Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Reviews

• Newman and Redford at Their Best

  kyle_c2002-07-31

  "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is rightfully hailed as one of the greatest westerns ever made, although much of the movie takes place in South America. It is a great look at two likeable outlaws, full of witty dialogue and exciting action sequences. Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) are two bank robbers, chased by the law. The plot follows them as they travel to Bolivia after a railroad president hires a posse to hunt them do. The story is mostly composed of short pieces telling a little story about them. There is really no connection all the way through, for the most part. The story isn't about the plot, however. It is about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It is a close look at two criminals, the talented Sundance Kid, and Butch Cassidy, the one who does all the thinking. The charisma and screen presence of the two actors and the way they work together is what drives the film. Watching the two interact, with a superb script full of great dialogue, is what makes this movie so exciting. See this movie if you are a fan of westerns, or just a fan of good movies. It is exciting, superbly made (with lots of interesting silent scenes to music and montages of photographs), but it also has a lot of depth. **** out of ****

• Violent and bloody, but romanticized by the insouciant charm of Newman and Redford...

  Nazi_Fighter_David2002-11-20

  George Roy Hill's film has its excitements and it claims the fashionable climactic bloodbath, but mostly it's played for fun… It's a highly individual Western; a triumph of style, in fact… The style is dominant, intelligent, flowing with charm; the playful teasing, and Newman supplied with a hat on a bike, and the contemporary lyrical Bacharach pop tune… It's a style that flowers in the Newman-Redford relationship, which is one of the most affecting in movies… All this gives it the feel and look of fanciful myth carried to a point unusually removed from reality... Backgrounds are sketched rather than etched… You are never really moving toward the west in time and place... With belief suspended, feelings are only light1y involved… But it's derring-do at its most flamboyant and given a tangy taste by its essentially modern sense of humor... When Butch and Sundance ride back from relaxation to their Hole-in-the-Wall lair and find they have a mutiny on their hands—Harvey Logan (Ted Cassidy) wants to take over—Butch doesn't quell it with bullets but with a boot up Logan's backside… It's that kind of picture… Similarly, when too much dynamite scatters the haul from a rail hold-up, this is a moment for wry, amusing comment… And when the posse pursues the pair this is one posse that 'heroes' can't easily shake off… It's always there, cleverly made more irksome by long-shot, so that finally only a 'death defying leap' as the circuses say, can separate hunted from hunters…. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is undoubtedly a captivating tour de force… Its flavor is preserved from cloying by just the right edge of wistfulness provided by Katharine Ross as the schoolteacher girl-friend who goes along and who suggests the transience of it all… Newman and Redford good-natured fellowship is felt from the opening to the final scene… Sundance seems closer to the traditional Western character... He is strong, silent, willing to face confrontations and shoot it out… Butch is an atypical outlaw, enormously charming and courteous, has never killed anyone, and tries to avoid showdowns… Throughout the film, Newman is engagingly spontaneous in his expressions, gestures and timing of dialog…While Sundance is practical, Butch is a hopelessly ridiculous optimist and romantic dreamer… While they flee the posse, he continually expresses optimism, but beneath is a child-like need for reassurance… Small indications of his self-awareness emerge at other times, undercutting his casual exterior… For instance, despite the naturalness of the ménage-à-trois, Butch is really the outsider, and he knows it… In the lovely still-photo montage of their New York holiday, Butch watches with wistful longing as they dance, but then smiles—aware of his isolation but content in their happiness… "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" earned seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture... It won four (Cinematography, Score, Song, and Original Screenplay).

• One of the best of the 60s & 70s

  garage5inc2003-04-20

  This is pretty much the ultimate action western movie I can think of. This movie has everything you could want, and it appeals to almost any type of viewer. Paul Newman, one of if not the best actor of our time is the lead along with Robert Redford, the two go together perfectly, I dare say this is one of the best combinations in Hollywood history. Anyways the story takes place in the midwest, Newman and Redord run "The Hole in the Wall Gang" named after their hideout. They rob trains and take big scores, later the Pacific railroad gets together the best tracker and lawmen in the entire Western United States to track and kill Butch and Sundance. They must manage to evade their elite counterparts, the movie is 100 percent entertainment, especially during the chases. The movie is based on true events and is spectacular. This movie won Best Score, Best Song (Raindrops) which was very good untraditional music in a western, it fit good in this movie, Best Cinematography, shot by Conrad L. Hall who also did Road To Perdition, arguably the best cinematography done to this very day, and Adapated Screenplay, all for the right reasons. George Roy Hill, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford all went on to create "The Sting" in 1973, which is possibly one of the best movies ever made. I praise this movie, 10/10

• One Of The All-Time Great Westerns

  ccthemovieman-12006-06-15

  One of the best and most-liked films of the 1960s, this is still a fun movie to watch today. When I saw this on DVD on a nice flat-screen set, I was amazed how good this looked. I had seen it several times before on VHS and hadn't realized how good this was photographed. I just discovered Conrad Hall was the cinematographer, which explains it. Few, if any, were better than him. One remembers this western for several things: the two leads looking over their shoulders incredulous that their pursers seem to be always there; Paul Newman riding a bicycle to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," the beautiful Katharine Ross, the chemistry of Newman and Robert Redford as a two-man team, on and on. Those three lead actors, with the repartee between them, and the likability of each, make them fun to watch as they dominate this picture. It's just solid entertainment and another example of good film-making that doesn't need a lot of R-rated material to make it successful. Photography-wise, the western scenery was great, there were some wonderful closeup shots and I really liked the tinted old-time footage inserted in here. So, when you combine all the elements, it's no surprise this film won so many awards and endures so well.

• A One of a Kind

  alexkolokotronis2008-02-18

  This has got to be one of my favorite westerns. It has everything you could possibly want for every movie fan. They're so many great aspect and I will attempt to display some of them. The acting, what can I say about it. It was a perfect fit for Redford and Newman who are both friends in the movie and real life. They deliver exhilarating, funny and electrifying performance. It is so great I can't even put it into words. These two actors were robbed of an at least an Oscar nomination. It has to be the biggest Oscar snub ever. Watching this movie my only wish is that Redford and Newman would have done more movies together. The writing was great and creative. I have never witnessed a movie that was so serious and yet so funny. The writing totally propelled this movie forward. The fact that Butch and Sundance went to Bolivia trying to outrun the law was hilarious. This has got to be some of the best writing ever. The directing by George Roy Hill was as well amazing displaying the chase scenes and just sitting back and letting the writing and directing take over. But most of all he let Robert Redford and Paul Newman do their thing. You could see that they were both feeding off each other and George Roy Hill never seemed to interrupt their chemistry. I would advise anyone and everyone to watch this. They are just so many laughs, many fun action scenes and of course Paul Newman and Robert Redford.