The Wild Bunch

The Wild Bunch, 1969
The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)



My Grams watched almost every Western when she was growing up. It was a thing she did with her Grandpa and even my Grandpa's family made a big to-do about watching and listening to Westerns on the radio. I don't get it, I've never really been interested in the genera. So it makes sense that when I watched the movie she sat down and watched it with me.

After watching the movie though, oh my! If there was any doubt it's all been cleared up, I don't like Westerns. But once I started reading about the movie after I watched it, I can't say the movie doesn't have anything to offer. The original release of the film has about 3,643 cuts which is more than any other Technicolor film according to the film's editor Lou Lombardo. The final show down, which the crew later nick named "Shootout at Bloody Porch" has 325 cuts which make the average shot length just under one second. That's incredible to think about all of the coverage that was necessary as well as the amount of time that went into shooting a five minute scene. I worked on The Whisper Home last January and we had fifteen days to shoot an entire feature length film, the "Shootout at Bloody Porch" took twelve days to shoot and was only a five minute scene.

The "Shootout at Bloody Porch" also required 10,000 squibs, which are small explosive devices attached to the body or costume of an actor and are used to simulated bullet hits. A squib is typically applied by a stuntman or someone hired to handle explosives, and while there are typically no major injuries that occur when using a squib they are potentially very dangerous. Which is why I suggest leaving any kind of squib work to professionals.
Interested in learning more about squibs? click here!

Aside from all the coverage nightmares a twelve days scene has sparked, I couldn't imagine the headache it would have created for the Wardrobe and Makeup Departments. In anticipation of the shoot 'em up scenes seven costumes were made for each lead actor, and quick repairs and clean ups were required for the stunt men and extras in the scene. The total body count for the film reached 145 bodies, and the amount of violence in the movie caused a bit of a fuss even for 1969. The MPAA settled for an R rating but originally wanted to give the movie a doomed X rating.

Final thoughts: The movie had a lot to offer with it's achievements in the greatest number of cuts and a ridiculously scheduled twelve day scene that would only play for five minutes on screen, but it's just not my favorite Western. That titles seems yet to be claimed.

OFFICIAL COUNT: 166 DOWN 199 TO GO

Next up: Anatomy of a Murder