The Wild Bunch: Director's Cut - Enzian Theater

100 Years of Sam Peckinpah

Born in Fresno, California, Sam Peckinpah (1925 – 1984) served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II before studying drama and film at USC. An iconic Oscar®-nominated “tough-guy” screenwriter and director, “Bloody Sam” cut his teeth writing for TV westerns in the 1950s, first came to fame with Ride the High Country (1962), and solidified his reputation with The Wild Bunch (1969). Peckinpah followed that—now legendary—film with the succession of Straw Dogs (1971), The Getaway (1972), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) cementing his legacy as master-chronicler of the decline of the Old West as well as a gritty contemporary storyteller. His influence can be felt in the work of John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled), Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi), Quentin Tarantino and Peckinpah’s own protégé protégé Walter Hill (The Warriors). Join Enzian as we celebrate the 100^th birthday of Sam Peckinpah with a screening of his masterwork, The Wild Bunch!

The Wild Bunch: Director’s Cut

Set in 1913 on the verge of modern America, The Wild Bunch follows a group of aging outlaws led by Pike Bishop (William Holden) who are struggling to survive in a changing world where the Old West is vanishing. After a botched railroad office robbery, the gang—composed of veterans like Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine) and the Gorch brothers (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson)—flees to Mexico, pursued relentlessly by a posse led by Pike’s former partner-turned-bounty hunter, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan).

In Mexico, the gang becomes entangled with a corrupt Mexican general, Mapache, agreeing to steal a shipment of U.S. Army weapons for him. But as violence escalates and loyalties fray, the outlaws are forced to confront their own code of honor amid betrayal, shifting allegiances, and the harsh realities of a new world.

Directed by Sam Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch is renowned for its revolutionary editing, graphic violence, and exploration of fading masculinity, making it a landmark in revisionist Western cinema.

1969/1995, 144 minutes, USA, In English, Spanish and German, Directed by Sam Peckinpah, Rated R

“From The Godfather to Heat, the stamp of The Wild Bunch is self-evident. Italian director Carlo Carlei summed up the debt owed to the film and its director when he said, "There is a chain of inspiration like The Bible... Everything comes from Peckinpah."
– John Naughton, EMPIRE
“It remains one of the best-written and best-performed American films of all time.”
– Stephen Hunter, BALTIMORE SUN
“The Wild Bunch is one of the great defining moments of modern movies.”
– Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
“Maybe the best shoot-'em-up ever made, the one that turned meanness into a haunting pictorial poetry and summed up the corruption of guilt, old age and death in the American fantasy of the Old West.”
– Peter Stack, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE