With their second round pick, team
Lucky the Donkey is proud to select
The Wild Bunch in the Western category.
From Wikipedia:
The Wild Bunch is noted for intricate, multi-angle editing, using normal and
slow motion images, revolutionary cinema technique in 1969. The
Walon Green-, Roy N. Sickner-, and Sam Peckinpah-written screenplay was nominated for a best-screenplay
Academy Award;
Jerry Fielding's music was nominated for
Best Original Score; director Peckinpah was nominated for an Outstanding Directorial Achievement award by the
Directors Guild of America; and cinematographer
Lucien Ballard won the
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography.
[1]
In 1999, the U.S.
National Film Registry selected it for preservation in the
Library of Congress as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.
To put it in my own words, this movie is simply classic and amazing. Yes, the cinematography is stellar. This is also unofficially credited (according to my father) with strongly nudging the creation of the MPAA ratings system due to it's shocking and brutal violence, this movie transcends being a simple shock film.
The acting - extraordinary. The characters - vile and despicable but also sympathetic and impressive. A true "root for the bad guy" movie, Peckinpah's intended attempt to disgust the viewers with awful and graphic violence only made the movie more popular, perhaps saying something about all of us.
The opening credits, with the children torturing the scorpion into killing itself, set the tone and mood for the entire movie.
Attention: Clips are more than likely NSFW.
Opening Credits:
Trailer:
The great "They!" dialog (I love the crazy old man)
The final shootout:
I can watch this movie over and over. No better western has been made in my opinion.