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62 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Legends., May 18, 2004
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.
Also recommended:
The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time
Digging up Butch and Sundance (Second Edition)
Butch Cassidy: A Biography (Bison Book)
Hud
Jeremiah Johnson
The Sting (Universal Legacy Series)
Adventures in the Screen Trade
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bank Robbers, Gunmen, "Banditos Yanquis",,,We love em, October 4, 2002
This review refers to the Special Edition DVD of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid......
This was probably the first western film where we actually are rooting for the outlaws. Butch(Paul Newman) and Sundance(Robert Redford) are portrayed with humor and style and are likeable (If not loveable) bad guys. Butch is always thinking, planning and scheming their next move. Sundance is the quickest gun in the west. What a team. (except Butch can't shoot and the Kid can"t swim)
As the movie opens (in the muted colors of an old photograph) we see exactly that, Butch scoping out a bank, you could see the wheels turning, and then Sundance displaying his expertise with a gun on a fellow poker player. As they ride off toward "Hole in the Wall" a hideout for notorious outlaws, the film switches to color and what glorious cinematography we are treated to through out the film.
They wind up going on the run after a botched train robbery to escape the "Super Posse" hired to find and kill them. Of course first they stop in town at the local Madam's place (look for a very young and beautiful Cloris Leachman as one of the "pros") and another stop to pick up The Kid's girl Etta Place(Kathryn Ross) and they become a trio as they head off to Boliva to try their luck there. They of course don't speak Spanish and have to learn the simple everyday phrases like "stick em up", and "give me the money". They even try "going straight" for a while, but are recognized as the "Banditos Yanquis", culminating in a shoot out.
There are so many wonderful scenes in this movie including the great bike ride with Butch and Etta to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head".. If you havnt seen it yet I don't want to give it all away. If you have seen it you will love the way this film looks and sounds on this DVD.
The DVD is THX Digitally Mastered. The Musical Score of Burt Bacharach sounds excellent. The picture quality is superb. Colors are vibrant. It does not look like a 30 yr+ film. The look of the old west was truly captured by director George Roy Hill. It is in the original widescreen aspect. There were a couple of little glitches in one scene (may have just been my copy, not sure) but it did not interfere with my viewing pleasure of this film.
There are lots of interviews and commentaries by the stars and a featurette of the making of the film. The stars comments mostly on their memories (good and bad) during the shooting of the film. Be careful not to have any small children in the room while listening to the writer (William Goodman) tell his story.
I'm not sure how much of the actual events in the story are true but this is a legendary movie about legendary American Outlaws and a great western!
"I got vision and the whole worlds wearing bifocals"- Butch To Sundance...............Have fun ...Laurie
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really 4-1/2 stars, top-quality entertainment, January 3, 2001
This one really takes me back to my teens, when the movie came out and my whole family went to see it. We were enraptured, and we all went home humming "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."I like THAT song sequence in the movie very much. I think it sets up the Butch/Etta relationship nicely and establishes the comfort level of this star-crossed trio. I'm not so sure about the other musical montages (NY/steamship trip to S. America and the Bolivian robberies). The ba-da-da-dums really date the film (hence the reason for taking a half star from an otherwise perfect rating). This movie is incredibly charming, though, in its writing, appearance, and above all, acting. It showcases the first cementing of the Newman-Redford onscreen relationship that was later so effective in "The Sting" (also directed by George Roy Hill). And it's funny and poignant but yet so real in ways that we rarely see in movies today. When Butch finally has to kill someone after all his years of being an outlaw (ironically when he's in a straight job), you feel his gut-wrenching pain and regret. There are so many memorable scenes: the rain of money after the train explosion, "Who are those guys?", the jump from the cliff, the bicycle ride, Strother Martin in a career-best role, the Spanish cheat sheets when robbing the Bolivian bank, the jokes and banter even at the most grim times. The freeze-frame ending is so effective and benevolent toward us, the audience. I have always appreciated the sensitivity of the conclusion. This movie is a treasure and true entertainment--something my kids enjoy as much as my parents. The DVD has lots of interesting extras. The commentary by George Roy Hill and others in the "making of" sequence is intriguing, especially when you consider the budgets of today's movies and what they managed to do with so little back then. The interviews with the main players are great, and it's fun to learn how Redford met Butch's real sister and how he tried to get her to the premiere of the movie. The movie stands alone, but if you've got a player, I'd recommend getting the DVD for the bonus material.
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