The Wild Bunch
Aging outlaws pursue one final score across the Mexican border as a vanished frontier leaves loyalty, violence, and honor colliding in a catastrophic last stand.
Overview
A gang of outlaws faces their final showdown in a world that's leaving them behind.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- elegiac
- brooding
- visceral
- classic western marathon
- cinephile viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a visually beautiful, technically accomplished, and profoundly influential revisionist western whose extraordinary violence remains deliberately disturbing.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film pairs extraordinarily beautiful action imagery with sustained brutality and chaos, inviting simultaneous exhilaration and revulsion.
Pike and his gang recognize that the traditional American West is disappearing as the twentieth century arrives, yet continue robbing and fighting.
The gang's final robbery is driven by long-standing bonds among Pike, Dutch, Lyle, Freddie, and Angel amid pressure from bounty hunters and the Mexican army.
The film is renowned for intensely edited shootouts and action sequences that transform gunfire, death, and chaos into a traumatic visual experience.
Films like The Wild Bunch, and why
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Shared elegiac revisionism, aging outlaws, friendship, and brutally stylized western violence.
Bonnie and Clyde
Shared New Hollywood western form, doomed criminal protagonists, moral ambiguity, and graphic action.
Once Upon a Time in the West
Shared revisionist western atmosphere, frontier decline, male camaraderie, and tragic violence.
The Professionals
Shared Mexican Revolution setting, fatalistic outlaw drama, political corruption, and explosive violence.
Movie Details
- Director
- Sam Peckinpah
- Release Date
- 1969-06-19
- Runtime
- 145 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (1384)
Cast
- William Holden
- Ernest Borgnine
- Robert Ryan
- Jaime Sánchez
- Warren Oates
- Edmond O'Brien
- Ben Johnson
- Albert Dekker
- Strother Martin
- Emilio Fernández
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Wild Bunch about?
- Aging outlaws pursue one final score across the Mexican border as a vanished frontier leaves loyalty, violence, and honor colliding in a catastrophic last stand.
- What is The Wild Bunch like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Wild Bunch as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Wild Bunch violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Wild Bunch as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Wild Bunch?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a visually beautiful, technically accomplished, and profoundly influential revisionist western whose extraordinary violence remains deliberately disturbing.
- Which films are like The Wild Bunch?
- Films with a similar feel include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Once Upon a Time in the West, and The Professionals.
- How long is The Wild Bunch?
- The Wild Bunch runs 145 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Wild Bunch?
- In United States, The Wild Bunch is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
