Ladies and gentleman, the time has arrived for me to review a new kind of genre compared to all my reviewed films so far; the western genre. Western films were very popular in early American cinema because of actors like John Wayne. But as the decades came and passed, the popularity of the western began to decline. One of the last memorable westerns from the olden days was this film, 1969’s The Wild Bunch. It has received ecstatic reviews and it has been praised for its realism and its themes. The violence portrayed in the film was, and remains controversial. From this era, it’s my understanding this is one of the most violent films you’ll see. As for myself, I respect the film very much especially when it comes to the realism aspects and the gritty performances. I actually disliked the film on my first viewing, but my second viewing changed my mind rather drastically. Still far from a perfect film, but I understand why people called this film a classic and I found myself really warming up to it after my second viewing.

The themes are very interesting and I believe these themes that affects everyone, old and young. It’s about a clash of old versus the new. The setting of the film is right after the turn of the 20th century in the years leading up to the first World War. The wild bunch aka the main outlaw gang are old, worn out, and ready for retirement. Times are changing and it’s not all about the horses and the guns anymore. Technology is beginning to be pivotal at this point in America. One of the bunch remarks after seeing a car, “they’re gonna use them in the war, they say.” Because of changing times, new generations come into play. In the very opening scene, we see the bunch passing a group of children playing with scorpions and eye contact is made between the leader, Pike and one of the children. I think that is important because it sets up the last few scenes of the movie. In a sense, the passing of the torch from the older to newer generation. I thought these are very powerful scenes and the film uses them very well.

One of the controversial things about the film is the use of the violence. The violence gives the movie its sense of realism. Director Sam Peckinpah meant to use the violence as an allegory to the Vietnam War, in which Americans were seeing on their television sets every night. Peckinpah wanted to show that violence was awful, and not a pleasant thing to witness. Most western films glorified the violence and made it bloodless. But Peckinpah’s vision was different. Such gun battles were common on the American frontier, and they were extremely bloody. The last act of the film makes a fine example of that statement when Pike’s gang decides to take on a Mexican village whom kidnapped one of their members. So be forewarned, the film does not shy away from it’s violence.

This outlaw gang led by Pike (William Holden) is on the brink of retirement. They know their time is up and its up to a new generation to take over. They plan on doing one last score before they settle down. However one of their own is kidnapped by the Mexicans and although the group knows it is a suicide attempt, they decide to possibly do their last hurrah by staging a rescue mission. I think the plot was pretty good, and once again the themes are prevalent throughout this story. They ain’t young men anymore.

The performances are very effective from everyone, but its the three leads who steal the thunder. William Holden is an amazing actor and I felt he was perfectly cast as Pike. He brought good leadership qualities to his character. He is a man who knows when it is time to move on. His first mate, in a sense, was played by Ernest Borgnine. He also delivers a quality performance as Butch. I also loved the performance of Robert Ryan, the former gang member turned bounty hunter who is charged with bringing Pike to justice. I loved seeing the dynamics of Ryan’s character who was a former friend of Pike and is now going after him.

There are two giant violent action set pieces-once in the beginning and once at the end. While I think the action itself was done well, I didn’t like the treatment of civilians, especially during the first one during a failed bank robbery. There was a mighty gun battle with Ryan’s character, Deke on a rooftop shooting down at Pike’s gang  in the bank, but with no regard to the civilians. I mean the man is on the side of the law, so I was bewildered by that. But it’s not really a major issue. The second part is pretty much a “blaze of glory” act. I won’t give what happens here away, but rest assured there are many, many bullets used in this sequence.

I found interesting how you could parallel the themes of the story to the themes of Peckinpah’s career. He hadn’t made a film in five years prior to the film because he was fired off his last movie. He is extremely difficult to work with and it was hard for him to progress into new Hollywood. Just like his characters in the film, he was old, worn-out, drunk, violent, and a man ready to move on. He is a very accomplished director, but he was given a very notorious reputation.

The Wild Bunch is a good western and it was mostly a fun if somewhat grueling watch. The violence can be hard to watch sometimes, especially during that final gun battle. Peckinpah wanted realism, and well he got it. He said his mission was to show people the feeling of being gunned down, and I did get that feeling a few times. The film is not a light movie. It’s about betrayal, violence, and the realization that your time is up. The movie does not shy away from its messages and it will hit you hard. I loved the realism of the movie, which many older Westerns are devoid of. Peckinpah’s screenplay does serve the film justice and so does the look of it. I often got the feeling I was out there amongst the sand with the people in the movie. The movie is not for the light-hearted, so consider yourself warned.

My Grade: B

I love movies like 1969’s Midnight Cowboy. They are the kind of movies that are embedded in American culture. They tell a story about the reality of everyday people and the themes explored are ones that people can relate to. I love all different kind of stories, but I find these stories featuring real-life themes to be more meaningful. This is a classic example of an American film-a film with a gritty tone involving the everyday life of ordinary people. The Hollywood studio system began to change in the late 1960’s and instead of focusing on big-budget epics, they narrowed their focus down to American dramas similar in style to this film. The 1970’s is very popular regarding these kind of films, so stay tuned for future reviews to understand my point.

The main theme of the movie is love. But it’s not just any kind of love. The movie has overtones of homosexuality, which caused lots of controversy when released. It was unheard of that a movie would feature such things in a movie, but as Bob Dylan likes to sing, “times are a-changing.” The love interests are between our two main characters, a Texas cowboy named Joe Buck and a New York City outcast named Ratso. At first, they only use each other for business interests. But as the movie progress, a friendship evolves between them. A very close friendship that symbolizes something deeper than that. The movie does not explicitly say the men were gay (although there are some scenes that may say otherwise), but it grows clearer and clearer there is some kind of romantic attraction between the two men. Here is some interesting trivia. When it came out, it received an X-rating. This is the only motion picture to have ever been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars with an X-rating. People felt like the film would give their children very bad influences, which I believe was a bunch of crap. However in 1972, the film was changed to an R-rating where it currently stands today.

This film is essentially a love story set in the good ol’ Big Apple. Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is a hustler who is from Texas. He decides to move to New York City to chase his big dream involving lots of cash and women. But very quickly he learns the city in the east is a much different animal compared to his small Texas hometown. He makes some money as a hustler, but he doesn’t have very many opportunities. Then he meets a shady man named Ratso (Dustin Hoffman) who deals with the underbelly of New York. They forge a partnership as Ratso decides to show Joe Buck how to make it rich. As the adventures begin to roll on, they might have feelings for each other that they could have never expected to have.

These kind of films rely on acting, and it’s an understatement to say Hoffman and Voight crushed it with their roles. Hoffman was a rising star with his turn in 1967’s The Graduate, but he shows here that film was no fluke. Hoffman’s character was not a guy I’d generally root for, but Hoffman gave his character so much sympathy. He was a flawed man who needed a friend and more importantly, needed love. I find it ironic how the character’s name was Ratso. Ratso did somewhat resemble a human-sized rat in the movie, which I guess is a symbol for the criminal underbelly of New York City. Jon Voight crushes it in one of his first major roles. The scenes when he first arrives in New York are fabulous and pretty funny. His cowboy hat doesn’t look right amongst the clad of people in their business suits and I love how he tried to hustle women in public to no avail. New York is a different beast, my friend. The chemistry between the two are spot-on. From their mutual thoughts on living in Florida to their hustling deals, the chemistry here is something special.

The film relies upon the dynamite performances of Hoffman and Voight to succeed, but there is the tidy direction of John Schlesinger who helped changed the face of cinema with his controversial art. There is the strong screenplay Waldo Scott, which depicts the underbelly of American life in a way that it makes it difficult to watch. I only wished he left out that stupid psychedelic party scene of his screenplay. It really did not fit with the tone of the movie and it was cringing to watch, although this is where we can see love come into play for the two characters. This era also introduced using songs in addition to the score. The Graduate began that trend, and the film makes good example from that trend. The song, “Everybody’s Talkin’ to Me” is a wonderful song with strong lyrics that add to the story.

Midnight Cowboy is an American film that is known as a love story between bros, but it is deeper than that. It’s a story about valued friendship. The paths are very different at the end, compared to where they were in the beginning. The ending comes across as tragic, but in a way it is also a very sweet ending. I had misty eyes, but I also had a nice smile on my face. Honestly, there shouldn’t have been any controversy with the film. If this was released today, people wouldn’t bat an eye at the subject matter. Luckily, the majority of the people loved this film upon release and it became a heavily influential film. Just see 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, and you’ll see some similar themes. I really enjoyed watching the movie. I was curious at why the film was deemed controversial, but in the end it was just another powerful love story.

My Grade: A

Where Eagles Dare has been given the status of one of the best war movies ever produced. I think that statement is going a little too far, but I found the movie to be an effective war film and one of the better ones from an era in which seemingly hundreds of movies focused on World War II were released. Despite the acclaim it has received, it has received notice for historical inaccuracy. Personally I don’t mind because the value of a movie is entertainment, not truth. On top of that, this story which was written by Alistair Maclean as a pet project for Richard Burton so it’s a work of fiction, so history accuracy should not matter here. The movie is rather lengthy as it clocks in a tad over two-and-a-half hours, but I felt the time flew by quickly. There are plenty of action sequences and most of them are convincing and entertaining. Who wouldn’t want to see Allied personnel lay waste to a bunch of Nazi scum? Despite this being a piece of fiction, I was washed over by a feeling of pleasure watching these Allied troops infiltrate a Nazi stronghold.

During the war, a British aircraft was shot down over Nazi territory leaving only one survivor, an American general. The Allies are fearful because he knows all about the D-Day invasion, which holds the key to their success in achieving victory. They decide its best that he not divulge any information to the Nazis, so they plan a rescue mission. The team is led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton)-I know, such an original name right?, and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) who happens to be the only American in the rescue group. After the parachute drop goes wrong, it becomes clear to Schaffer that the mission is more important and more secretive than originally thought.

The performances seem to be low-key despite the starpower in the main roles. You know, the one and only Richard Burton and the main famous for his manly scowl, Clint Eastwood. They all did well in their roles, even if their roles are not the best they have ever done. Burton does well in anything he does so it’s no surprise he does so here. I like Clint Eastwood, and he puts his action chops to good use here. I read that he thought the screenplay was horrible and he wished to be given less speaking lines. So director Brian G. Hutton gave more of his lines to Burton and allowed Eastwood to focus more on the action. In the end, I think that worked out well.

Where Eagles Dare is a very fun, entertaining movie. The movie has lots of muscle to it, but it surprisingly has a good amount of brains to it. That scene in the headquarters meeting room with Burton revealing some traitors, that was an incredible scene. Burton’s character was messing around with the heads of everyone in the room, friend or foe. The action is consistent and they do a solid job. From the beginning with that parachute drop to the infiltration of the Nazi headquarters, to the grand escape with a bunch of Nazis on their heels-it was all good fun watching Smith and crew act smarter than the Nazi’s. The movie itself is nothing special, but it’s fun, entertaining, and a war thriller that doesn’t take itself seriously. Not everything about the film plays off as rational, but does it really have to be?

My Grade: A-