Reviews of movies directed by Sam Peckinpah.
Grade: A+
Synopsis: Pursued by one of their own (Robert Ryan), an aging band of outlaws (William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, and Ben Johnson) heads to Mexico seeking one last big score.
“If they move, KILL EM!” barks William Holden in The Wild Bunch’s opening sequence and director Sam Peckinpah’s elegy for the Old West is off and running. MORE »
Grade: B-
Synopsis: At the end of the Civil War, a driven cavalry officer (Charlton Heston) enlists the support of a Confederate prisoner (Richard Harris) for an unauthorized raid into Mexico in pursuit of a band of Apaches.
Major Dundee is a flawed masterpiece. Tensions between director Sam Peckinpah and the studio, Columbia Pictures, resulted in the film being wrapped early and Peckinpah being excluded from much of the editing process. In the studio’s defense, Peckinpah was apparently drunk and abusive throughout much of the shoot, so much so that at one point star Charlton Heston actually threatened him with a saber. MORE »
Grade: D+
Synopsis: Betrayed and crippled by a coworker (Robert Duvall), a mercenary (James Caan) recovers to safeguard a Japanese politician and seek revenge.
The Killer Elite was, hopefully, little more than a paycheck for director Sam Peckinpah, as the film is a frustrating, overlong, and ultimately silly endeavor.
There are glimpses, here and there, of Peckinpah’s genius. The film’s central conflict revolves around two men, once friends, now enemies after taking different paths to cope with a changing world; a reoccurring theme in Peckinpah’s work. Unfortunately, this theme is essentially lost amidst a silly kung-fu movie that no one takes seriously. According to the IMDB, Peckinpah said in a 1975 interview that his preparation for the film consisted of watching Bruce Lee movies. Watching the film, it’s easy to believe it. MORE »
Grade: A
Synopsis: An aging former lawman (Randolph Scott) agrees to help his old partner (Joel McCrea) transport gold from a mining town with the intention of stealing it for himself.
Ride the High Country, while not his first film, served as something of a debut for director Sam Peckinpah, representing his first visit to the revisionist western genre that would later become so closely associated with him. MORE »
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A CIA agent (John Hurt) convinces the host (Rutger Hauer) of a popular talk show that three of his close friends (Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon) are working for the KGB.
The Osterman Weekend is a convoluted, overblown film that, unfortunately, was director Sam Peckinpah’s last.
While it’s easy to see how Robert Ludlum’s novel would interest Peckinpah, you have to look closely to see any of the director’s handy work. While the opening and closing segments are a virtual train wreck, the middle of the film, particularly the initial scenes at the party, are vintage Peckinpah. This is the film’s real strength, as the relationships between four couples, long time friends up to this point, begin to unravel. MORE »
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