"If they move, kill 'em!"

I just finished watching one of my favorite movies The Wild Bunch.




It is a 1969 Western directed by Sam Peckinpah. A gang known as 'The Wild Bunch' holds up a bank in the beginning of the movie.



The only problem with the hold up is that there is another group of men (more like vultures) waiting in ambush for them.



The bank robbery was a set up and all they get out of it for loot is 2 bags of washers. In the getaway, a temperance parade gets caught in the crossfire and shot up. Pike (played by William Holden) leads the Wild Bunch south into Mexico. Other Wild Bunch members were Dutch (played by Ernest Borgnine), Angel (Jaime Sanchez), and Lyle and Tector Gorch (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson). They are pursued by another gang lead by Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan).

When they get to Mexico they encounter a general who has a plan to steal guns from the American Army. They steal the guns and in the process of getting the money one of the Wild Bunch is taken prisoner and tortured. The Wild Bunch then goes back into the town for a showdown and a tremendous gun battle ensues.


It is a Western set in changing times. It is supposed to take place in 1913, right at the tail end of cowboys, outlaws, train robberies and such. Sam Peckinpah was quoted as saying that he wanted to make a movie about "bad men in changing times."

It is one of my favorite movies and I would highly recommend it. It is also a very historically important movie. Remember that in 1969 we were in the thick of the Vietnam War. The violence in this movie is graphic and some people hated it. Other people said that it just reflected the times in which they were living. In fact this movie and Bonnie and Clyde (both by Peckinpah) are pretty much the reason that there are ratings on films today. If you get a chance, even if you don't like Westerns, rent this movie and watch it with an open mind. This is not your father's Western. I haven't seen many films that can clear the room of women like this one can.

Some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

"If they move, kill 'em!" - Pike
"Ten thousand in gold cuts and awful lot of family ties." - Pike


"We're not associated with anybody." - Dutch

"Let's go." - Pike


"You bastards make one more mistake and I'm going to walk off and let you prairie scum die!" - Deke Thornton

"You just hush now." - Crazy Lee
"How would you like to kiss my sister's butt kid's ass?" - Crazy Lee

Here is a photo of Crazy Lee (Bo Hopkins)



"This is better than a hog killin'!" - Prairie Scum
"You'll learn to live with it, or we'll leave you here." - Pike

"You give your word to a man and you stick by it, and if you can't do that. Your no better than an animal!" - Pike
"What's in Augu Verti?" "Mexicans, what else?"
"We've got to start thinking beyond our guns...those days are closing fast." - Pike
"We are after men, and I wish to God I was with them." - Deke Thornton

and finally, the last line in the movie:

"It ain't like it used to be, but it'll do." - Sykes