Aging outlaw Pike Bishop prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, Dutch Engstrom and brothers Lyle and Tector Gorch, Bishop discovers the heist is a setup orchestrated in part by a former partner, Deke Thornton. As the remaining gang takes refuge in Mexican territory, Thornton trails them—resulting in fierce gunfights with plenty of casualties.
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Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Pike Bishop: William Holden
• Dutch Engstrom: Ernest Borgnine
• Deke Thornton: Robert Ryan
• Freddie Sykes: Edmond O’Brien
• Lyle Gorch: Warren Oates
• Angel: Jaime Sánchez
• Tector Gorch: Ben Johnson
• Gen. Mapache: Emilio Fernández
• Coffer: Strother Martin
• T.C: L. Q. Jones
• Pat Harrigan: Albert Dekker
• Clarence ‘Crazy’ Lee: Bo Hopkins
• Reverend Wainscoat: Dub Taylor
• Ross: Paul Harper
• Major Zamorra: Jorge Russek
• Herrera: Alfonso Arau
• Jess: Bill Hart
• Buck: Rayford Barnes
• McHale: Stephen Ferry
• Teresa: Sonia Amelio
• Gonzalez: Chalo González
• Don Jose: Santiago Eduardo Urueta
• Elsa: Elsa Cárdenas
• Aurora: Aurora Clavel
• Ignacio: Enrique Lucero
• Rocio: Elizabeth Dupeyrón
• Juan Jose: José Chávez
• Juan: René Dupeyrón
• Benson: Pedro Galván
• Emma: Graciela Döring
• Mohr: Fernando Wagner
• Ernst: Ivan J. Rado
• Luna: Margarito Luna
• Lilia: Lilia Castillo
• Jabalai (uncredited): Archie Butler
• Burt (uncredited): Tap Canutt
• Pinkerton Man (uncredited): Gordon T. Dawson
• Frank (uncredited): Mickey Gilbert
• Bounty Hunter (uncredited): Robert ‘Buzz’ Henry
• Thornton Posse Rider (uncredited): Buck Holland
• Abe (uncredited): Walt La Rue
• Boy Watching Robber Scoop Up Moneybag (uncredited): Matthew Peckinpah
• Phil (uncredited): Jack Williams
• Simkins (uncredited): Joe Yrigoyen

Film Crew:

• Assistant Editor: Joel Cox
• Music Editor: Donald Harris
• Director of Photography: Lucien Ballard
• Gaffer: Don Stott
• Art Direction: Edward Carrere
• Author: Walon Green
• Author: Roy N. Sickner
• Director: Sam Peckinpah
• Producer: Phil Feldman
• Original Music Composer: Jerry Fielding
• Editor: Lou Lombardo
• Makeup Artist: Al Greenway
• Production Manager: William D. Faralla
• Sound Designer: Robert J. Miller
• Special Effects: Bud Hulburd
• Associate Editor: Robert L. Wolfe
• Still Photographer: Bernie Abramson
• Assistant Director: Clifford C. Coleman
• Costume Design: James R. Silke
• Scoring Mixer: Dan Wallin
• Second Unit: Robert ‘Buzz’ Henry
• Sound Effects Editor: Billy Mauch
• Stunts: Joe Yrigoyen
• Sound Effects Editor: John O Young
• Stunts: Jack Williams
• Music Supervisor: Sonny Burke
• Camera Operator: Thomas Laughridge
• Sound Effects Editor: Joe Kavigan
• Stunt Coordinator: Archie Butler
• Script Supervisor: Crayton Smith
• Property Master: Phil A. Ankrom
• Stunts: Mickey Gilbert
• Animal Wrangler: Chema Hernández
• Stunts: Tap Canutt
• Makeup Artist: Keester Sweeney
• Sound Effects Editor: Stanley Martin
• Sound Effects Editor: Bill Rivol
• Supervising Sound Effects Editor: Ed Scheid

Movie Reviews:

• John Chard: Brutal and elegiac masterpiece.

  Outlaws led by Pike Bishop on the Mexican/U.S. frontier face not only the passing of time, but bounty hunters (led by former partner of Pike, Deke Thornton) and the Mexican army as well.

  In 1969 Sam Peckinpah picked up the torch that Arthur Penn lit with 1967’s “Bonnie & Clyde”, and literally poured gasoline on it to impact on cinema to the point that the shock wave is still being felt today. The death of the “Motion Picture Production Code” in 1967 ushered in a new era for cinema goers, it was a time for brave and intelligent directors to step up to the plate to deliver stark and emotive thunder, and with “The Wild Bunch”, director Sam Peckinpah achieved this by the shed load.

  The Wild Bunch doesn’t set out to be liked, it is a harsh eye opening perception of the Western genre, this is the other side of the coin to the millions of Westerns that whoop and holler as the hero gets the girl and rides off into the sunset. Peckinpah’s piece is thematically harsh and sad for the protagonists, for these are men out of their time, this is a despicable group of men, driven by greed and cynicism, they think of nothing to selling arms to a vile amoral army across the border.

  The film opens with a glorious credit sequence as we witness “The Bunch” riding into town, the picture freeze frames in black & white for each credit offering, from here on in we know that we are to witness something different, and yes, something very special. The film is book-ended by ferocious bloody carnage, and sandwiched in the middle is an equally brilliant train robbery and a slow-mo bridge destruction of high quality. Yet the impact of these sequences are only enhanced because the quality of the writing is so good (Walon Green and Roy N. Sickner alongside Peckinpah).

  There’s no pointless discussions or scene filling explanations of the obvious. Each passage, in each segment, is thought through to gain credibility for the shattering and bloody climax. There is of course one massive and intriguing question that hangs over the film – just how did Peckinpah make such low moral men appear as heroes, as the “four outlaws of the apocalypse” stroll into town, their fate to them already known?. Well I’m not here to tell you that because you need to witness the film in its entirety for yourself. But it’s merely one cheeky point of note in a truly majestic piece of work. A film that even today stands up as one of the greatest American films ever made. 10/10