This NEVER gets reactions and it is a CLASSIC. I'm pretty sure my Grandfather NEVER missed an airing of this movie. Amazing cast and frankly, a little ahead of it's time.
A little? I'd say by a lot. A whole group of anti hero aging protagonists as a deconstruction piece. Years before the shootist, decades before unforgiven. And 5 decades later does a better job of worn out protagonists better than modern sequels and reboots
@@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881 No, I'd say this is beyond anti-hero. They aren't at all anti-heroes, they are stone villains. That there is an existential moral dilemma at the conclusion creates the aura of anti-heroism, but even that is debatable. Perhaps they are anti-villains, bad men who have pangs of conscience and humanity. But what is their motivation ultimately? To save Angel? As is clear, and Madison points out, there's no way they think they are going to survive this episode. That walk up foreshadows that for the audience, and the pregnant pause and uncertainty after the first shots, then the decision, solidifies it. They have to destroy Agua Verde. Angel was the pretext for the battle, but it was a suicide mission with the benefit of destroying Mapache.
I’m not sure if anybody else has mentioned this but the crusty old man who lived through the movie is Edmond O’Brien, who was the newspaperman in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
"Silver rings my ass! Them's washers!"... "Washers! We shot our way out of that town for a dollar's worth of steel holes!" (or something close to that)
People can only seem to talk about the violence of this film - what always strikes me on rewatches is just how goddamn vulnerable all of these supposedly hard men are. They hurt, everywhere, and not just in their body. Every moment is weighed down with everything they've done in their lives, always hoping and wishing for something better but never getting any closer. Every time I see the final act of this movie it makes more and more sense what the Bunch decides, wordlessly, to do with the rest of their lives.
That's basically the heart of the film. It's book-ended by two grisly, blood-splattering gunfights, but between them, you see humanity's best and worst. It's about individualism and honor in a dishonorable world and how you keep those things.
@@Madbandit77 You got it all right except the individualism. On the contrary, it's all about friendship, comradery and sacrificing for each other, at least in the end, and that's what's all about
@@JulioLeonFandinho Honor is basically tied with friendship. You can be an individual while having a sense of friendship. The "bromance" between Pike and Dutch is proof of that.
@@Madbandit77 Individuals doesn't exist, Pike says it in the movie, nobody should be left behind or we are lost. Peckinpah was catholic, his movies are about community and redemption. And when one of his characters goes his own way bad things happen, like in Billy The Kid
If you've never met Madison, all I can say is what you see is what you get: She looks, sounds, and acts exactly the same in person as she does here. Laid back, open, frank, and immediately at ease with anyone. If you ever have a chance to meet her at a con or book signing, stop by and say hi. She and her staff (her parents!) are great people. It was a privilege to make their acquaintance.
William Holden was such a pure actor in this and his mix of honor among thieves and avenging Angels murder right in front of The Wild Bunch just made it really WILD!!!
I saw this film when it hit theatres in 1969 - I was 18. It was one of the great movie-going experiences of my life. I can still recall the film advertisements in the NY subway which included the blurb: The Wild Bunch, 9 Men Who Came Too Late & Stayed Too Long. A truly great film, not for the faint-of-heart.
I was also 18 when it came out. I couldn't believe the level of violence, and what a difference! In all the old Westerns guys got shot "cleanly"...you know, not much blood if any, just a grimace and fall to the ground. This, very suddenly, went 'way beyond that! I had no clue the direction this movie was taking us.
@@George-kv6gm I was 19 and living in Brooklyn, New York. I agree with you regarding Westerns prior to this movie back in 1969. There were many debates regarding the level of graphic violence in this film. No romance here.. it really touch a nerve
So is basically every Peckinpah movie except the Killer Elite and especially the Osterman weekend, what a piece of trash. Peckinpah never should have made spy movies, it didn't bring out the unique poetry in his directing
A genre of Hollowood lying that has successfully established and perpetuated a false history, a false notion of manhood, and a culture of mindless violence that is increasingly damaging to the country.
The Wild Bunch is actually a story about the end of the Old West and the era of the gunfighter coming to a close at the dawn of the 20th century. I found the presence of a pump action shotgun and a Colt .45 ACP model 1911 semiautomatic to be particularly indicative of the end of an era.
You're in for a blood-soaked thrill ride. The Wild Bunch is not only my favorite western of all time, it is one of my 10 overall favorite movies of all time. After this one, I might recommend another Sam Peckinpah western called Ride the High Country.
The Spanish dialogue: Angel begged that girl Teresa to come back with him, she said “And then what?”, she wouldn’t go back to his miserable little town, she was happy here with Mapache. Then she pretended to laugh and be happy in the arms of Mapache, although really she was crying, so Angel got jealous and shot her.
The special effects supervisor for "The Wild Bunch," Bud Halberd, returned from the shoot and said, "I just had the opportunity to hang a Rembrandt. It will probably never happen to me again.” What a film!
This film came out at the height of the Vietnam War. Peckinpah was greatly affected by the war and specifically the My Lai massacre. The massacres in the film reflected what was happening in Vietnam. Also the hymn at the beginning "Gather at the River" was often used by John Ford in his westerns.
A must-see Ernest Borgnine movie is "Marty". He won the Oscar for best actor and the film won best picture. A very touching movie that we can all relate to.
I saw a Kinescope of the original live TV play version starring Rod Steiger, and Steiger is a great actor, but Ernest Borgnine brought a rugged sweetness and lovability to his performance that elevated the character and story to another level. Besides Best Actor (Ernest Borgnine) and Best Picture, the movie also won the Oscar for won Best Director (Delbert Mann) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky).
@@mrtveye6682 One of the things I love about Ernest Borgnine is that he is just as great at playing a sympathetic good buy as he is at playing a threatening bad guy.
The director, Sam Peckinpah set a new standard for film violence with this movie. Nowadays, it’s pretty common (John Wick series), but back in 1969, it was cutting edge. Great reaction and congrats on your book…👍🏼😊
For a good movie about the Northfield Raid, watch "The Long Riders" (1980) with 4 sets of actor brothers (Carradine, Keach, Quaid, & Guest) playing 4 sets of historical brothers (James, Younger, Miller, & Ford)
It's funny when she said the first shooting reminded her of the Northfield Raid, because when Walter Hill made The Long Riders copied Peckinpah to show exactly that, even particular shots, like one rider falling off with his horse through a big window, not to mention the slow motion
The Wild Bunch was really the first film to show what the director Sam Peckinpah hoped would "scare the hell" out of the audience by showing violence like it really was!
The greatest western ever made and in my opinion…. It will never be surpassed. The direction by Peckinpah superb, the acting the script and Lucian Ballard filming out of this world.
I saw this when it first came out. (I’m old) It was an absolute shock. I grew up with Roy Rogers bloodlessly shooting the gun out of the bad guy’s hand. This movie changed cinema forever.
Funny thing is the guy who played Angel, Jaime Sanchez, is the only surviving member of the group. Ernest Borgnine died just a few years back in his 90's.
The semi-auto pistols that they were using are John Browning designed Colt Model 1911, adopted as THE standard issue pistol by the US Army in 1911. They mention the Mexican rebels (Mexican Revolution 1910-1920) following Pancho Villa. Villa was ousted with the Revolutionary government in a 1913 counter-coup. The US landed Marines at Vera Cruz in 1914, and sent an expeditionary force (including Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr.) under General John Pershing across the border to stop raids on US towns by Villa's Mexican revolutionaries in 1916-1917. The movie takes place in 1913.
I was in film school in '98 when this film got it's restoration to the director's cut. It was the first time I'd heard about the movie and had to wait a year or so before it hit VHS. It was worth the wait. My personal favorite line(s) is "He gave his WORD!" "That ain't what counts! It's WHO ya give it TO!" I'm not a very manly man, but that's an extremely poignant and potent sentiment for even me.
Sam Peckinpah was a real loon maverick director back in his day. The violence here was considered quite shocking and controversial on release. Not to be deterred from the criticisms he stepped it up with what can be considered his 'other' masterpiece "Straw Dogs (1971)", with Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, highly recommended as is "The Getaway (1972)" with Steve McQueen. Often credited as the 'grandfather' of 'Balletic gun play' having inspired everyone from Tarantino to John Woo ( check out the latter's 'heroic bloodshed' masterpiece The Killer 1989 ) and of course the John Wick movies. Peckinpah sure was an interesting guy. oh btw Ernest Borgnine was the original Sean Bean, for a long time in Hollywood if you didn't kill him off in your movie you'd be kicked out of the directors guild, it was the law ( this is bullshit 😁). Good stuff as always Madison.
@@notjustforhackers4252 No: it was Bob Dylan. He was there to write the sound track, which was released as an LP. In the film his name was "Anonymous".
Angel is still alive. T.C. died a year ago on July 9. You need to see William Holden in Stalag 17. Someone mentioned The Professionals. Robert Ryan, who played Deke, is also in it. You need to see the best Western ever made--Once Upon A Time In The West.
Thank you so much for this reaction -- this is one of my two favorite westerns of all times. John Wayne's movie Big Jake is set in the same time frame (start of the 20th century) and also deals with the end of the old west. It's a bit lighter than this one, but you WILL love it.
Pike saying "Let's go" always gives me chills. He knows, as do the others, that if they step out into that street they're walking into their own deaths, but they go anyway Not just to try and save Angel, but because their way of life is mostly over, so all they can do is die with most of their dignity intact.
Great reaction. This is my favorite movie. You pretty much nailed WHY it's my favorite movie (and simultaneously why it might not be someone else's) on your first viewing. Yeah, as I understand it, according to screenwriter Walon Green, there was a page or more of dialogue for William Holden leading up to the iconic "walk" where they confront Mapache (as you pointed out, way too late) and demand Angel back, and Peckinpah opted to replace it with the simple, "Let's go," Warren Oates's, "Why not," Ernest Borgnine's chuckle, the twinkle in Ben Johnson's eye, etc. Less is more. If you watch the film again, you see the richness of the performances in their non-verbal aspects. I see it as a perfectly realized film, perfectly cast, right down to the extras and every single person on screen. It holds up, and because it does, you can watch repeatedly and decide for yourself why they did what they did, just by observing their faces and behavior. The film was notoriously reviled by many devotees of the genre, movie stars, critics, etc., upon its release, while revered and praised by others. Like I said, you pretty much nailed why it was controversial. It's the amoral, inescapable nature of the violence in the film, more so than its occurrence rate or body count (though those are obviously high AF), I think...in my opinion, if you filter the concept of "wild west" as we understand it, as our American mythology would have it, through a sane mind that understands human nature, human error, and just plain physics, The Wild Bunch is a lot more like what you would get than anything else I've seen. If you didn't already, definitely watch the longer director's cut. Thanks again for the great reaction.
I wouldn’t be too hard on the Bunch for how and when they express their loyalty. Don’t forget that Angel, against advice, put all their lives at risk by the perceived assassination attempt on the General. A tactical retreat is not the same as abandoning a comrade. And, in the end, they knew there was no other way about it, but to risk their lives, when there was a slim chance while the camp was hungover, to rescue their friend.
That'd be a very generous interpretation to say they made a tactical retreat. That would imply intent. The impact of the desolation in the scenes prior to the Battle of Bloody Porch would seem to indicate otherwise.
@@Hexon66I was primarily referencing when Madison said, ‘You’re a coward Pike’ after the General wouldn’t sell Angel back, but also when Dutch didn’t do anything when Angel was initially taken. They intentionally didn’t do anything on either occasion, but not out of cowardice, but from practical tactical analysis of the odds. Later, when they did take action, it was partially loyalty and partially being ‘tired of running’.
The Wild Bunch rewrote the western genre for the movies...it is superbly acted, brilliantly photographed, tells a great story, and provokes thought from the audience....in my humble view, it's the best western ever made, I've lost count of how many times I've watched it, and there is always something else to pick up on or become aware of, as you watch it....enjoyed your reaction and your view of it..
The Wild Bunch is one of the three greatest western movies of all time. The others are the original The Magnificent Seven and, of course, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Once Upon a Time in the West.....The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance....Hondo....Open Range.....Red River....Shane.....High Noon......Unforgiven......The Outlaw Josey Wales.....Lonesome Dove....Winchester 73......Silverado....The Magnificent 7......Little Big Man......The Shootist.....True Grit.....A Fistfull of Dollars....The Searchers....Rio Bravo....Stagecoach.....Blazing Saddles.....Old Yeller....Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid......Tombstone....My Darling Clementine.....For a Few Dollars More.....Back to the Future 3.....Pale Rider...... .
@@MikeBarratt-lk3gt I should think that Old Yeller is not as well. B.S is a comedy using the western tropes as it's material. B.T.T.F 3. Is a fantasy comedy using the old west as it's skeleton on which to clothe it's material upon Old Yeller is a coming of age tear jerker set in the time of the old west. They are, shall we say, Tangental Westerns. All 3 are good enough movies to warrant viewing, which is why I put them on the list. Upon reflection, I should have listed them as "Honorable Mentions", to which I would add Dances With Wolves.
Madison, you would love the 1955 movie Bad Day At Black Rock. It's a modern day 'western'. The story and acting are excellent. You have Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Anne Francis as the main actors.
The total kill count, depending on how you parse it, is between 150-200. Given that 30/06 bullets will go through walls and multiple bodies, the wounded likely numbered in the dozens. Many of the wounded would die from lack of treatment and secondary infections so the final number probably exceeded 250. Also, the Gorch brothers show up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
I am so glad to see you react to this remarkable film. I've recommended it to several reactors but you're the first to do it. Kudos, Madison. When this first released to 1969 audiences, the level of violence blew a lot of minds. Sam Peckinpah had a marvelous eye for story and how to reveal it. This story was about a gang of Old West outlaws who outlived the Old West. The Colt 1911s immediately let you know that these old outlaws were living in the early 1900s. Peckinpah did a story called "THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE" (1970) that is also a must-see movie with a phenomenal cast -- Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner, Slim Pickens, Easy Pickens, and several more including a couple faces you'll recognize from "THE WILD BUNCH", Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones. Such a wonderful story, do put it up for votes. Congrats on your novel!!! :)
It seems strange that she expected one man to take on an entire village to get Angel out, after they just showed they were determined not to let him out. Then she expected Pike to take on the generals army to save him, weird. 😂😂
and then came Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch... Peckinpah was nuttier than a wagon load of pralines, but he made some exceptional films. He thought nothing risking the lives of actors and stuntmen to get the ultimate shot. The bridge explosion is an example. The stuntmen had no idea what was coming. The Wild Bunch reflected America's fatigue and bitterness with the Vietnam era. These are not the cowboys I grew up with, they are a whole new thing. Ms. Thames, congratulations on Gone Outlaw. It's no small thing to put yourself out there. Kudos.
William Holden, who played Pike in this movie, was an accomplished actor. My favorite film he starred in is Stalag17. Please watch it. Even if you don't react to it. Great movie.
The old man is the great actor Edmund O'Brien. One of the bunch is Ben Johnson, who started out as a stuntman and distinguished himself in several John Wayne and John Ford westerns and then won an Oscar for The Last Picture Show. Another Bunch member, Ernest Borgnine, won an Oscar for Marty. What a great cast. At the time, this was one of the bloodiest movies ever made and really changed cinema.
Congratulations on your book debut! I hope it does well with readers everywhere. I'm very surprised that this film, 'The Wild Bunch,' was even considered for your channel. I was a 9-year-old boy when I saw this motion picture at our local Fox Theater in Riverside, CA. The overwhelming violence of this production left me with a deep sense of PTSD that I never quite recovered from 54 years on.
"Back off to... what?" This movie is one of my all time favorites. And it gets tougher the older I get. I never got it about "The Dirty Dozen". But this movie, this is about friendship and aspirations and dreams, and how you lose it all, while still trying to be true to yourself...
YES!!! So few reaction to this amazing western. The Red Dead games are heavily inspired by this film and Ernest Borngine went on to voice Mermaid Man in Spongebob 😂
The beginning of the movie is the end of the movie... The Bunch were the scorpions, Mapache's army were the ants and ultimately the children put an end to the battle.
Great movie. Great themes. All the best parts of a true Western. Law, societal and government structure, self-defense in a State of semi-anarchy. Are the bunch selfish? Not if you define selfishness as "concern with self". They were hedonistic, tribal and irrational. The act of theft (outside of emergency situations) is an admission that you couldn't support your life by thought, labour and trade. None of these men had self-esteem or happiness. To be selfish. To make decisions in your own rational, long-term self-interest is actually quite hard.
A classic western I highly recommend is "The Professionals" from 1969 with Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster , Woode Strode, Robert Ryan (played Thorton in this film), Jack Palance (played the hired killer in Shane), and of course the beautiful Claudia Cardinale. The film has a good story, well developed characters, and a twist ending.
I'm huge William Holden fan. He is a golden age star with a capital "S" who's movies haven't made it on the reactor circuit yet, but should. Everything from Sunset Boulevard to The Earthling from the 80's with Ricky Shroeder.
This is, without question, literally the very first action movie!! Why do I say that? Despite having a fairly normal runtime, it has about THREE TIMES the number of cuts/shots as any previous movie (check out the cross-cutting in the action scenes, and the wild zooms and pans). The number of bullets and squibs used was insane, probably 100 times more than any previous movie. AND THE STUNTS! incredible. It's only a mild exaggeration to say that every previous movie was basically people standing around in rooms talking.
Thanks Madi, I needed that. Let's gonna make a lot of youtuber reactors enjoy this film with his reactions since this point. You are almost the first. Cheers from Spain
This is the landmark movie that changed the portrayal of gun violence in movies .The director thought that the portrayal of gun violence romanticized it (some body would get shot in the chest ,cover thewound with their hand and fall dramatically) The movie even today is brutal --and in 1969 it was very shocking .
Another William Holden western that stars John Wayne: The Horse Soldiers. favorate William Holden movie tho is Stalag 17 a funny western a year before the Wild Bunch would be The Shakiest Gun in the West with Don Knotts
This movie is simply forgotten classic for many. Era what John-Ford - John Wayne combo ruled with sanitized violence, this film was like slap on face. It showed violence more chaotic and closer to truth than ever before. This could be say its mile stone on its own right. Not only acting is good, shots are amazing and this really well paced film. It holds multiple re-watches. I can't wait to read your book Madison, already got it ebook.
I was a teen when dad took me to see this when it came out. Westerns was his favorite genera and the cast made him think it was going to be like the westerns he grew up with. Was he wrong. All through the movie he kept muttering "I can't believe this." Needless to say he didn't like it and I believe he never went to the movies again. He just stuck with old movies on TV. I thought it was awesome.
I know you tend to lean towards westerns which is fantastic but there is a very underrated Ernest Borgnine movie with Lee Marvin called The Emperor of the North, excellent movie.
On the final commentary: there's a good reason why Angel holds up as the most sympathetic (comparatively) character in the movie after all these decades. Sam Peckinpah wasn't merely in love with a Mexican woman at the time--- he was very much in *love with Mexico* at the time, at that point in his life. Angel (subtle name, right? :D) is meant to represent the passionate innocence of the culture--- that Peckinpah knew could get destroyed either by revolutions or American involvement or both. Anyway, a very personal work from him (as is "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia," also set south of the border). That moment when Pike tells Angel: "Either you learn to live with it--- or we'll leave you here"? One of Peckinpah's own daughters once said: that was MY FATHER, right there. Buena suerte to your book release!
What a film. I only watched this the first time as an adult, and the violence still shocked me. Glad you've seen it now. As a (sorta) counter-theme to "The Wild Bunch", would you consider "The Ballad of Cable Hogue"? It's the movie Sam Peckinpah directed right after "Bunch", and I think it's an undeservedly underappreciated gem. As far as I know, it is Peckinpah's only comedy, though a better description is 'a melancholy love story set in the dying days of the Old West that has some very funny moments'. It, too, has an amazing cast (Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner) and a fantastic musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. I would love to hear your thoughts about it some time.
"Bunch" shocked me to the point of healthy obsession. "Hogue" made me fall in love with Peckinpah. I wish he made more films, but he was his own worst enemy, and the studio executives were afraid of him.
My mother worked in a drive in late 60's i must have seen this movie 5 nights in row while she worked . I think this is one of the best movies because how good it was. I still watch it every few years.
This was groundbreaking in 1969 for the Western film, an one of the first "R" rated films under the revised MPAA system. The R remains today unlike some of the earlier restricted films re-rated to PG13 through the years
Edmund O'Brien, the crazy old man who you think will get shot for his mocking the gang (Freddie), you might recognize as the newspaper editor of the Shinbone Star in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Strother Martin (Coffer) was also in Liberty Valance, as one of Valence's sidekicks (the one with the crazy laugh). Martin played in a LOT of westerns, and was also the officer who tells Cool Hand Luke "Whut we have heah is failure...to communicate." Ben Johnson started as a pioneering stuntman in Western films. As he got older, he moved into more acting roles.
The old man who took care of the Bunch's horses was portrayed by Edmond O'Brien. You may recall him as the drunken newspaperman in "Liberty Valance", Madison. He had to be aged 10 years for this role.
The two guys who were always arguing about who had killed whom, were the veteran character actors, Strother Martin, the shorter one and L.Q. Jones. They almost always played venal, selfish characters, but in this film, they broke the mold.
Two of the actors of the Bunch won Oscars for Best Actor (William Holden and Ernest Borgnine). Two more won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ben Johnson and Edmund O'Brien). And Warren Oates damn well shoulda won one...
Hello Madison, I have enjoyed your movie reactions. Your “Casablanca” dialogue reaction was very enlightening to me. A lesser known Peckinpah film called “Major Dundee” 1965 with Charlton Heston, Richard Harris takes place during the Civil War. A 2005 reissue is the best version. All the best with your new book!
Gone Outlaw purchased on kindle in appreciation of this reaction of The Wild Bunch. Something powerful about this movie and besides Unforgiven (1992) can’t think of a better western.
I am a huge William Holden fan, try watching Sunset Boulevard, The Counterfait Traitor, or the bad disaster movie with him and Paul Newman, When Time ran out
Great reaction! Love this movie, I first watched this movie with my father around Christmas. He had watched it many times at that point. Now it’s kinda become a Christmas tradition for us as strange as that sounds. Love the time period it takes place in, my father called it a turn of the century western.The weapons were improving, 1897 shotguns, 1911 pistols as well as the machine guns. Great cast!👍🏻
Bullet+blood squibs had been used occasionally in movies since WW2. But never at the scale they were here. Audiences - accustomed to invisible entry wounds in TV westerns - were stunned at how brutal and realistic the violence was. But they had developed a taste for it with Bonnie & Clyde a few years earlier. After the Wild Bunch, there was no going back. And the amorality of the protagonists definitely finished kicking open the door for the New Hollywood era of antiheroes.
This NEVER gets reactions and it is a CLASSIC. I'm pretty sure my Grandfather NEVER missed an airing of this movie. Amazing cast and frankly, a little ahead of it's time.
A little? I'd say by a lot. A whole group of anti hero aging protagonists as a deconstruction piece. Years before the shootist, decades before unforgiven. And 5 decades later does a better job of worn out protagonists better than modern sequels and reboots
@@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881 No, I'd say this is beyond anti-hero. They aren't at all anti-heroes, they are stone villains. That there is an existential moral dilemma at the conclusion creates the aura of anti-heroism, but even that is debatable. Perhaps they are anti-villains, bad men who have pangs of conscience and humanity. But what is their motivation ultimately? To save Angel? As is clear, and Madison points out, there's no way they think they are going to survive this episode. That walk up foreshadows that for the audience, and the pregnant pause and uncertainty after the first shots, then the decision, solidifies it. They have to destroy Agua Verde. Angel was the pretext for the battle, but it was a suicide mission with the benefit of destroying Mapache.
@@Hexon66 a villain can still be an anti hero in the sense that the story is about then.
This was considered ultra violent for its time. Now you see much worse much younger.
I’m not sure if anybody else has mentioned this but the crusty old man who lived through the movie is Edmond O’Brien, who was the newspaperman in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
My favorite quote from this movie:
"We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all."
"When you side with a man you stay with them and if you can't do that, you're like some animal. YOU'RE FINISHED!!!!
"If they move, kill 'em!" over Peckinpah's Director credit.
Peckinpah had *soul.*
One of the best mini-monologues ever put on film.
@@user-gt2uf8cq9y talk about signing your name to a movie
"Silver rings my ass! Them's washers!"... "Washers! We shot our way out of that town for a dollar's worth of steel holes!"
(or something close to that)
People can only seem to talk about the violence of this film - what always strikes me on rewatches is just how goddamn vulnerable all of these supposedly hard men are. They hurt, everywhere, and not just in their body. Every moment is weighed down with everything they've done in their lives, always hoping and wishing for something better but never getting any closer. Every time I see the final act of this movie it makes more and more sense what the Bunch decides, wordlessly, to do with the rest of their lives.
That's basically the heart of the film. It's book-ended by two grisly, blood-splattering gunfights, but between them, you see humanity's best and worst. It's about individualism and honor in a dishonorable world and how you keep those things.
@@Madbandit77 You got it all right except the individualism. On the contrary, it's all about friendship, comradery and sacrificing for each other, at least in the end, and that's what's all about
@@JulioLeonFandinho Honor is basically tied with friendship. You can be an individual while having a sense of friendship. The "bromance" between Pike and Dutch is proof of that.
@@Madbandit77 Individuals doesn't exist, Pike says it in the movie, nobody should be left behind or we are lost. Peckinpah was catholic, his movies are about community and redemption. And when one of his characters goes his own way bad things happen, like in Billy The Kid
@@JulioLeonFandinho But responsible individualism exist. You can be your own person while caring for others.
If you've never met Madison, all I can say is what you see is what you get: She looks, sounds, and acts exactly the same in person as she does here. Laid back, open, frank, and immediately at ease with anyone. If you ever have a chance to meet her at a con or book signing, stop by and say hi. She and her staff (her parents!) are great people. It was a privilege to make their acquaintance.
Aw, I appreciate that, Johnny! Thank you🙏🏻 It was great meeting you!
William Holden was such a pure actor in this and his mix of honor among thieves and avenging Angels murder right in front of The Wild Bunch just made it really WILD!!!
I saw this film when it hit theatres in 1969 - I was 18. It was one of the great movie-going experiences of my life. I can still recall the film advertisements in the NY subway which included the blurb: The Wild Bunch, 9 Men Who Came Too Late & Stayed Too Long. A truly great film, not for the faint-of-heart.
The tag line for the poster in my city was: "Suddenly the sky was bathed in blood."
I was also 18 when it came out. I couldn't believe the level of violence, and what a difference! In all the old Westerns guys got shot "cleanly"...you know, not much blood if any, just a grimace and fall to the ground. This, very suddenly, went 'way beyond that! I had no clue the direction this movie was taking us.
@@Remington61189 It got me to the opening night and I stayed for the second showing.
I saw this on a double bill with Dirty Harry. Epic night at the movies
@@George-kv6gm I was 19 and living in Brooklyn, New York. I agree with you regarding Westerns prior to this movie back in 1969. There were many debates regarding the level of graphic violence in this film. No romance here.. it really touch a nerve
The Getaway with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw is a fantastic Peckinpah film.
So is Straw Dogs!
@@joslobb7313 For more Western greatness, "Ride the High Country."
So is basically every Peckinpah movie except the Killer Elite and especially the Osterman weekend, what a piece of trash. Peckinpah never should have made spy movies, it didn't bring out the unique poetry in his directing
So cool to see a woman who actually likes Westerns.
A genre of Hollowood lying that has successfully established and perpetuated a false history, a false notion of manhood, and a culture of mindless violence that is increasingly damaging to the country.
The Wild Bunch is actually a story about the end of the Old West and the era of the gunfighter coming to a close at the dawn of the 20th century. I found the presence of a pump action shotgun and a Colt .45 ACP model 1911 semiautomatic to be particularly indicative of the end of an era.
That and the M1911.
@@edgarcia4794 Thanks for reminding me. I added that one.
The film is set in 1913, hence the line "cannot be purchased or even owned."
And the fact that Thornton finds that Pike died with a still loaded revolver in his holster.
And the automobile
You're in for a blood-soaked thrill ride. The Wild Bunch is not only my favorite western of all time, it is one of my 10 overall favorite movies of all time.
After this one, I might recommend another Sam Peckinpah western called Ride the High Country.
also PKABTK
Another movie along these lines is The Professionals, with Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin and cast of western movie stars from the 50s & 60s.
I agree. The Professionals is definitely a Top Five Western. The cast is probably the best ever assembled for a western.
👍 on The Professionals.
I was about to comment the same thing!
@@waterbeauty85 another Western with the prominent use of the iconic M1911.
Lee Marvin was supposed to play Pike, but he dropped out when he decided doing The Wild Bunch after The Professionals would be a career redundancy.
The Spanish dialogue: Angel begged that girl Teresa to come back with him, she said “And then what?”, she wouldn’t go back to his miserable little town, she was happy here with Mapache. Then she pretended to laugh and be happy in the arms of Mapache, although really she was crying, so Angel got jealous and shot her.
The special effects supervisor for "The Wild Bunch," Bud Halberd, returned from the shoot and said, "I just had the opportunity to hang a Rembrandt. It will probably never happen to me again.” What a film!
Quite simply this epic cinematic masterpiece is the Citizen Kane of westerns.
This film came out at the height of the Vietnam War. Peckinpah was greatly affected by the war and specifically the My Lai massacre. The massacres in the film reflected what was happening in Vietnam. Also the hymn at the beginning "Gather at the River" was often used by John Ford in his westerns.
A must-see Ernest Borgnine movie is "Marty". He won the Oscar for best actor and the film won best picture. A very touching movie that we can all relate to.
Ernest Borgnine is such a legend. That guy must have done 20 movies a year during his prime.
I saw a Kinescope of the original live TV play version starring Rod Steiger, and Steiger is a great actor, but Ernest Borgnine brought a rugged sweetness and lovability to his performance that elevated the character and story to another level. Besides Best Actor (Ernest Borgnine) and Best Picture, the movie also won the Oscar for won Best Director (Delbert Mann) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky).
@@mrtveye6682 One of the things I love about Ernest Borgnine is that he is just as great at playing a sympathetic good buy as he is at playing a threatening bad guy.
I'm an UGLY LITTLE MAN, Ma!!
Marty is a great movie. Enjoyed Fatso in from here to eternity. Grew up with Michale’s Navy.
In the 70s there was a god who walked the earth, and his name was Warren Oates-Richard Linklater
The director, Sam Peckinpah set a new standard for film violence with this movie.
Nowadays, it’s pretty common (John Wick series), but back in 1969, it was cutting edge.
Great reaction and congrats on your book…👍🏼😊
Sure was, but it was something that was occurring throughout the decade, this was preceeded by Bonnie and Clyde, fit instance.
"It aint' like it used to be, but, uh, it'll do."
I love that line.
For a good movie about the Northfield Raid, watch "The Long Riders" (1980) with 4 sets of actor brothers (Carradine, Keach, Quaid, & Guest) playing 4 sets of historical brothers (James, Younger, Miller, & Ford)
It's funny when she said the first shooting reminded her of the Northfield Raid, because when Walter Hill made The Long Riders copied Peckinpah to show exactly that, even particular shots, like one rider falling off with his horse through a big window, not to mention the slow motion
Don't forget 'The great Northfield Minnesota raid' from 1972 with Cliff Robertson!
What an absolute classic to react to. They don't make them like they use to.
The Wild Bunch was really the first film to show what the director Sam Peckinpah hoped would "scare the hell" out of the audience by showing violence like it really was!
The greatest western ever made and in my opinion…. It will never be surpassed. The direction by Peckinpah superb, the acting the script and Lucian Ballard filming out of this world.
I saw this when it first came out. (I’m old) It was an absolute shock. I grew up with Roy Rogers bloodlessly shooting the gun out of the bad guy’s hand. This movie changed cinema forever.
Funny thing is the guy who played Angel, Jaime Sanchez, is the only surviving member of the group. Ernest Borgnine died just a few years back in his 90's.
Ernest died around the 2010s.
The semi-auto pistols that they were using are John Browning designed Colt Model 1911, adopted as THE standard issue pistol by the US Army in 1911. They mention the Mexican rebels (Mexican Revolution 1910-1920) following Pancho Villa. Villa was ousted with the Revolutionary government in a 1913 counter-coup. The US landed Marines at Vera Cruz in 1914, and sent an expeditionary force (including Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr.) under General John Pershing across the border to stop raids on US towns by Villa's Mexican revolutionaries in 1916-1917. The movie takes place in 1913.
I was in film school in '98 when this film got it's restoration to the director's cut. It was the first time I'd heard about the movie and had to wait a year or so before it hit VHS. It was worth the wait.
My personal favorite line(s) is
"He gave his WORD!"
"That ain't what counts! It's WHO ya give it TO!"
I'm not a very manly man, but that's an extremely poignant and potent sentiment for even me.
Bingo!
You are an utter superhero to be reacting to this movie. Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece and one of the greatest westerns ever made.
Sam Peckinpah was a real loon maverick director back in his day. The violence here was considered quite shocking and controversial on release. Not to be deterred from the criticisms he stepped it up with what can be considered his 'other' masterpiece "Straw Dogs (1971)", with Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, highly recommended as is "The Getaway (1972)" with Steve McQueen. Often credited as the 'grandfather' of 'Balletic gun play' having inspired everyone from Tarantino to John Woo ( check out the latter's 'heroic bloodshed' masterpiece The Killer 1989 ) and of course the John Wick movies. Peckinpah sure was an interesting guy.
oh btw Ernest Borgnine was the original Sean Bean, for a long time in Hollywood if you didn't kill him off in your movie you'd be kicked out of the directors guild, it was the law ( this is bullshit 😁). Good stuff as always Madison.
Peckinpah in the end was really out there.
Believe he also made "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" with Kristoferson (and Bob Dylan).
@@jnagarya519 Could have been Mick Jagger! ( Ned Kelly )
@@notjustforhackers4252 No: it was Bob Dylan. He was there to write the sound track, which was released as an LP. In the film his name was "Anonymous".
@@jnagarya519 Yeah, I was making a reference 🙂
Angel is still alive. T.C. died a year ago on July 9. You need to see William Holden in Stalag 17. Someone mentioned The Professionals. Robert Ryan, who played Deke, is also in it. You need to see the best Western ever made--Once Upon A Time In The West.
Once Upon aTine......is the SECOND best western ever made. :)
Thank you so much for this reaction -- this is one of my two favorite westerns of all times. John Wayne's movie Big Jake is set in the same time frame (start of the 20th century) and also deals with the end of the old west. It's a bit lighter than this one, but you WILL love it.
The little blonde boy hugging a girl in the street during the first shootout is director Sam Peckinpah's son, Matthew, then six years old.
Matt was also in "The Ballad Of Cable Hogue".
1969 Three great westerns Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, True Grit, and The Wild Bunch. Each movie had a different tone/style.
Happy Birthday, Warren Oates: July 5, 1928
This movie is awesome. Sam Peckinpah is a truly great director. He was a Outlaw working in the Hollywood system
Pike saying "Let's go" always gives me chills. He knows, as do the others, that if they step out into that street they're walking into their own deaths, but they go anyway Not just to try and save Angel, but because their way of life is mostly over, so all they can do is die with most of their dignity intact.
Great reaction. This is my favorite movie. You pretty much nailed WHY it's my favorite movie (and simultaneously why it might not be someone else's) on your first viewing. Yeah, as I understand it, according to screenwriter Walon Green, there was a page or more of dialogue for William Holden leading up to the iconic "walk" where they confront Mapache (as you pointed out, way too late) and demand Angel back, and Peckinpah opted to replace it with the simple, "Let's go," Warren Oates's, "Why not," Ernest Borgnine's chuckle, the twinkle in Ben Johnson's eye, etc. Less is more. If you watch the film again, you see the richness of the performances in their non-verbal aspects. I see it as a perfectly realized film, perfectly cast, right down to the extras and every single person on screen. It holds up, and because it does, you can watch repeatedly and decide for yourself why they did what they did, just by observing their faces and behavior. The film was notoriously reviled by many devotees of the genre, movie stars, critics, etc., upon its release, while revered and praised by others. Like I said, you pretty much nailed why it was controversial. It's the amoral, inescapable nature of the violence in the film, more so than its occurrence rate or body count (though those are obviously high AF), I think...in my opinion, if you filter the concept of "wild west" as we understand it, as our American mythology would have it, through a sane mind that understands human nature, human error, and just plain physics, The Wild Bunch is a lot more like what you would get than anything else I've seen. If you didn't already, definitely watch the longer director's cut. Thanks again for the great reaction.
I wouldn’t be too hard on the Bunch for how and when they express their loyalty. Don’t forget that Angel, against advice, put all their lives at risk by the perceived assassination attempt on the General. A tactical retreat is not the same as abandoning a comrade. And, in the end, they knew there was no other way about it, but to risk their lives, when there was a slim chance while the camp was hungover, to rescue their friend.
That'd be a very generous interpretation to say they made a tactical retreat. That would imply intent. The impact of the desolation in the scenes prior to the Battle of Bloody Porch would seem to indicate otherwise.
@@Hexon66I was primarily referencing when Madison said, ‘You’re a coward Pike’ after the General wouldn’t sell Angel back, but also when Dutch didn’t do anything when Angel was initially taken. They intentionally didn’t do anything on either occasion, but not out of cowardice, but from practical tactical analysis of the odds. Later, when they did take action, it was partially loyalty and partially being ‘tired of running’.
You rock, girl! This classic needed a good reaction video. Good for You!
Bo Hopkins' character gets killed in the first scene, and hes remembered for it for the rest of his career.
Passed away this year, RIP
It was last year he passed away, along with L.Q. Jones (T.C.), who's my favorite Peckinpah stock actor.
The Wild Bunch rewrote the western genre for the movies...it is superbly acted, brilliantly photographed, tells a great story, and provokes thought from the audience....in my humble view, it's the best western ever made, I've lost count of how many times I've watched it, and there is always something else to pick up on or become aware of, as you watch it....enjoyed your reaction and your view of it..
It is indeed the best western ever made. It is safe to say, it will never be outdone!
The Wild Bunch is one of the three greatest western movies of all time. The others are the original The Magnificent Seven and, of course, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Wild bunch is one of my all time favorite movies
Once Upon a Time in the West.....The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance....Hondo....Open Range.....Red River....Shane.....High Noon......Unforgiven......The Outlaw Josey Wales.....Lonesome Dove....Winchester 73......Silverado....The Magnificent 7......Little Big Man......The Shootist.....True Grit.....A Fistfull of Dollars....The Searchers....Rio Bravo....Stagecoach.....Blazing Saddles.....Old Yeller....Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid......Tombstone....My Darling Clementine.....For a Few Dollars More.....Back to the Future 3.....Pale Rider......
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@@jeffreyjeziorski1480blazing saddles.Back to the future are not prober westerns
@@MikeBarratt-lk3gt I should think that Old Yeller is not as well. B.S is a comedy using the western tropes as it's material.
B.T.T.F 3. Is a fantasy comedy using the old west as it's skeleton on which to clothe it's material upon
Old Yeller is a coming of age tear jerker set in the time of the old west. They are, shall we say, Tangental Westerns.
All 3 are good enough movies to warrant viewing, which is why I put them on the list. Upon reflection, I should have listed them as "Honorable Mentions", to which I would add Dances With Wolves.
Hey blondie you know what you are?
Madison, you would love the 1955 movie Bad Day At Black Rock. It's a modern day 'western'. The story and acting are excellent. You have Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Anne Francis as the main actors.
The total kill count, depending on how you parse it, is between 150-200. Given that 30/06 bullets will go through walls and multiple bodies, the wounded likely numbered in the dozens. Many of the wounded would die from lack of treatment and secondary infections so the final number probably exceeded 250.
Also, the Gorch brothers show up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
192 is the official number.
I am so glad to see you react to this remarkable film. I've recommended it to several reactors but you're the first to do it. Kudos, Madison. When this first released to 1969 audiences, the level of violence blew a lot of minds. Sam Peckinpah had a marvelous eye for story and how to reveal it. This story was about a gang of Old West outlaws who outlived the Old West. The Colt 1911s immediately let you know that these old outlaws were living in the early 1900s. Peckinpah did a story called "THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE" (1970) that is also a must-see movie with a phenomenal cast -- Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner, Slim Pickens, Easy Pickens, and several more including a couple faces you'll recognize from "THE WILD BUNCH", Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones. Such a wonderful story, do put it up for votes. Congrats on your novel!!! :)
Well, even if it was too late to save Angel, but he was still alive, Warren Oats said it best, that you edited out, "Why not". Loyalty did come back.
It seems strange that she expected one man to take on an entire village to get Angel out, after they just showed they were determined not to let him out. Then she expected Pike to take on the generals army to save him, weird. 😂😂
35:00 - Alfonso Arau, the leader of the Mexican Army contingent, also played Juan the drug dealer in Romancing the Stone and El Guapo in Three Amigos!
He's also in "Used Cars" with Kurt Russell. Arau's also a director ("Like Water For Chocolate", "A Walk In The Clouds" and "Picking Up The Pieces").
and then came Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch... Peckinpah was nuttier than a wagon load of pralines, but he made some exceptional films. He thought nothing risking the lives of actors and stuntmen to get the ultimate shot. The bridge explosion is an example. The stuntmen had no idea what was coming. The Wild Bunch reflected America's fatigue and bitterness with the Vietnam era. These are not the cowboys I grew up with, they are a whole new thing. Ms. Thames, congratulations on Gone Outlaw. It's no small thing to put yourself out there. Kudos.
William Holden, who played Pike in this movie, was an accomplished actor. My favorite film he starred in is Stalag17. Please watch it. Even if you don't react to it. Great movie.
The old man is the great actor Edmund O'Brien. One of the bunch is Ben Johnson, who started out as a stuntman and distinguished himself in several John Wayne and John Ford westerns and then won an Oscar for The Last Picture Show. Another Bunch member, Ernest Borgnine, won an Oscar for Marty. What a great cast. At the time, this was one of the bloodiest movies ever made and really changed cinema.
Congratulations on your book debut! I hope it does well with readers everywhere. I'm very surprised that this film, 'The Wild Bunch,' was even considered for your channel. I was a 9-year-old boy when I saw this motion picture at our local Fox Theater in Riverside, CA. The overwhelming violence of this production left me with a deep sense of PTSD that I never quite recovered from 54 years on.
It was redmption for the wild bunch. Ridding Mapache and his gang from the land was a blessing to Angel's village.
First time I've ever known anyone to react to The Wild Bunch, it's pretty hardcore!
"Back off to... what?" This movie is one of my all time favorites. And it gets tougher the older I get.
I never got it about "The Dirty Dozen". But this movie, this is about friendship and aspirations and dreams, and how you lose it all, while still trying to be true to yourself...
YES!!! So few reaction to this amazing western. The Red Dead games are heavily inspired by this film and Ernest Borngine went on to voice Mermaid Man in Spongebob 😂
The beginning of the movie is the end of the movie... The Bunch were the scorpions, Mapache's army were the ants and ultimately the children put an end to the battle.
Great movie. Great themes. All the best parts of a true Western. Law, societal and government structure, self-defense in a State of semi-anarchy.
Are the bunch selfish? Not if you define selfishness as "concern with self". They were hedonistic, tribal and irrational. The act of theft (outside of emergency situations) is an admission that you couldn't support your life by thought, labour and trade. None of these men had self-esteem or happiness.
To be selfish. To make decisions in your own rational, long-term self-interest is actually quite hard.
A classic western I highly recommend is "The Professionals" from 1969 with Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster , Woode Strode, Robert Ryan (played Thorton in this film), Jack Palance (played the hired killer in Shane), and of course the beautiful Claudia Cardinale. The film has a good story, well developed characters, and a twist ending.
I'm huge William Holden fan. He is a golden age star with a capital "S" who's movies haven't made it on the reactor circuit yet, but should. Everything from Sunset Boulevard to The Earthling from the 80's with Ricky Shroeder.
"Extreme Prejudice" (1987, Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Michael Ironside) is considered a vague remake of this film.
I never knew that it was a remake of this movie but Extreme Prejudice is loosely based on the true life ranger Joaquin Jackson
You are doing it, The Wild Bunch. Cool! My favorite western. Totally mind blowing in 1969.
This is, without question, literally the very first action movie!!
Why do I say that? Despite having a fairly normal runtime, it has about THREE TIMES the number of cuts/shots as any previous movie (check out the cross-cutting in the action scenes, and the wild zooms and pans). The number of bullets and squibs used was insane, probably 100 times more than any previous movie. AND THE STUNTS! incredible.
It's only a mild exaggeration to say that every previous movie was basically people standing around in rooms talking.
Thanks Madi, I needed that.
Let's gonna make a lot of youtuber reactors enjoy this film with his reactions since this point. You are almost the first.
Cheers from Spain
This is the landmark movie that changed the portrayal of gun violence in movies .The director thought that the portrayal of gun violence romanticized it (some body would get shot in the chest ,cover thewound with their hand and fall dramatically) The movie even today is brutal --and in 1969 it was very shocking .
Another William Holden western that stars John Wayne: The Horse Soldiers. favorate William Holden movie tho is Stalag 17
a funny western a year before the Wild Bunch would be The Shakiest Gun in the West with Don Knotts
When this film came out it was considered to be the most violent film ever made. Scandalous for 1969!
And the haze code had just been dropped a year before otherwise this film would not of been made.
This movie is simply forgotten classic for many. Era what John-Ford - John Wayne combo ruled with sanitized violence, this film was like slap on face. It showed violence more chaotic and closer to truth than ever before. This could be say its mile stone on its own right. Not only acting is good, shots are amazing and this really well paced film. It holds multiple re-watches.
I can't wait to read your book Madison, already got it ebook.
I was a teen when dad took me to see this when it came out. Westerns was his favorite genera and the cast made him think it was going to be like the westerns he grew up with. Was he wrong. All through the movie he kept muttering "I can't believe this." Needless to say he didn't like it and I believe he never went to the movies again. He just stuck with old movies on TV. I thought it was awesome.
The horses on the bridge were fine, no one was hurt ---a great stunt pulled off perfectly
I know you tend to lean towards westerns which is fantastic but there is a very underrated Ernest Borgnine movie with Lee Marvin called The Emperor of the North, excellent movie.
Directed by Robert Aldrich, who I think was more sadistic than Peckinpah.
On the final commentary: there's a good reason why Angel holds up as the most sympathetic (comparatively) character in the movie after all these decades.
Sam Peckinpah wasn't merely in love with a Mexican woman at the time--- he was very much in *love with Mexico* at the time, at that point in his life. Angel (subtle name, right? :D) is meant to represent the passionate innocence of the culture--- that Peckinpah knew could get destroyed either by revolutions or American involvement or both.
Anyway, a very personal work from him (as is "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia," also set south of the border). That moment when Pike tells Angel: "Either you learn to live with it--- or we'll leave you here"? One of Peckinpah's own daughters once said: that was MY FATHER, right there.
Buena suerte to your book release!
What a film. I only watched this the first time as an adult, and the violence still shocked me. Glad you've seen it now.
As a (sorta) counter-theme to "The Wild Bunch", would you consider "The Ballad of Cable Hogue"? It's the movie Sam Peckinpah directed right after "Bunch", and I think it's an undeservedly underappreciated gem.
As far as I know, it is Peckinpah's only comedy, though a better description is 'a melancholy love story set in the dying days of the Old West that has some very funny moments'.
It, too, has an amazing cast (Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner) and a fantastic musical score by Jerry Goldsmith.
I would love to hear your thoughts about it some time.
"Bunch" shocked me to the point of healthy obsession. "Hogue" made me fall in love with Peckinpah. I wish he made more films, but he was his own worst enemy, and the studio executives were afraid of him.
My mother worked in a drive in late 60's i must have seen this movie 5 nights in row while she worked . I think this is one of the best movies because how good it was. I still watch it every few years.
Thank you for reacting to this!
head and shoulders above most western movies .....peckinpah ...great director ...saw this in 69 ...blown away ...like most of the cast!!!
This was groundbreaking in 1969 for the Western film, an one of the first "R" rated films under the revised MPAA system. The R remains today unlike some of the earlier restricted films re-rated to PG13 through the years
Edmund O'Brien, the crazy old man who you think will get shot for his mocking the gang (Freddie), you might recognize as the newspaper editor of the Shinbone Star in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Strother Martin (Coffer) was also in Liberty Valance, as one of Valence's sidekicks (the one with the crazy laugh). Martin played in a LOT of westerns, and was also the officer who tells Cool Hand Luke "Whut we have heah is failure...to communicate."
Ben Johnson started as a pioneering stuntman in Western films. As he got older, he moved into more acting roles.
"Flight of the Phoenix" has Borgnine and James Stewart.
If you you havent seen them yet, I would recommend Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs Miiler and the series Deadwood.
The old man who took care of the Bunch's horses was portrayed by Edmond O'Brien. You may recall him as the drunken newspaperman in "Liberty Valance", Madison. He had to be aged 10 years for this role.
TheWildBunch was based loudly on Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
An earlier Peckinpah western with a much smaller body count that you ma enjoy is Ride the High Country (1962). Also has more likeable characters.
The two guys who were always arguing about who had killed whom, were the veteran character actors, Strother Martin, the shorter one and L.Q. Jones. They almost always played venal, selfish characters, but in this film, they broke the mold.
The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid is depicted in the film "The Long Riders."
Sam Peckinpah was criticized for making violence an art form.
Ride The High Country
Straw Dogs
Two of the actors of the Bunch won Oscars for Best Actor (William Holden and Ernest Borgnine). Two more won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ben Johnson and Edmund O'Brien). And Warren Oates damn well shoulda won one...
The Wild Bunch(1969) was one of the first films to show blood and slow motion screen violence. "Realism" in movie violence.
Hello Madison, I have enjoyed your movie reactions. Your “Casablanca” dialogue reaction was very enlightening to me. A lesser known Peckinpah film called “Major Dundee” 1965 with Charlton Heston, Richard Harris takes place during the Civil War. A 2005 reissue is the best version. All the best with your new book!
Gone Outlaw purchased on kindle in appreciation of this reaction of The Wild Bunch. Something powerful about this movie and besides Unforgiven (1992) can’t think of a better western.
Thank you so much!!💖
@@MadisonKThamesThank you.❤
Such a great movie with an amazing cast all the way through.
the mexican leader at 35.00, he is the guy in romancing the stone who drove the little mule pick up truck
The year is 1913. The West is closed; Arizona had entered the Union as the 48th state the previous year. Mexico is in turmoil.
Another Peckinpah western to watch: Ride the High Country with Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea
Two absolute legends of B movie Westerns. Tons of low budget Westerns between them.
Outlaw Josey Wales Please!!!!!!!!!! You will love it and we will love ur reactions.
Wiliam Holden -- one of the greats. See his "The Counterfeit Traitor".
I am a huge William Holden fan, try watching Sunset Boulevard, The Counterfait Traitor, or the bad disaster movie with him and Paul Newman, When Time ran out
Great reaction! Love this movie, I first watched this movie with my father around Christmas. He had watched it many times at that point. Now it’s kinda become a Christmas tradition for us as strange as that sounds. Love the time period it takes place in, my father called it a turn of the century western.The weapons were improving, 1897 shotguns, 1911 pistols as well as the machine guns. Great cast!👍🏻
Bullet+blood squibs had been used occasionally in movies since WW2. But never at the scale they were here. Audiences - accustomed to invisible entry wounds in TV westerns - were stunned at how brutal and realistic the violence was. But they had developed a taste for it with Bonnie & Clyde a few years earlier. After the Wild Bunch, there was no going back. And the amorality of the protagonists definitely finished kicking open the door for the New Hollywood era of antiheroes.
Comparing this iconic western by an iconic director to an online video game is sacrilege.
"Good the Bad and the Ugly", Once Upon a Time in the West", "Unforgiven". Those are a few to start with.