Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The Ultimate Collector's Edition

 

 

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How do you ensure somebody's legacy as a hero? In the good old days, you wrote a book. Nowadays, you make a movie -- and if you're lucky and it's really, really successful, you can retrospectively even make legends out of dangerous criminals. Not that that always works, of course. But with two great actors with instant chemistry (Paul Newman and Robert Redford), a script (by William Goldman) bursting with one-liners making the audience bowl over laughing every other minute, without once derailing into slapstick, a director's (George Roy Hill's) ingenious use of the occasion to turn a whole genre on its head, and some of the world's most beautiful locations, filmed by an exceptional cinematographer (Conrad Hall) ... you just may pull it off. Case in point: "Butch and Sundance."

While Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) was known as the Old West's Robin Hood for his charm, masterly planning, avoidance of bloodshed -- he really did claim he'd never shot anyone -- and his stance for settlers' rights vis-a-vis the wealthy cattle barons, Sundance (Henry Longbaugh) had the reputation of a loner; a fast draw repeatedly in and out of prison before even turning twenty-one. After several of their Wild Bunch/Hole in the Wall Gang associates had seen the short end of the stick in various encounters with the law, Butch and Sundance determined things were getting too hot in the West and, unlike the outlaws who not much earlier had stood it out until the end (Billy the Kid, the James Gang and the O.K. Corral gunfighters), decided to head for South America. With a woman named Etta Place, possibly a teacher as portrayed here or, perhaps more likely, a prostitute, they first spent several years farming in Argentina - both had done cattle work before turning to robbery, although in the form of rustling (stealing unbranded cattle) -- but eventually reverted to their more profitable, preferred occupation. Most sources believe they died in a 1909 shootout with the Bolivian military in a town named San Vicente; others, however, claim either or both escaped alive, returned to the States under assumed names and died there (Sundance in Casper, WY in 1957 and Cassidy, according to his sister, in Spokane, WA, in 1937).

While their decision to leave the West instead of duking it out with the law and the mystery surrounding their deaths would already have made for a great movie, director Hill cleverly used the material for a 180-degree-turn on the Western genre. The opening credits roll next to sepia-tinged silent shots depicting a Hole in the Wall Gang train robbery, followed by the bold claim that "most of what follows is true" -- which in itself couldn't be further from the truth. What does follow is a wild ride from the Outlaw Trail to Bolivia ... during which our heroes aren't getting rid of their pursuers, no Western music with guitars and harmonicas accompanies them but Burt Bacharach's multiple-award-winning, deliberately anachronistic, upbeat score (plus "Raindrops Are Falling on My Head" during the most romantic scene -- raindrops???), a knife fight is settled by a kick in the groin, and a marshal trying to assemble a posse first meets with a lackluster population, neither willing to bring their own horses and guns nor clamoring to be supplied with such by him, and in short order sees his meeting usurped by a bicycle salesman. Add to that Oscar-winning cinematography, repeatedly using black-and-white lighting techniques even after the film's switch to color (e.g. in Sundance's first visit with Etta), reverse lighting to make daytime shots look like nighttime (during several scenes of the pursuit) and sepia-tinted shots for period feeling (besides the opening, also to sum up the trio's stay in New York), a Bolivian bank robbery with a crib sheet containing "specialized vocabulary" that Butch, contrary to initial claims, doesn't know in Spanish, and an immortalizing freeze-frame ending -- and you have one heck of an entertaining movie, shot in some of the West's most spectacular settings and in Mexico (as Bolivia's stand-in).

"Butch and Sundance" turned Redford into a megastar -- Hill lobbied hard for the then-perceived "playboy"'s casting, and his instincts proved so dead-on that Newman's entourage became worried the movie's expected primary star would be sidelined (a feeling never shared by Newman himself, though, who has been friends with Redford ever since). In a twist worthy of Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay, fearsome loner Sundance became one of Redford's most popular roles, and his independent film festival's namesake. The movie renewed popular interest in the Outlaw Trail, which Redford himself traveled later, too (chronicled in a fascinating, alas out-of-print book). Its script is littered with memorable one-liners; from both heroes' "Who *are* those guys??" to Butch's comments on the small price to pay for beauty, on Sundance's gun-prowess ("like I've been telling you -- over the hill"), on vision, bifocals and Bolivia, on Sundance's asking Etta (Katherine Ross) to accompany them, although if she'll ever "whine or make a nuisance," he'll be "dumping her flat" ("Don't sugarcoat it like that, Kid ... tell her straight!") and his downplaying the final shootout because their archenemy LaForce isn't there; Sundance's "You just keep thinking, Butch," his comments on the secret of his gambling success (prayer), on not being picky about women (followed by a litany of required attributes), on the excessive use of dynamite, and his one weakness ("I can't swim!!"); and finally Strother Martin/mine-owner Percy Garris's deadpan delivery of the Shanghai Rooster song, of "Morons ... I've got morons on my team" and his assertion not to be crazy but merely colorful. The famous freeze-frame ending has repeatedly been cited, both cinematographically (e.g. "Thelma and Louise") and in dialogue (e.g. 1998's "Negotiator"). And although initially almost uniformly panned by critics, the movie won quadruple Oscars and multiple other awards. In true Hollywood fashion, it has made two fearsome outlaws legends forever ... and in the process, also won legendary status itself.

BLU-RAY review

No matter if you consider this film the last big studio western or maybe the first of numerous post-westerns to come, this still is one of the funniest, most entertaining movies to come out of Hollywood! Unfortunately though 2oth Fox's Blu-ray definitely falls short to keep up with this pedigree.

Film: 9/10
Picture quality: 4.5/10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (orig.)
Extras: 7/10
- Making of 35'
- The true story 25'
- Commentary by director George Roy Hill, DP Conrad L. Hall and others
- Deleted scene
- Trailer

Image of this Blu-ray is lacking contrast, picture resolution and has some focus problems.
Please see:
TC 00:11:40; 00:22:55; 00:32:58; 00:33:24;00:55:55;
00:56:12; 01:01:17; 01:01:54: 01:02:21; 01:04:12; 01:06:22 etc.

Directed by George Roy Hill
Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
110 minutes

***Spoilers within***

Video:
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital Mono
French: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean

I don't like westerns, but this isn't a traditional western.

The film has a stylized look featuring photographs and a sepia tinge in many of the scenes to remind us that we are looking at an old story. I didn't care for it, but I understand why the choice was made.

I remember seeing the film in the early 70s on TV. Our newspaper's film critic had a ratings system consisting of excellent, very good, good, average and poor. He invented a new rating just for this movie: marvelous. I have no idea why I remember that.

The movie won four Oscars:

Cinematography - Conrad L. Hall (Cool Hand Luke, American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Marathon Man)
This was deserved. Some of the chase scenes were spectacular.

Original Song - Burt Bacharach/Hal David
Raindrops is certainly memorable, but I don't think it fit the feel of the movie and shouldn't have been included.

Score - Burt Bacharach
Good overall, but could have done without raindrops and some of the music used during the montage scenes.

Screenplay - William Goldman (Heat, Princess Bride, Marathon Man, Absolute Power, Misery)
Thoroughly deserved. The dialogue carried the movie and Goldman knew when to shut up.

I loved the movie as a child. I'm not quite sure why. I remember that my grandparents loved it too. Newman and Redford work well together and there's a lot of clever humour.

Watching it as an adult who has only started to analyze films in the past three years, I noticed a few more things:

It avoids most of the cliches that westerns rely on. For instance, Sundance was accused of cheating while playing cards. In every other western, there would have been a shootout with the accuser dying. In this, it's used as a plot point to show us how good Sundance is and there isn't a need for anyone to be shot.

The chase scene is my favorite part of the movie. In particular, I like how sparse the dialogue is during this extended sequence. We see everything unfold and hear the horses galloping, but dialogue is only present when it has to be. It reminds me of No Country For Old Men somewhat. The sounds are a part of the story and it works well. The cinematography during this sequence is exceptional.

It's surprising how little we see of the Hole in the Wall gang. We meet them and see two robberies, but that's all. It shows that Butch survived more on his wits than any ability to fight. When he's challenged, he cheats.

The scene with the dynamite leads to probably the funniest line in the film.

The story relies on the chemistry between Newman and Redford. We like them and root for them even though they are technically the villains. Redford in particular says a huge amount without actually opening his mouth. His expressions clearly convey what he's thinking. The friendship between the two is obvious in everything they do and say while facing their trackers. Katharine Ross also has an important role. When she's flirting with Butch, we learn more about the depth of his friendship with Sundance.

The whole tracking scene is a great idea with an collection of the best lawmen available at the time. They clearly demonstrate their expertise by killing members of the Hole in the Wall gang without missing their intended target. The movie then avoids the cliche of them later missing when facing Butch and Sundance. We don't see a shootout with our heroes winning. They are up against superior odds and are lucky to get away. That was a good choice.

The trip to Bolivia was quite well done too and their subsequent crime spree. I like the attention to detail. The language was a barrier and was dealt with properly. In the final scene, we are shown a real problem when Butch and Sundance run out of ammunition. Again they face overwhelming odds. On first viewing, I expected them to escape. But the choice to show what happens in the face of overwhelming odds was the correct one.

The final shot was a good way to end the story and makes me think of The 400 Blows as it ends with a still.

I still don't like westerns in general, but I have always liked this movie. It's carried by the charisma of two wonderful actors of the time and brings back a lot of good memories for me.

The Blu-ray presentation is weak. The sepia shots look terrible and it looks like a DVD for most of the 110 minutes. The main exception is the final scene which was shot in sunlight and has better detail. A film of this quality deserves better treatment. That said, I would still buy the BD and own the best possible version of the film.

The Sundance Festival was named after Robert Redford's character and he was the inaugural chairman with Katharine Ross also on the first jury in 1978.

Overall 4.5/5

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5.0 out of 5 stars Legends.
How do you ensure somebody's legacy as a hero? In the good old days, you wrote a book. Nowadays, you make a movie - and if you're lucky and it's really, really successful, you can... Read more

Published on Nov 2 2008 by Themis-Athena

5.0 out of 5 stars Legends.
How do you ensure somebody's legacy as a hero? In the good old days, you wrote a book. Nowadays, you make a movie - and if you're lucky and it's really, really successful, you can... Read more

Published on Nov 2 2008 by Themis-Athena

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