Pike / William Holden / - the leader of a gang of thugs, who robbed the office of the railway administration and went on the run from power
Dick (Robert Ryan) is a sheriff's deputy, a former associate of Pike, who thundered into prison and got a chance to be released if he can help authorities catch Pike and his gang.
Dutch / Ernest Borgnine / - one of the most senior members of the gang, in fact, Pike's right-hand man
Angel (Jaime Sanchez) - Mexican, gang member, patriot and disillusioned in love young man, as his woman escaped from his native village for a fun life.
Mapache / Emilio Fernandez / - General of Mexican federal troops, a drunkard and womanizer, who gave the task of Pike's gang to steal weapons from Americans
The film is about a time when Mexico was brewing discontent with the military regime of corrupt managers and local residents entered into a struggle with them. About the time when gangs of thugs in their classical understanding have already gone into the past, because even the means of their movement is about to go into oblivion. A time when women and booze were a natural excuse to shoot.
I read that the picture is a landmark for its time, some breakthrough in the genre. That here for the first time were shown so cruel (for their time) scenes that the audience massively left the viewing. Well, we, of course, the cinematic cruelty of this tape will not surprise, but in general the picture is really good.
I can't say I'm really shrill. I didn't have enough female images here. I did not understand whether the director dislikes women: they all here first, only the background, and secondly - very easy in their behavior. Well, or the time was, the place was, everyone was like that, I don't know.
This is a good western, which I can recommend to fans of the genre. For me, for once, but it was a good time.
(Short review on Sam Packinp's Gang) "It's never gonna be like it used to be."
The picture of the cult film director Sam Packinp “The Wild Gang” is a tribute to the old days: the good old days and such concepts as honor and friendship, connected by the barbed wire of sharp violence at the border of the wild west and similar to him that brings with it the murderous twentieth century. Allegorically, this can be compared to the scene where the characters are stuck on a river bridge that is about to explode. The old world is gone, replaced by a revolution in the cynical face of technological progress: the engines of soulless cars instead of stately horses, over whose heads roaring birds with iron wings soon loom. Not all the gold that shines. But not everything is bought for a bag of gold. A savage gang – a small cohort of free-spirited shooters from America, in whose ranks the Mexican Angel (read Angel) – robs banks, gradually moving to the borders of Mexico, where an impenetrable general of the local army awaits them with a report of their work – a secretive fraudster, an alligator-tyrant, although he has plans for military expansion into the insurgent areas of the southern country, still seems to live aimlessly in his gild terrarium armed to the teeth. Our gringos are carrying him a new (captured from the American army) weapon ... which is followed by a plume of violence, the smell of red and red blood and ruthless bloodshed.
The beautiful camera work of Lucien Ballard, a brilliant production, musical accompaniment (with an Oscar nomination) and virtuoso editing in addition to acting charismas, which you are unlikely to dig up anywhere in our time, form a diamond of cinema, the face of which is immortalized by the filigree denouement of the conflict between the Angel and the General. The most powerful catharsis awaits the one who is really imbued with this imprinted - inimitable Pakinpa - male story, witnesses (and even accomplices) of which are growing up among their mentors children. . .
"Wild Gang" - a very textbook, long-stretched quotation Western (perhaps the most American genre of cinema), offering many revolutionary solutions, first of all, the extreme (at that time) level of violence, expressive manner of shooting and demythologization of the characters with their canonical images.
The first thing that catches the eye and does not let go until the very end is the faces of the main characters, members of this very “wild gang”. There is nothing criminal about their faces or even their images. Although Pekingpa creates images of gangsters devoid of any sentimentality and for whom cynicism and violence are a common norm of life, yet the members of the gang have very “humanitarian” faces, so that they can be suspected of brutal robbers. Unlike those who pursue them the whole film - these are just the chosen scum, no doubt pouncing on any carrion, which is why the director rightly compares them with vultures.
The heroes of Pekingpah from the very beginning give the impression of such old robbers, no longer even clinging desperately to life, but on the contrary, seeking to retire as soon as possible. Such a directing choice is not accidental, because the film was shot already at the outset of the genre, when success was enjoyed only by modern stylized spaghetti westerns. Paekinpa’s work, in some ways, is a kind of tribute to the genre, which suddenly became its canon (although at first the tape did not achieve much success). The highlight of the film is just its old schoolness, unlovableness, hardcore. This is a kind of point, summed up for the whole genre. Sam Peckinpa tried to make the western die on the loudest and most sublime note, on which only possible and, I must say, he managed well - the film turned out to be epic, and the notorious demythologization did not destroy purely American myths at all, but on the contrary, it clearly exposed them and found them in rather clever parable scenes and episodes, such as the cruel children's game with ants and scorpions at the beginning of the film.
The apocalyptic battle, very reminiscent of the ending of the film "Butch Kessady and the Sundance Kid" or even the pop-art version of the American epic action movie "Commandos" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, gives the impression of heavenly retribution to sinful Sodom, only instead of fire and sulfur, lead and gunpowder are used here. The Mexicans are presented here as if in the role of an ancient fallen people, who have long lost all the signs of humanity, and therefore their shooting is not perceived as anything more serious than just the slaughter of cattle.
This last crazy final act, when four men fearlessly and openly oppose an army to (supposedly) save their friend, may even seem alien, given the fact that a minute ago they had no fun with local girls, when a few meters away their friend was tortured and probably already dead. No, they didn't go to save him. They just knew it was the end. There is nowhere else to run and this world is no longer for them. Not because the bandit shredded, but probably because they themselves had already outgrown this world, so that they could no longer linger in it. Nevertheless, the captured boy was a great occasion for the last act of nobility, which is so difficult to expect from unscrupulous people - the more weighty their action looks.
With the end of "Wild Gang" ended and the western, making this work an epic apocrypha of the great film genre.
'The Wild Gang' is rightly considered a masterpiece in the Western genre, along with such brilliant works by Sergio Leone as 'The Good, Bad, Evil' and 'Once Upon a Time in the Wild West'. Sam Peckinpa shot a western for centuries with a perfect plot, magnificent characters and a breathtaking finale, which at one time and now plunges into aesthetic shock.
A retiring gang of six thugs performs a final mission, the result of which will allow them to get rich and unleash a civil war on their customer. One of the members of the wild gang ' sharpens the tooth ' on this very customer, as he became the culprits of the death of his own man, which makes it somewhat difficult to fulfill the last order.
In the wake of the gang at the same time is its former member, who is at risk of being behind bars for a long time is forced together with clumsy mercenaries to eliminate six professionals. But will he be able to go against his own? . .
This film work amazes with its consistency and the ideal combination of the classic western and new trends of the time (late 60s), namely: increased cruelty, partly taken from spaghetti westerns, moderate humor with a large abundance of sarcastic component, as well as provocativeness and surprise in the plot twists and turns.
As a result, 'Wild Gang' is an epochal work in the Western genre, demonstrating the novelty in all its cinematic manifestations.
How is it that I, quite familiar with many examples of world cinema, who even thinks I am a moviegoer versed in contemporary art, got to Pekingpah only now? How, reading numerous articles about the origins of Tarantino’s work, did I not come across this iconic name of world cinema? Why picking up the “golden twenty” westerns of all time according to various ratings and reviews of authoritative publications, none of them caught the Pekingpah Gang?
Although, by the way, most of these ratings cause only bewilderment: how can they be a tearful melodrama about the legends of autumn and the most painful, cheeky Costner, dancing with wolves? But there is often no place for Stagecoach 1939 – songs of songs of all Westerns, father, son and the holy spirit of the genre. Or the same Magnificent Seven with McKenna Gold, despite their notorious secondaryity and slick emasculation. No matter how much we despise them, they are classics!
I wonder why the director's name didn't say anything to me before. After all, I remember perfectly well how in the early 80s the boys snatched at his “Convoy”. But only because in the Soviet box office it was marked “children under 16 are not allowed”, and where the travel friend of the trucker bared his chest. And even his “Straw Dogs”, which left an indelible impression, did not leave a mark in the mind to get acquainted with the director’s work in detail. And I discovered Pekingpu just now, having stumbled upon in one of the reviews about Balabanov’s work the significant phrase “and then he took off his head Alfred Garcia”.
And that was a shock. Revelation. Brain explosion. Everything finally fell into place when the final missing puzzle took its rightful place. And it became obvious where the legs of the bully Tarantino, who, as always seemed, was the pioneer of the new Hollywood: naturalistic, deliberately bloody, reckless, eclectic, provocative. Tarantino’s legs grew out of Alfred Garcia Peckinpa’s head! And his influence on the same Scorsese and Wu, as well as on all current cinema, is undeniable. Needless to say, I have now taken on the director with the seriousness of being a surgeon in anatomical theatre. And you didn't.
Westerns, with all their diversity and artistic level, can be divided into subgenres: classical and “cult”, “spaghetti”, pepluma-baiopics, “new wave”, neorealism and art house, parody and remakes, thrash-exploitation ... and other low-level consumer goods, to which the genre slid during its obvious shredding and decline to the 70-ies of the XX century. Just in time for the Pekingpa Gang.
A wild gang can hardly be categorized in any category. It intertwined, as in a wild brew, ketchup low-fault parodies, deliberately naturalistic and cruel films of recent times, iconic spaghetti close-ups and deliberate slowness in the development of action. There is also a clear hint of real historical characters, where the prototypes are taken not by anyone, but by members of the most legendary and influential gang in the history of the Wild West. And in the history of cinema, who doesn't remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? And who in the head will not immediately play "Rayndrops kip folin he may head"?
In the Wild Gang, there are also references to the classic Hollywood westerns of the 40s and 50s with direct quotes from the same Magnificent Seven and other samples of the genre. And the film itself, according to the director, was prepared as a Hollywood response to the “Italian invasion”, designed to revive the fading, shredded to cheap TV series genre. And a similar influence-challenge in the film is also noticeable. And the innovative cinematic techniques used by Pekingpa, long ahead of time, are quite worthy to take the film to the same art house or “new wave”. And, of course, the Wild Gang is a cult film that influenced not only the western genre as such, but also the entire modern cinema.
Peckinpa is undoubtedly an innovator, as he first used many cinematic techniques, then adopted by numerous followers. Turning everything upside down, and at once getting rid of all the old genre stereotypes and clichés. Especially wild for the late 60s looked his rivers of pink blood and the complete absence of a positive single hero, Superman, once again saving the world. As a result, the audience massively left the cinemas, and he eventually burned out at the box office.
What can we say about the final shootout, which Peckinpa filmed with several cameras from different points around the perimeter, using, perhaps for the first time in cinema, the sloumo effect. And having collected a 15-minute scene of six hundred sliced patches, to keep it unthinkable for the then cinema dynamics and intensity. For the whole film was used more than three and a half thousand glues, which at that time was just the height of perfectionism. But even now, 50 years later, the film looks on the same breath, and not without reason is included in the register of cultural heritage of the Library of Congress.
Setting aside attempts to adapt the Wild Gang to at least one of these genres, I dare to call it the strongest and most realistic Western in history. And only the exorbitant love for Sergio Leone and his peaks in the person of “The Good, Bad, Evil” and “Once Upon a Time in the Wild West” do not give the “Wild Gang” the honorary title of Western of all times and peoples.
About the film itself and its exceptional features can be spoken endlessly, finally mired in graphomania and excellent degrees. So I'm not even going to start ...
Baddy Riggo, 20-24.08.2020
In the wild, wild West, a wild, wild gang has emerged in a wild, wild town.
Well, I finally got to the film by Sam Peckinpa ' Wild Gang', this ' deserved classics of the Western' in which a gang of robbers, a “wild gang” of six lucky catchers, too old for daring raids, but still ready to shake the old days and at the outset of their legendary career to show that they still have gunpowder in the gunpowder, goes on their last big case, which will turn into a bloody massacre.
This film was far ahead of its time (as eloquently evidenced by the completely failed box office fees THEN and universal admiration, repeated quotes and mention in honorable places in all & #39;TOP'-s devoted to this genre, NOW).
To be honest, after recently watching another famous film of this director called 'Straw Dogs' as a result of which I was a little disappointed, I approached this creation of Sam with a fair amount of fear. And as it turned out, absolutely in vain!
I was impressed once and for all, almost from the first minute. A truly monumental movie is understood literally at the level of instinct. How is ' tasty' everything is set and filmed: chic, stylish, for centuries. It becomes clear why Quentin Tarantino has this film listed among his favorites and it is clear how many ' cinematographic receptions' he drew from it ' the master of bloody lawlessness'.
The only thing that, perhaps, can be blamed for this film masterpiece is the absence of any 'strictly positive characters' And it would be half the trouble (after all, in the same ' dollar trilogy '); Sergio Leone, the hero of Clint Eastwood, also does not shine with virtues, but here ' trouble' a little different kind.
Almost all, more or less the main characters, do not have a tenth share of the charisma of Clint Eastwood and, in my very modest opinion, they are not particularly worried and not ' more', which leads to easy ' confusion and bewilderment' by the end of the film.
Sometimes after all (even when an outspoken scoundrel is damn charming and charismatic, like the devil himself - involuntarily to him ' sympathize'); Everyone is roughly equal in this regard. And even ' the leader of the wild gang' was quite ' fresh' and ' indigestible' from my point of view.
The only one who more or less ' liked' to me (as far as 'will and character') is the hero of Robert Ryan. He would have had a little more timekeeping and a little more revealed this very character and image. But, apparently, this was not part of the plans and priorities of Sam Peckinpa and therefore, almost all the characters of the film ' Wild Gang' look from my point of view rather little attractive and little expressive.
And although all the prerequisites for their disclosure in the film were, but the director simply did not use them, in my opinion. And therefore (for all its undoubted cinematic merits) 'Wild Banda' will be rated a little lower for me than the cult trilogy ' Western spaghetti' Sergio Leone.
9 out of 10. .
No one idealizes their past as much as Americans do. The era of Prohibition - wine pours a river, Chicago typewriters stuffed with lead the body of a particularly zealous cop, ordinary people in an underground casino play and win, and sometimes lose, all this happens to jazz music, while somewhere nearby there is a charming beauty and looks at the viewer with a languid look. Attractive, isn't it? That's what I mean. The Wild West is no less lively and attractive place - there from time to time pass solitary riders, without a name and without a past, who become either the saviors of a particular settlement or its sentence. Somewhere nearby there are bounty hunters who are trying to catch a particularly dodgy bandit and occasionally shoot at civilians, well, for the sake of prevention. As for the sheriff, he can equally well turn out to be both an honest guy who maintains peace and order in his hometown, and a dishonest guy, and in general a complete villain who also maintains peace and order in his hometown, but his methods are monstrous, even by the standards of that era. On the prairies, the Indians are waging a desperate war with the whites, but this war has already been lost, and the Redskins have no choice but to snap back again and again, and retreat to the mountains. It seems - a creepy era, but at the same time - insanely attractive, due to the fact that justice in any case will be restored, even if the hero of the picture dies, the dead will be avenged, and the survivors will live another week or two in silence and tranquility. Beautiful. But what if you remove excessive romanticism from such films, not try to ennoble certain characters, what will happen? The film “Wild Gang”, which is not without reason considered cult among fans of Westerns. Why? Very good question. Well, let's figure it out.
Maybe it's the first scene? What's so special about this? Young children stuck in a pit with scarlet ants several scorpions and eagerly watch who will eat whom. Yes, only the heroes of history are those scorpions - the deadliest predators in the Wild West that are afraid of no one, no one at all. But the heroes, like the aforementioned scorpions, drove themselves into a pit with ants. Yes, ants are small and it is not difficult to defeat one, the second, the third, but how to cope with the whole anthill, especially if the sky begins to acquire a bloody red light, and the bites of ants are becoming more and more sensitive?
Or maybe it’s because the characters are honest with themselves and with others and don’t try to seem like someone they’re not? For example, the main characters are bandits for whose heads a solid jackpot is assigned, and if so, they will not stand on ceremony and, if necessary, they will hide behind peaceful citizens. Cruel, inhuman and similar scenes clearly do not help to cause sympathy in the eyes of the viewer, but at the same time you realize that this is a common thing. This is natural for those times where human life was worthless, but what was important was money and what it could give. Of course, this was played out in every second western, but to be so cruel and uncompromising? I've probably never seen anything like this before. “The Hateful Eight” doesn’t count, it came out much later.
Or is it that Pike's gang, along with Dick Thorton, are the last members of the old guard? The Wild West has long since entered the era of industrialization. No more Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid and Jesse James. No one is left and Pike's gang is the latest reminder of an irrevocably bygone era. And let this give a certain fatalism, but nevertheless it catches the eye.
Or it’s all about action scenes that are staged so stylishly and qualitatively that you unwittingly transfer yourself to those wild and dangerous times, becoming not so much a casual spectator as a participant in those events. Explosions, shooting chases and, of course, the attack on the train. You didn’t think the movie would do without it, did you? But the most important thing is perhaps the final scene, which in my mind caused a sharp analogy with another, no less legendary film – “The Magnificent Seven”. I won’t go into details, but this scene is the apogee of the whole film. The heroes went to her selflessly and they got what they wanted for a long time.
It is difficult to say what became decisive in this matter, but something tells me that everything is a little bit different. I will not go into the details of the plot, as it is simple and at the same time complex at the same time, which is why it is better to see everything for yourself, so that spoilers do not spoil your impression. And after all, the film is really worth it, since it manages to maintain interest from the very first frames, and when the final credits come, there is nothing left but to applaud the entire crew, because there can be no better ending for such a film. So if you are not indifferent to the Western genre or vice versa, just get acquainted with the genre, then I highly recommend watching the Wild Gang. A bouquet of emotions will be provided to you, that is for sure.
Classic Western of the Last Heroes of the Wild West
The Wild Gang is not another spaghetti western. The film is set not in the middle of the XIX century, but in 1913, when the Wild West as such was no longer there. There were only some “unfinished” bandits, who were hunted by representatives of the law. We hunted, I must say, by a very interesting method – pitting those criminals who voluntarily surrendered and those who refused to enter into an agreement with the authorities. In fact, the heroes of the “Wild Gang” are exactly two such people who are on opposite sides of the law.
Despite the fact that the film contains all the elements of the classic western – a train robbery, an ambush, long shootouts, a confrontation between the hero and the villain – here is a completely different atmosphere, not the same as in other films about the Wild West. It seems that the era of cowboys is irrevocably gone, and thugs running from the law simply do not want to live in the present. Naturally, they will perish – there can be no other way, because the new world of railways and telegraphs does not need such people.
As for everything else, it is worth noting that all the elements of the film are performed at a very high level. Well-staged shootouts, high-quality directing, excellent acting - there are no claims to the Wild Gang and there can not be. Even though it’s a long time (it lasts two and a half hours), the film is not tiresome and looks in one breath.
This is a great movie, unlike other representatives of the genre, the final point of a whole direction of cinema called “spaghetti westerns”.
8.5 out of 10
Favorite Western and just one of my favorite movies in general. Western, with no painted Indians and lightning-fast duels. The scene is the bent Wild West, with railroad tracks and first cars squeezing it. The main characters are cynical killers and robbers, shown in the film almost the last representatives of the “right” wild west, which no longer belongs. Violent shootouts, where for every bad guy killed there are two civilians, the lack of division into good and bad, the pursuers of the Wild Gang are hardly anything better than bandits and do not cause any sympathy. The plot of the film, which begins with talking shots of children who threw a scorpion to the ants, begins to gallop, passing through rabid skirmishes, explosions and robbery of a train, towards the end appears simply a brilliant silent scene in a brothel and everyone understandable “Let s go”, ends with a truly classy brutal massacre.
The mythological sound highlighted in the review is perfectly felt in the last frames of the film, where Pike and his people slowly wander somewhere to a perfectly suitable melody, as if going to the local analogue of Avalon, or where else?
Best Pekingpah Film
I came to see The Wild Gang knowing what Western was like, but not knowing who Sam Peckinpa was or how he made his films. It was a whole new feeling for me to open a movie where you only saw a poster with a title. And then a glimpse of the anime viewed.
That's why I thought things. Could have been lucky or not. I just turned it on, and I woke up two and a half hours later. You could say that I fell into the atmosphere of the wild West, Mexico and violence. It's a very violent movie after all. But from this cruelty, smelling of gunpowder and dust, it also attracts the truth.
In the end, after watching, I was fascinated mainly by the skill of conveying emotions. And also beautifully selected music and actors. In this picture you believe almost unconditionally, that for me is the skill of the director.
10 out of 10
If I value America for anything, it's Jack London, Dashiel Hammett, John Houston and Sam Peckinpu. A nation without roots has only a chance of survival if it constantly struggles with the artificial order of its country. Corrupt policemen, greedy businessmen, intimidated philistines will still lead the state to collapse, but the lone ones of the best American works that oppose them will remain for centuries.
From the first minute to the very end, you know how it's going to end, but it only adds to the tension. When you do not hold on to the coming benefits, it is easy to choose your path, and if there is such an organizer as the hero of William Holden, then success is assured. In addition to the plot and atmosphere attract the attention of stunningly beautiful Mexican women, whom the entire film admires the director. Magnificent cinema, today's heroes of the so-called realistic fighters against the background of the Wild Gang look like pygmies.
The fact that this film directed by Sam Peckinpah turned the Western genre and contributed a lot to the cinema, I heard more than once. So I looked at it. Yes, it is really amazing and unusual.
But it's time to get used to it. It's a Sam Peckinpah movie, damn it! I have not seen him in a way that is dull and unworthy. Well, I've been watching for a while. But Wild Gang is a great movie.
Everything is supposed to start from the beginning. And it is. The squad's coming to the bank. All this is accompanied by credits. And then the fun starts. Immediately and sharply. A robbery with so many shots and casualties, you know, there it is, the Wild West. This is despite the fact that behind the yard in the film is 1913. However, we can talk about the agony of a glorious period in the history of the United States.
I was really amazed. I never expected such a movie from the late sixties. That's great. Funny, sad, epic, loud and brilliant. Sam Peckinpa has done something incredible.
The number of celebrities of that time is very large. If you make a remake (and talk about it), you will have to try to recruit actors. They did everything they could to make it great.
The film is like life itself. There was a shootout, someone died. But we need to relieve the tension. Therefore, there are hamstrings and a large charge of strong and long male laughter. There are several such scenes in the film. I like them as much as I like them.
So, with gunshots and extravagances, the heroes reached Mexico. There they are waiting for a rabid general and a lot of money. But at the very end there will be a shootout. Kind, big, big. Oh, my God, it's like I got into a computer game. Call of Juarez is something! Or, as I think it will be closer, "Desperados."
It remains only to repeat the cry of one of the characters: “Goat guts!” And add from another book - flour thigh and goat's milk!
9 out of 10
Western is a genre that has long been predicted to die. Back in the 70s, it seemed that the genre was dead and everything that could be released in it was released. But in the 21st century, the Western returned to the screens, although it is not very popular now, but has decent samples among the paintings. Although, no matter what, the main masterpieces of this genre remained in the past.
The Wild Gang is without a doubt a cult work and one of such masterpieces. Many still call it the best in the genre - and not surprisingly. The film is impressive – there are large-scale battle scenes, and beautiful landscapes (well, where without them), and believable scenery. Despite the considerable duration of the film is not boring at all - on the contrary, it looks in one breath. And there is plenty of action here - and explosions, and chases, and shootings.
The story is about a gang of elderly criminals. They, like children, played too much at war, and it was time to replace imaginary guns with real ones. And then they could not simply stop, until, at the end of the years, they realized that it was too late to change something. The Wild West fades into the past and with it disappears meaning from the life of the gang, whose members are increasingly wondering - who are we now? Are we now a dangerous gang that everyone is afraid of and in front of which everyone trembles? No, the gang is no longer there, only memories of the adventures experienced together keep them, and loneliness too.
Bandits here in the course of the film, they even become a little cute - you understand that these are not notorious thugs, but just children in the soul, for whom childhood was not enough. Now it's too late for them to grow up. As one of the heroes of the film said: We all dream of being children again. Even the deadliest people. Maybe the worse a person is, the more desperate he runs away from himself.
The finale of this picture, in my opinion, turned out to be very correct and spectacular, and put an end to the existence of the Wild West - there will be no more wild gangs robbing trains and holding the neighborhood in fear. Who knows, the children who burned the scorpion in the yard may not be able to grow up. And with laughter, whole cities will be burned.
“God made men free, but Colt made them equal” – words that catch the essence of the Western. They are stern, harsh and at the same time somewhat hypocritical. Any fool can buy a revolver, but not everyone has the courage to use it for its intended purpose. You can punch holes in tossed coins with twenty steps, and not be able to shoot in the face of the enemy from one and a half meters. Even if your life depends on it. You can think of yourself as cool a thousand times, but by itself, a democratic colt, hanging low on the hips by all the laws of gangfighters, will not raise the amount of remuneration on posters with the inscription WANTED to a round figure. Just like anyone in Pike Bishop’s savage gang, a man who, despite his church name, will not turn the other cheek and forgive offenders. He will kill without praying for the rest of his soul, and leave the corpse to feed the vultures. However, the people representing the law here are almost worse than the bandits. The vast, desolate, wild West is a place where it’s hard to do justice, which is why this false phrase about the colt was born. Take the gun and protect yourself. Only the law of force is in effect, and by such a law lives a wild gang and a "Wild Gang."
Hope for a classic western with reference heroes and incorruptible sheriffs evaporates in the first fifteen minutes of the film. The shootout of conditionally good with conditionally bad turns into a real massacre, and bullets-fools find, as a rule, far from those who are needed. Children throw scorpions into the den of red ants and smile like little angels watching them suffer. Instead of brave heroes, cynical scum, instead of fatal beauties, dragged whores, instead of duels, shots in the back - this is all the Wild Gang. Sam Peckinpa wrote about the fact that old people do not belong here almost forty years before the Coen. Although, by conscience, the elderly here feel good, while at the bottom of the bottle splashes a little whiskey.
Surprisingly, the obviously painted blood in the film looks very juicy and natural. And there is a lot of blood, a lot of blood, because not everyone who has a revolver is a man, but a man who does not have a revolver is unthinkable and pathetic. Guns here begin to shoot before they are hung on the wall, for a good gun is not an element of decor, but the best way to make a hole in your neighbor. Heroes roar like horses, although there is little funny. Horses are silent and do not even shy away from corpses and shooting, because they are used to it. Quietly rotting in its swamp, Peckinpah’s western genre reanimates harshly, breaking stereotypes and setting its own shooting rules. During the final fight, the montage with a distraught mustang rushes at a speed of 65 glues per minute, and at this stage, you seem to even forget to breathe. The winner is not the one with the truth, but the one who grabbed the revolver first. These people do not ask what is the strength, brother, for shots are more eloquent than words, and the answer lies on the surface. Stronger is the one who survived. Well, or at least found the strength to die with dignity, because, perhaps, in the next world it will count, since there is no one to wait for prayers and absolution of sins.