THE WILD BUNCH (1969) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | **MOVIE REACTION**

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Where does "The Wild Bunch" rank among your favourite Westerns?

[@peterengelen2794]

Imo, it is actually one of the greatest (if not so, perfect) movies ever made. Sam Peckinpah is also one of my favorite directors of all time. My favorite Peckinpah movies are (of course) ''The Wild Bunch'', ''Straw Dogs'', ''The Getaway'', ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' and ''Cross of Iron''. And two other classic westerns: 'Ride the High Country'' & ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'''.

[@GetMeThere1]

I rank it right at the top. Peckinpah had interesting and passionate things to say about life, and he expressed them best through the western. His other great film is Straw Dogs (1971) -- another one-of-a-kind, which would make an awesome reaction video.

[@teastrainer3604]

One of the very best. I think Ride the High Country is just as good. Peckinpah started his career writing teleplays for Gunsmoke, and he used to people in this movie who were frequent guests on that show -- Warren Oates, Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@peterengelen2794 Ride The High Country and The Getaway are two I'll definitely be watching 👍

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@GetMeThere1 I'll have to check out Straw Dogs then as I really enjoyed The Wild Bunch.

[@stillaboveground2470]

So many great quotes from this movie... My favorite quote: Don Jose: "We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all."

[@IrishGuyReacts]

A film that made you reflect on top of the entertaining set pieces.

[@nedludd7622]

My favorite is Borgnine saying, "It's not giving your word, it's who you are giving your word to."

[@petergaynes9201]

I love how the characters here are simple men of few words. There's no lengthy, unnecessary monologues like the kind that plague Tarantino films.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I guess it can work both ways. I really enjoyed this film. But I also think Pulp Fiction is a very well made film

[@OroborusFMA]

Tarantino makes live action Road Runner cartoons. Total hack. Don't compare a hack to something as well crafted as this.

[@MikeBarratt-lk3gt]

One of the most influential westerns and films of all time.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Definitely up there for me among the Westerns I've seen.

[@pleasantvalleypickerca7681]

One of the best westerns. Inteligent, well paced, intense with a great story and cast.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Wholeheartedly agree.

[@VIDSTORAGE]

I wore this out in the VCR , it is the wildest of all the Westerns .Peckinpah and his cast delivered

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I miss the days of renting films on video. It was always such an event

[@VIDSTORAGE]

@@IrishGuyReacts Me too bro..Let's start up a Retro Rent A Video Tape business ..It can only go 2 ways ye know lol..I got to see a lot of movies on rented VHS tapes that I could not see when I was too young to buy a ticket for an R Rated film here in the US .. I rented TW Bunch and then copied it on to a blank VHS and looked at it 200 times or more because it was so damn good ,..it was addictive .. I have not seen it in a very long time ,maybe over 20 years and now it still is timeless ..Classics of anything of art forms never gets old .

[@wraithby]

The theme of this film is very dark indeed. The opening sequence with the children, the ants and the scorpion sets out that sadism, violence, betrayal, greed are central to the human condition. The director, Sam Peckinpah, was a dark character himself. This film is unrelenting in showing that darkness. But the ending where Robert Ryan joins up again with the Old Man, shows that there is some standard of honor and dignity, even in chaos and degradation. The Bunch did have some measure of loyalty to each other and they went out aware that they weren't the lowest of the low. Just a fantastic cast in this film topped by William Holden and Robert Ryan to Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, two classic baddies Strother Martin and Justus McQueen.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Our heroes are flawed. It's not a straight bad guys vs good guys

[@johnorr9373]

Best Western ever. All on film no CGI

[@richardscanlan3419]

It's certainly up there.

[@johnbrowne2170]

I'd rate it with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as the two best westerns ever made.

[@richardscanlan3419]

@@johnbrowne2170 funnily enough, as spaghetti westerns go I preferred Once Upon A Time In The West.

[@johnbrowne2170]

@@richardscanlan3419 I liked the humour in The Good, plus the soundtrack was incredible. I bought the album the next week.

[@richardscanlan3419]

@@johnbrowne2170 correct on both couints. I remember one scene where Clint picks up a note - and it says something about an idiot.He passes it to Eli Wallach,with the comnment 'it's for you". I absolutely piussed myself,the humour was,as you say,top notch.

[@barryscott8041]

I'm old enough to remember, when this movie came out, there was "controversy".....about the violence.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Yeah, I can see why the violence might have been a little shocking for the time. It is quite gruesome.

[@BigGator5]

They are not altogether wrong. A staggering amount of people die. Body count: 145 (22 in the opening shootout and 112 in the climactic battle). Go with God and Be Safe from Evil. 😎 👍

[@michaelbrennick]

You didn't recognize the great Robert Ryan, (Deke).....and the bad guy in The Naked Spur. One of the great all time casts. Great movie.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Yeah, I don't know how I missed that. He looked quite a bit different I guess.

[@barryscott8041]

@@IrishGuyReacts There were some years between the 2 film's production

[@careycarson7629]

Ants and Scorpions. Foreshadowing at its finest.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Fantastic they it's used.

[@Verdenfell]

​@@IrishGuyReactsActually the ants & scorpion bit was suggested by Emilio Fernandez based on his real life experience

[@mickyandrosie]

I knew you'd love it! a masterpiece for sure. someone in the comments recommended "McCabe and Mrs. Miller,' as another great 'western' to watch I second that!

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Yes, that one has been on my list for a good long while. I definitely need to see it.

[@tjtenser7828]

I really wish more reactors would react to this masterpiece and also Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973) The Ballad Of Cable Hogue (1970) and Straw Dogs (1971) also by Sam Peckinpah.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I plan to watch The Ballad Of Cable Hogue. Straw Dogs may be on the list also

[@AceMoonshot]

For me the best part is before their götterdämmerung. Dutch is not partaking in the prostitutes because he is just too upset. Then the Gorch's argument with the price for the soil doves. While Pike overpays without a word....And then in a totally wordless scene, they all decide to do it. No discussion or plan or debate. Just a look of, "let's do this." And we as the audience know what is coming. Brilliant filmmaking.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

It's a brilliant moment in the film

[@tjtenser7828]

Really are some of the best moments in cinema history.

[@user-jr5ql3yq2p]

@@IrishGuyReacts Let's go. Why not? Stunning line. Perfect.

[@tmrezzek5728]

Great reaction! Quite a story how this film got made. Sam Peckinpah was a Hollywood pariah after the drunken/drug addled clusterfucks of Major Dundee (1965) and getting fired from The Cincinnati Kid. He then directed a TV adaptation of the Katharine Anne Porter's novel Noon Wine which received accolades and redeemed his rep. This led to The Wild Bunch; it's violent, yeah, but the script and performances raise it WAY above exploitation junk and make it one if the great American films. Peckinpah was like John Ford in that they were at heart artists, yet both cultivated an image of a hard-nosed director. The tragic difference is that Ford could handle his liquor better and didn't get hooked on drugs.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Shit, wasn't aware Peckinpah struggled with addiction. Major Dundee is another on my watchlist. Doesn't that star Charlton Heston?

[@tmrezzek5728]

Yeah, it's actually one of Charlton Heston's best performances. The studio butchered the film and the original cut was thought lost until it was restored in 2005. The restored version is definitely worth a look.@@IrishGuyReacts

[@AngryJT]

If you played the Red Dead games, The Wild Bunch is basically both games in one. From Pike's side you have Dutch's gang's last days, and from Thornton's side you have John forced to search for the remaining members of his former gang.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I've only played it sporadically. I must return to it

[@clarencewalker3925]

Emilio Fernandez, who played the Mexican general, fought along side Emiliano Zapata during the Mexican Revolution.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Wow! Art imitating life as I like to say

[@nedludd7622]

@@IrishGuyReactsActually he was with de la Huerta.

[@psychedelicpucho]

He was also an accomplished director himself as well as the male model that the academy award statue was based on. That happened obviously in his younger more svelte days.

[@barryscott8041]

The guy with the moustache....is Robert Ryan. He was the Villain in The Naked Spur

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Yeah, can't believe I didn't pick up on that.

[@sdkelmaruecan2907]

And now the best you can do is watch the Western Sam Peckinpah did right after this one: "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" with Jason Robards and Stella Stevens, it's a romance and a comedy, full of saucy dialogue, you'll love it

[@IrishGuyReacts]

"The Ballad of Cable Hogue" is on the list of Western Watchlist 👍. I've heard good things about it

[@tjtenser7828]

Cable Hogue is another of Peckinpah's best.

[@peterengelen2794]

''Let's go!''

[@IrishGuyReacts]

A great film

[@barryscott8041]

@@IrishGuyReacts When William Holden says "Let's go", meaning 'Let's go get Angel,' I saw a lady Reactor totally astonished. As the four men strode towards their last showdown, this lady says "What are they doing??? They're gonna get killed!!!"..... I understood it, but it's not easy to 'explain'.

[@johnbrowne2170]

"If they move, kill 'em." I remember after that line turninng to my buddy in our theatre seats and saying "This is going to be good."

[@mrgclough]

It's hard for people today to realize how radical was the violence in this film. It was unheard of. Previously, when someone was shot, they fell, and mostly didn't even show any blood. Certainly didn't show spurts of blood emanating from a bullet strike. Tarantino owes much to Peckinpah for his violence being accepted. And the setting in the turn of the century was unique at the time for westerns. The technology is accurate, the car, the Colt. 38 semiauto an early military issue popular with criminals which preceded the Colt 1911 .45, and the machine gun model.

[@swann433]

One of the best but one upon a time in the west is the best film ever made imo...

[@thomasfleischer83]

How do you think about "The great Silence " and "Keoma "?

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@thomasfleischer83 "The Great Silence" I have watched on the channel. One of the most shocking endings. Have not seen "Keoma" as of yet

[@mikecaetano]

Peckinpah wastes little time getting to the ultra violence by staging a gun battle in the middle of a parade. The bridge section full of men on horseback collapsing into the river was an iconic scene for a time back when. And then the momentary shock when the Wild Bunch reacts to the sudden killing of their friend by shooting dead the generalismo who slit his throat, right before all hell breaks loose with the Gatling gun at thirty paces. The epic scale of The Wild Bunch fits well with its contemporaries, Once Upon A Time in the West and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Robert Ryan played the conniving bad guy in Naked Spur. William Holden played the doctor in the Horse Soldiers, as well as the leads in Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Stalag 17. Peckinpah owned a house around the corner from the elementary school I went to in sixth grade back in the late seventies. His family moved to California during the gold rush and later owned a lumber mill in the nearby mountains. My father lives on a street named after his grandfather, who was a local politician from the teens into the thirties. Kinda crazy.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

That's wild! At that time were you aware of who he was or was it years later you found out he lived so close to your school?

[@thomasfleischer83]

Beside "The great Silence " and "Keoma " my alltime fave in Western Genre. ❤

[@Blue-Dog]

Have u ever seen 'The Man From Snowy River'? It's an Australian movie, early colonial days and a good yarn based on a poem by Banjo Paterson.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I have not but I'll put it onto my watchlist. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@Blue-Dog]

@@IrishGuyReacts 🦘🙃👍

[@elchoya8432]

the three greatest westerns ever made,SHANE 1953,THE SEARCHERS 1956 and this masterpiece THE WILD BUNCH 1969,holden was never better than this

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I love when people give their top tier lists. Very tough but I might go with THE OX-BOW INCIDENT, UNFORGIVEN & Maybe THE BIG COUNTRY

[@psychedelicpucho]

@@IrishGuyReacts watch the Wild Bunch 5 more times. It’s really too thick of a movie to fully appreciate after one viewing.

[@BigGator5]

"We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all." Fun Fact: Theatrical movie debut of Bo Hopkins. Casting Notes Fact: Director Sam Peckinpah cast Bo Hopkins after seeing him on television. What Script Fact: Reportedly, the train robbery itself was not in the script. All scenes were improvised on the spot, the same day. Same thing with "the walk" for the Bunch to help Angel (Jamie Sánchez). Director's Revenge Fact: In an interview, Ben Johnson said that the Mexican women who "frolicked" with him and Warren Oates in the huge wine vats weren't actresses but prostitutes from a nearby brothel, who were hired by Sam Peckinpah so he could tell people that Warner Bros. paid for hookers for his cast. Robert Ryan's incessant complaints about not receiving top billing so annoyed director Sam Peckinpah that he decided to "punish" Ryan. In the opening credits, after freezing the screen on closeups of William Holden's and Ernest Borgnine's faces while listing them, Peckinpah froze the scene on several horses' rear ends as Ryan was listed. Anamorphic Effect Fact: The film was shot with the anamorphic process. Sam Peckinpah and his cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, also made use of telephoto lenses, that allowed for objects and people in both the background and foreground to be compressed in perspective. The effect is best seen in the shots where the Bunch makes "the walk" to Mapache's (Emilio Fernández) headquarters to free Angel (Jamie Sánchez). As they walk forward, a constant flow of people passes between them and the camera; most of the people in the foreground are as sharply focused as the Bunch. The editing of the film is notable in that shots from multiple angles were spliced together in rapid succession, often at different speeds, placing greater emphasis on the chaotic nature of the action and the gunfights. Gun Enthusiast Fact: The "modern" sidearms (the film's setting is 1916) that the Bishop gang carries are Colt M1911 automatic pistols and Winchester M1897 pump-action shotguns. The water-cooled heavy machine gun is the Browning M1917. US and Mexican soldiers use M1903 Springfield rifles. All of the aforementioned weapons were used in World War I by the US Army. While the 1897 Winchester shotgun was featured prominently, they were not used exclusively by the Bunch. The shotgun that Crazy Lee (Bo Hopkins) had at the start of the movie in the railroad office did not have an exposed hammer, which is something all 1897s have. Neither the 1897 nor the Winchester Model 12 had a trigger disconnector, which means that the trigger could be continually depressed and every time the slide was pumped it would fire. Since this was what we see the Bunch doing as they are firing through the railroad office windows at the bounty hunters on the roof, at least the shotgun that Crazy Lee loaned briefly to Abe (Walt La Rue) must have been an M12, based on it not having an exposed hammer. This can be seen most clearly when Crazy Lee is firing at the three people he was holding in the office, after they tried to escape.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

That prostitutes story is wild 😂 I'm sure the executives at Warner Brothers were thrilled

[@wadeheaton123]

Not Colt, Remington 1911.

[@hookalakah]

"The Wild Bunch" occupies the third position in my own personal Western Cinema Trifecta, Irish--beginning with "The Magnificent Seven" and following up with "The Professionals." If you haven't seen either of them, you'd like them.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I haven't seen "The Professionals" yet but it is on my list.

[@PatrickC-oh1wy]

can't recall who i'm quoting here...but when you look at william holden the whole map of the usa is there on his face. he was only 52 in this movie.

[@Verdenfell]

Heavy drinking had taken it's toll already, eventually ending his life

[@Divamarja_CA]

Classic, plus my BF Robert Ryan!

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I can't believe I didn't recognise him from The Naked Spur given that I had recently watched it.

[@DogFlavor]

The Borgnine Trio rides again!

[@elchoya8432]

i loved BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID `1969,didnt like unforgivin

[@IrishGuyReacts]

The beauty of varying opinions. 👍

[@psychedelicpucho]

I love both Unforgiven and Butch and Sundance, but neither is in the class of the Wild Bunch in my opinion.

[@frankbolger3969]

I deliberately wrote my first comment before viewing your verdict because I didn't want it to influence my own true opinion. As I said, I like this film, but it doesn't grab me. It's not one of those films I practically must watch whenever it's on, like "Ride The High Country," or "Destry Rides Again." I like to have somebody to root for. For an offbeat western of similar vintage, you might try "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, with haunting music by Leonhard Cohen.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

"Destroy Rides Again" was a really fun film. I intend to watch "Ride The High Country". 👍

[@frankbolger3969]

So glad you enjoyed Destry Rides Again. Not a GREAT western, but just so much fun. (The Audie Murphy remake in the Fifties was dull as dishwater.)@@IrishGuyReacts

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@frankbolger3969 They remade it?

[@frankbolger3969]

Yes. It seems strange that what seemed racy in the 1930s is very tame in the 1950s; what went down your gullet in one era like first rate whiskey tasted more like malted milk in in the Fifties. I don't blame Audie Muirphy. It had more to do with the tenor of the times. Oddly, the remake was simply called "Destry."@@IrishGuyReacts

[@kennyb50]

I'm with you on McCabe and Mrs Miller. Destry rides again ? Not so much.

[@KrazyKat007]

I watched this video when it premiered. Just now getting to commenting. Knew you’d love it! I’m sure you’ve played some Red Dead Redemption in your time. I didn’t hear you mention it in the video, but watching the film, you can see how big an influence this film in particular was on Red Dead Redemption and the epic lore of that game. There are some one to one correlations such as the old man and Uncle from Red Dead Redemption. And Angel to the character of Javier Esquella in Red Dead. And the general plot idea of a former gang member being used by the government to hunt down his former fellow gang members. Highly recommend looking into more of this director (Sam Peckinpah) and some of his non westerns. In particular “Straw Dogs” with Dustin Hoffman.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I thought of you when I watched it as you had recommended it quite often. It definitely lived up to its billing. I've only played Red Dead Redmption a couple of times. I would like to play it in more depth. Looking forward to watching more of Peckinpah's work.

[@KrazyKat007]

@@IrishGuyReacts Bruh… When you got the time, do yourself a favor and properly dive into those games. Maybe you can do them for KZbin. It’s an enormous investment of time, but it is absolutely worth it. Those games have a profound power like no other! Chronologically Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place before the first Red Dead Redemption. Though since it was a considerable number of years between the two games. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a much more sophisticated and elaborate game than the first one. Though the first RDR game is still a very impressive and beautiful looking game in its own right. Chronologically speaking and with the story, the narrative of 2 can flow right into 1 though. And if you don’t already know the bigger story, playing it this way can be quite satisfying and rewarding.

[@Jer-7007]

This movie tricks you. It looks like a western but it's not really a western, at all. It takes place in the west (Texas and Mexico) where a lot of people still ride horses and dress like cowboys - but it simply isn't the period of the old west (which ended with the 1880s). This movie takes place in (or perhaps just before) the World War One era (1914-1918). There is a motor car, there is a machine gun, there are WWI-style army uniforms, and there are Colt M-1911 semi-automatic pistols (which were the standard US military sidearm from WWI through Vietnam). So it's like a neo-western, or post-western of some sort.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I think you make a fair point there. Duck You Sucker could fall under the same category.

[@alien6551]

This movie been cut to shreds, nothing like the 1970s version, a great movie spoiled by the cuts the directors cut is bull

[@wadeheaton123]

Like this one? Try THE PROFESSIONALS.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

It's on my watchlist 👍

[@slowerthinker]

I've always been mixed about this one. The leads are all very charasmatic and I enjoy watching them in this film. I like the story of 'one last big job' whilst being pursued by a former gang member who was caught and compelled to work for the authorities. However, when the shooting starts I lose all interest. Especially when the slow motion close ups of blood splattering starts. The violence is neither realistic nor stylish. I remember rather enjoying the Peckinpah war movie _Cross of Iron_ although I haven't seen that for many many years and think it might have some similar faults. The difference in my attitude may well be down to the fact that _Wild Bunch_ was hyped up a great deal before I saw it whereas _Cross of Iron_ was just a film that happened to be on late one night that I watched. It might have also grabbed my attention more as I think it was probably the first WW2 film I had seen from a German perspective and also the first I had seen that was set on the Eastern front.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I definitely want to watch more films in his catalogue as I was very impressed by "The Wild Bunch"

[@tjtenser7828]

The violence is actually very realistic in Peckinpah movies and this is no exception. Much better than the glorified and unrealistic violence in many other movies.

[@tooluser]

not my favorite, but a good fil-um nonetheless.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Very entertaining fil-um 😂

[@petenorton883]

Very interesting that I share your views about this and duck you sucker, and I think it may be that we both like a certain darkness in the films and find more hollywoodesque happy characters movies like Butch Cassidy rather trivial. By the way Imagine that you are from Cork from the way you pronounce th...😀Beautiful city

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I'm actually from Tipperary, it seems to happen in many counties lol Glad to hear you hold 'Duck You Sucker' in such high regard too.

[@petenorton883]

@@IrishGuyReacts Thanks mate. I am an old Englishman who first travelled around Irlenad at the height of the "troubles" and never met anything except courtesy and good manners. I think you should watch Ulzana's raid". It has a somewhat anti native american subtext, perhaps because it was at the time of the Vietnam war when an anti NLF subtect was equally common, but is s great film in my opinion.

[@DannyWalker1963]

Do you have to put the words Irish Guy over the movie?

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I would rather not but it's to try avoid copyright claims.

[@DannyWalker1963]

@IrishGuyReacts I would watch more but it ruins the movie you are watching.. I wish you the best

[@frankbolger3969]

Agree wholeheartedly about Butch Cassidy film. It's a lot of fun, but hardly a great or even very good western. Feel somewhat similarly about The Wild Bunch. It's a good, entertaining movie. It has one of the best cast of male leads you could ever hope to see. There are a couple of problems. First, that whole slow motion violence thing that seemed so revolutionary at the time does not hold up well. The screenplay is muddled and does not really hold my interest . I'm somewhat biased because Peckinpah's "Ride The High Country" is one of my all time favorite films, let alone westerns. Then, there is the little matter of pilfering the Wild Bunch brand when this movie has nothing to do with the historical outlaw gang. This is a fun watch with some great actors, but not much more than that. Great reaction, as usual.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Glad you enjoyed the reaction. Yeah, I was just taken aback of how well regarded Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is. But it's all opinion at the end of the day. This one I thought was great though.

[@solvingpolitics3172]

This was a good film. You really love your Westerns. Hey have you ever seen this movie, it is one of my favorites and almost nobody has reacted to it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqa8k2mQg7aUkNEsi=bXHNdkv6ucsufg0G

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I've not seen that one. Might throw it on the watchlist 👍

[@solvingpolitics3172]

@@IrishGuyReacts I tell you it was a quality movie. Great work by Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones. Keep up the great job my friend. Looking forward to more of your reactions!

[@IrishGuyReacts]

​@@solvingpolitics3172Thanks so much for the kind words and support . Always appreciated.

[@solvingpolitics3172]

@@IrishGuyReacts You are doing the right things to grow your channel: 1. Respond to comments. 2. Keep pushing out content. 3. Keep publishing consistently at the same days and time.