The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut | 
 enlarge | Director: Sam Peckinpah
Actors: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'brien, Warren Oates
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $5.18
You Save: $9.80 (65%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  208 reviews
Sales Rank: 29233
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 145
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0790731037
UPC: 085391403425
EAN: 9780790731032
ASIN: 0790731037
Theatrical Release Date: 1969
Release Date: May 21, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com
One of the best action movies ever made, in a cleaned-up print restoring crucial parts of the story. No cavalry ever rode in with more epochal impact than the Wild Bunch in the legendary opening scene. Their steel-eyed leader, Pike (William Holden), and his robbers in stolen army uniforms help an old lady across the street, and then spark a massacre led by Pike's old crony Thornton (Robert Ryan), sprung from jail to hunt down his old gang. In just a few minutes, Sam Peckinpah sets the scene--a dusty Texas town in 1913--sketches a dozen vividly individualized characters, and choreographs one of the most realistic, influential, brilliantly photographed shootouts under the pitiless sun. The cast is superb (even Ernest Borgnine!), the dialog crackling, the bitterly ambiguous moral of the story hard-earned. It's the deeper, dark flip side to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Consider buying the letterbox Wild Bunch, the review collection Doing It Right, and the Peckinpah bio "If They Move... Kill 'Em!" --Tim Appelo
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| Customer Reviews: Read 203 more reviews...
 The Wild Bunch July 1, 2008
Bought this for my husband and he really enjoyed it. Just his kind of movie.The movie got here within a few days after I ordered it.We are very pleased. I would highly recommend buying DVDs from Amazon. Excellent to deal with.
Warner Brothers need to release the Uncut Version for the full artistic effect of the movie! June 26, 2008
I took a college course in 1979 named "Film as Literature" and "The Wild Bunch" was one of the premier films that we studied. But the version that we saw was the "uncut" version - not the shorter so-called "director's cut" version. The purposefulness of the original longer version brings into focus the very meaningful look of the purposes of violence and that sometimes the violent have a purpose, and sometimes those that oppose the violent actually have less of a purpose and cause much more damage (witness our present political situations in the world...)
In the name of satisfying the full artistic measure of this great film the full uncut version needs to be released. Shame on them for hacking this film - like taking an airbrush to the Sistine Chapel.
I feel privileged to have seen the full version as the artists intended!
Imagine Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid married to the Reservoir Dogs.... Peckinpah's ruthless masterpiece June 20, 2008
I just finished seeing this film and was immediately compelled to write a review. This has definitely got to be ol man peck's finest, which up until now i thought was Straw Dogs. This film is raw, real, cold blooded in a way you cannot imagine and the sheer genius of all this, he brings out that sense of humanity even among the most heartless in a very practical way.
The key thing in Peckinpah films is, the characters will be cruel, evil and cold, but he will still justify that even they are capable of good, unlike other film directors who do not cross that boundary of being binary about the emotions that their actors convey. This film reveals that you can never truly be in a position to judge anyone at all. You start disliking the protagonist and his crew from the start, even towards the end, but its the lead character's almost idiotic adherence to his 'code' that surprises you (you'll know what i mean).
And then in typical Peckinpah fashion (could never figure this trait about the man, then again....), you have a woman who verbally emasculates a man who used to be his fiance' and then proceeds to mock him. In a fit of rage, the man screams, "PUTTAAAA" and blows her away. typical of him.
The wild bunch is about a bunch of outlaws played by William Holden as Pike Bishop and Ernest Borgnine (Dutch Engstrom) among others, it occurs during the time of the revolution taking place in Mexico. They are wanted by the Railroad and hire (by coercion / threat of death penalty) Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) a former gang member who was abandoned by Pike, to chase Pike's gang and bring them to book. This is definitely no "spaghetti western" and no candy a$$ louis l'amour stuff, its a brutal, gut tearing, balls on movie, which is typical of ol' man peck's style. I heard that it also brought about a lot of innovative film making techniques, the whole slow motion cinematography, quick pan filming, etc.
This is a movie that is now a definitive part of my collection and i highly recommend that you watch this movie. 10 stars, anything less is an injustice.
Best Western Ever Made June 13, 2008
Not only is this the best Western ever made, it's one of the best movies. Everything about it, from the acting to the editing to the story, is outstanding. Powerful film!
ONE OF THE BEST WESTERNS EVER May 27, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I liked Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" way back in 1969, and I like it today. The HD DVD version is pristine, looks like it did on the big screen in 1969. This was probably the most expensive western ever made; a lot of elaborate sets and and loads of extras. There was an outstanding cast, William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine,Edmond O'Brien, Jamie Sanchez, Warren Oates, and Ben Johnson, and supporting roles with Dub Taylor, Strother Martin, Bo Hopkins, Emilio Hernandez, and L.Q. Jones.The movie is long, very long, 3 hours and 11 minutes long. The story is about a group of aging bank and train robbers, trying to make their last, big score. The year is 1913, and the railroads have gotten very smart and aggressive in going after outlaws, so much so that it's hard to tell who the bad guys are. After a failed robbery, and several members of their gang are killed, the Wild Bunch retreat to Mexico during the height of the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican Federal Army is in danger of losing the war to the revolutionary thug Pancho Villa. The Wild Bunch learn of a train shipment of US Army arms, rifles and a Gatling Gun and plan to pull off the robbery for the Mexican Army. Of course, there is the usual double crosses, treachery in all parties on all levels, and heroics on a grand scale. There is a lot of violence and a very high body count. The movie is well acted and directed, but the audio dynamics that we take for granted today simply aren't there. You'll just have to manage with synthesized two channel stereo and forget about the surround unless you have one of those fancy audio processors. The video is outstanding, restored in 1992, and remastered in 1080p, and there isn't as much of a film scratch or dust spot, and the color is consistent throughout. I am proud to have this movie in my collection. Dan Casey
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