’s something oddly fascinating about the film...

Jul 31, 2024

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

To say that The Wild Bunch is a violent masterpiece would not be an understatement.

Rated: 5/5

May 31, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

The pictorial style of the film — classical, elegiac — bumps up against the technique that fractures and prolongs death.

Rated: A+

Aug 24, 2022

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William R S

One of my all time favorite westerns. Cutting edge violence, editing, direction and acting. The movie that put Peckinpah on the map and made his movies "must see" events (for me, anyway.) Saw this when it was released in 1969 and it's still as potent a story now as it was then.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/14/24

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Lanfranco C

Blood and Redemption in Mexico.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/24

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Fer S

A great movie with an ending that did not make much sense.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/10/24

Full Review

Rex W

The greatest western of All Time!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/12/24

Full Review

Nooway N

One of the Top 5 best western ever!! Clint Eastwood holds the other 4

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/24/24

Full Review

Peter G

This film proved to be the most influential WESTERN film of its time despite taking place in 1913. Like Peckinpah's earlier RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY it concerns how the changes in society affect those either reluctant or unwilling to come to terms with what the west has become. How these issues are handled & developed differ slightly in each film. Both though have an elegiac quality regarding the changing times but the ambiance in THE WILD BUNCH, in dealing with more reprehensible characters, is far more bitter & violent. The opening & final scenes illustrate this in a memorable yet disturbing manner. The ant & scorpion scene with the gleeful children in the opening carnage is one example. Most of the cast here have seldom given better portrayals, IMO & Peckinpah & his editor have achieved effects entirely new at the time the film came out & have either influenced or surpassed recent western films. The 1960s proved be the last decade of so many great western films. Peckinpah, Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE, & Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST lead the way & amazingly enough both Leone & Peckinpah made 2 in the same year!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/22/23

Full Review

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Sam Peckinpah

Director

William Holden

Pike Bishop

Ernest Borgnine

Dutch Engstrom

Robert Ryan

Deke Thornton

Edmond O'Brien

Freddie Sykes

Warren Oates

Lyle Gorch

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The Wild Bunch: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In this gritty Western classic, aging outlaw Pike Bishop (William Holden) prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, which includes Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine) and brothers Lyle (Warren Oates) and Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson), Bishop discovers the heist is a setup orchestrated in part by his old partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan). As the remaining gang takes refuge in Mexican territory, Thornton trails them, resulting in fierce gunfights with plenty of casualties.

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Producer: Phil Feldman
Screenwriter: Walon Green, Roy N. Sickner, Sam Peckinpah
Distributor: Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: R
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 1969, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Runtime: 2h 22m

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