James’s review published on Letterboxd:
"We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all."
I wish I had more experience with American westerns to really appreciate what The Wild Bunch is going for (spaghetti westerns have always been my poison of choice), but this is absolutely one of the best I've ever seen. I have next-level respect for Peckinpah after this - the man is the undisputed king of violence, and a goddamn wizard when it comes to zooms and slow-motion.
Pile onto that a brilliant script and an excellent cast (it's been forever since I've seen Borgnine in something that isn't extremely campy, and I have a newfound obsession with Warren Oates) and you have what might be the embodiment of mid-20th-century American cinema. A bittersweet reminiscence on the ways of the past while cynically destroying those traditions. Everything feels familiar (Holden in particular wields a very John Wayne-esque presence), but now tainted by violence and cruelty.
Truly essential cinema. It has its lulls in the second act, but it more than makes up for it in thematic depth and brutal machismo.
[DVD]
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