The Wild Bunch 1969

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: It is certainly one of the best westerns ever made, and the best film of any kind to come out in 1969. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: In an era when body-count films mirror the mounting body count offscreen, The Wild Bunch dissects death rather than glorifying it. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The Wild Bunch takes the basic elements of the Western movie myth, which once defined a simple, morally comprehensible world, and by bending them turns them into symbols of futility and aimless corruption. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: The on-screen carnage established a new level in American movies, but few of the films that followed in its wake could duplicate Peckinpah's depth of feeling. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: The Wild Bunch is an American masterpiece, one of the greatest films ever produced in the Hollywood system. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Not only does The Wild Bunch illustrate Peckinpah's mastery of his medium, but it presents a story that is effective on nearly every level. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Seeing this restored version is like understanding the film at last. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a towering achievement that grows more riveting and resonant with the years. Read more

Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle: A true cinematic touchstone, the film has influenced a generation of movie makers, from Scorsese to Tarantino to Hong Kong action king John Woo. Read more

TIME Magazine: The Wild Bunch is Peckinpah's most complex inquiry into the metamorphosis of man into myth. Not incidentally, it is also a raucous, violent, powerful feat of American film making. Read more

Time Out: In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Arguably the strongest Hollywood movie of the 1960s -- a western that galvanizes the cliches of its dying genre with a shocking jolt of delirious carnage. Read more

Whitney Willaims, Variety: Film at 145 minutes is far over-length, and should be tightened extensively, particularly in first half. Read more