The Wild bunch

The Wild Bunch by Sam Peckinpah opens with a group of aging outlaw’s final score, a bank robbery.

The event concludes with a violent and overtly bloody shootout that would generally mark the finale of a movie. This is correct in that it marks the finale of an era, for the characters and the world they live in. They simply can no longer keep up, the times are changing, technology advancing, and they’re style of life is getting left behind in the dust that they spent so long galloping through.

Warner Bros. resubmitted the film to the MPAA ratings board prior to an expected re-release, the originally R-rated film was given an NC-17, delaying the release until the decision was appealed.

Several versions of the film exist

• The original, 1969 European release is 145 minutes long, with an intermission (per distributor’s request, before the train robbery).
• The original, 1969 American release is 143 minutes long.
• The second, 1969 American release is 135 minutes long, shortened to allow more screenings.
• The 1995 re-release is 145 minutes long, identical to the 1969 European release, the version labeled ‘The Original Director’s Cut’, by Sam Peckinpah available in home video.

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