Saw the movie when it came out in 1969.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
marfrie56 — 10 years ago(August 19, 2015 04:55 AM)
Saw the movie when it came out in 1969.
I was a college freshman.
The night I saw it, I was on a date with a new girlfriend - some big things happened that night - let's just say that I was in the process of becoming an adult.
Everything clicked that night - it was magical - I had a car - I had a girl - I was in COLLEGE - and I just loved loved loved the movie.
Thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen on the screen.
It had entrenched itself as one of my favorite movies of all time.
I hope I've aged better than this movie.
Re-watching it for the first time in many years last night - I could not get over how awkward it actually is, how sloppy, how corny - how contrived, how dopey - how Butch and Sundance are NOT the groovy cool dudes I once thought (but they are actually robbers, murderers, and low-lifes - however much I still like Paul and Robert), how Katherine Ross's character doesn't work for me, how the montage sequences don't really work, how the music doesn't work, how pretty much EVERYTHING doesn't work.
The poor props - phony plastic looking saddles on all the horses.
Bad pacing.
No development.
This movie has no soul, stands for nothing (except putting pretty star's faces on the screen), and would best be forgotten.
I'm not saying it's a total piece of trash like some of today's pointless action hero movies - it has some entertainment value, good chemistry between the two main actors (who are, let's face it, fantastic together or apart), nice cinematography, and some good spoken lines. But a GREAT movie or even a GOOD one, it is not.
Long segments of repeated action - robbing banks, then fleeing on horseback as they are pursued by inept posses, miraculously escaping as they laugh, and then sitting in a saloon across the street from the bank they just robbed.
Keystone cops stuff.
Part comedy, part Western, part romance, part road movie, part period piece - and it works at none of them.
This was when movies started really going bad. This was not the first, but certainly a fine example of: Let's get some big stars and put them on the screen. We'll worry about what we're going to do with them at some point!
I don't say that's how it actually went, but it may have been for all the dubious content in this picture.
I had to give it 5/10.
I have to wonder now about my other unimpeachable favorites from that era:
The Graduate
The Sting
Easy Rider
Slaughterhouse Five
Midnight Cowboy
One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest
Are they all really just turkeys?
Sorry, but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a bomb.
A pleasant bomb, maybe, but a bomb nonetheless.
I don't know how it could succeed today, much less years from now, as a true classic would. -
snelling — 10 years ago(August 23, 2015 09:56 AM)
You are wrong on so many levels. If anything, "It's da bomb!" is what you meant.
This is a classic, and since you loved it once, changing your mind now seems pretty specious. Plastic saddles? Are you totally blind?
I think you are just trying to start an argument for its own sake.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley -
marfrie56 — 10 years ago(August 24, 2015 07:18 PM)
Specious?
You never loved a movie when you were much younger and after many years, saw it again and didn't love it? What's specious about it? If you care to elaborate, I'm all ears.
The plastic saddles - I can't find an image to show you what I'm talking about but in a few shots in the movie the saddles looked wrong - but fine, I'm the one that's wrong on that.
As far as trying to start an argument - well gee, I thought this was a forum for discussing the relative merits or lack of them, about movies - and having seen this particular movie again after many years, thought I'd just toss off my thoughts here, as it seemed like a more appropriate venue than the other message boards I frequent, like the classical guitar forum or the access programmer's forum.
I may be dense but I don't get your "It's da bomb" reference. Again, please explain. -
capablecarl — 10 years ago(August 28, 2015 04:05 AM)
It's not a bomb by any means (IMO), but you have pointed out many things that you didn't like, that actually have occurred to me on repeated viewings.
After many Winnie the Pooh movies, this was one of my first "big boy" movies seen in the theatre. I thought it was very exciting, and wasn't savvy enough at the age of 5 or 6 to provide a legitimate review.
I still love the card playing scene, and the showdown between Newman and "Jaws" Kiel. I love the methodical pursuit by LaForce. I love the jump off the cliff. I love the climactic scene in Bolivia.
The montages, (while containing relevant information) the silly moments, the curious choice of music, and other incongruencies, just don't hold up for me at my now advanced age. -
snelling — 10 years ago(August 30, 2015 01:21 AM)
Actually that was Ted Cassidy as Logan in the knife fight with Butch. He might be better known to folks as "Lurch" in the TV show "Addams Family."
Not sure if the OP is from the USA, but saying "It's da bomb!" used to mean that something was very good. But it's a dated expression now.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley -
jeanpirise — 10 years ago(September 03, 2015 07:34 AM)
That guy's an idiot, there's a lot of them on the internetas soon as you voice your opinion, someone's not happy. I guess they're kids, anywhere from 10 to 20or slightly morelol.
Your analysis was fine, nothing contestable at all.
It was actually an enjoyable read. It's weird to think back at our youth, and see part of it from a different perspective.
Oh what a day. What a lovely day! -
thomaswilliamboner — 10 years ago(September 06, 2015 07:04 PM)
I see where you are coming from and understand about liking a movie as a kid/young adult and then not liking it as much.
I disagree with you on this movie though, I don't think it's the greatest western or movie ever but it's a damn good movie.
The pacing is fine in my opinion and the movie has soul. I actually end up rooting for them in the end and hoping they escape.
I will agree with the cheesy part, it does have that and could take itself more seriously. I believe the combination of Paul Newman and Redford makes up for any bad spots though. -
RugGuy — 10 years ago(January 07, 2016 09:32 AM)
I would say the movie suffers from being the template for the genre of buddy movies. Since it was made we have seen so many variations of the theme that the template looks plain and vanilla.
Also it is dated in the sense that when you watch you know it was made in the 60's. THE STING does not have that feel. It's still fresh.
Is BCATSK dated? Without a doubt. Is it still a great movie? Without a doubt.
But like many an old girlfriend , it may be better to reminisce that revisit. -
RobbieCalifornia — 10 years ago(February 09, 2016 10:45 AM)
I liked it fine, then and now. Not being the picky type, I wasn't bothered by the saddles or the music.
I'm gonna enjoy any movie where I can watch Paul Newman and the rest of the fine cast, in a good story.
The OP saw the same movie both times. His criticisms say more about his current state of mind than they say about the film. (I don't mean this in a nasty way.). Just my opinion. -
lexyladyjax — 10 years ago(March 30, 2016 11:03 AM)
The film is exactly as it was when you were a collage student. You are now nearly 50 years older. A static recording has not changed when what's really different is your own point of view. You've grown and matured nearly half a century since then. Do you have children, grandchildren? Some people get more conservative as they age. Have you done so? You're not very introspective or you would have figured out this before now.
Butch and Sundance were the archetype of the antiheroes. Yes, they robbed banks but there is no record that Butch Cassidy ever killed anyone. At a time when life was cheap, that was something of note.
Have you ever been depressed? One person out of five in the USA has a mental illness. It could be.am undiagnosed illness. There's no shame in that. Maybe you were having a bad day? I just learned it was.being shown on the big screen in January. I wish I'd known. I regret I missed seeing that.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention: I have a 55 inch HD screen LGTV. I perused my BCATSK HD DVD, but I cannot see any plastic saddles. In which scenes did you see them? All I saw were saddles made of honest leather. There were one or two highly oiled and shiny that looked brand new. A new saddle, a brand new one, sort of looks like vinyl. A freshly oiled saddle is very shiny. I noticed two new saddles hanging on racks for sale, was that it?
Great white sharks are attracted to death metal music. -
JohnMcClane88 — 9 years ago(July 02, 2016 05:44 AM)
I first seen Butch and Sundance when it was re-released in 1976 at the Drive-In and I thought it was AWESOME!
I have seen it dozens of times since and just bought it on DVD this week because I still think is AWESOME!
For me, like wine it gets better with time.