Lists
- ranked 6 in Roger Ebert's Best Films of 1969
- ranked 23 in Men's Journal 50 Best Guy Movies Of All Time
- ranked 28 in Chicago Tribune 100 Best Films of the Century
- ranked 28 in Paul Schrader's Film Canon
- ranked 52 in BBC 100 Greatest American Films
- ranked 55 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 57 in Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
- ranked 59 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 60 in Empire 100 Greatest Movies (1999)
- ranked 62 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 69 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills
- ranked 75 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time
- ranked 80 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
- ranked 86 in Empire 100 Greatest Movies (2003)
- ranked 94 in Empire 500 Greatest Movies (2008)
- ranked 99 in WGA 101 Greatest Screenplays
- ranked 158 in The IMDb Top 250
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of 101^w102 Movies You Must See Before...
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills Nominees
- one of Films Containing the Wilhelm Scream
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Images Journal's 30 Great Westerns
- one of Leonard Maltin's 100 "Must See" Films of the 20th Century
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, 10th Anniversary Edition
I confess that I don't really understand the appeal of Sam Peckinpah -- perhaps something I ought not admit, in case it marks me as a soft-handed milquetoast. A manly man doing manly things could not help but identify with The Wild Bunch's cast of grizzled outlaws, revolutionaries and bounty hunters. There are no women to speak of; it's a man's world.
An ageing gang of criminals (William Holden et al) are pursued by bounty hunters led by a former associate (Robert Ryan). Their quest for a big score -- and safety -- takes them to revolutionary Mexico, which they will not leave alive.
In some respects, it's a charming, evocative illustration of these men's relationships: perhaps not close as brothers, but with the sort of rugged, inexpressive loyalty only available to manly men. (And an illustration of the limits of that loyalty.) At the same time, it's an anti-Western, about the demise of the Old West. And there is a lot of shooting -- par for the Peckinpah course.
I don't think it's good enough at anything it does to be worth watching again.