Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2006)

I have seen some good westerns, and robbery films, and when you combine the two like this, the result is quite good, from BAFTA winning, and Oscar nominated director George Roy Hill (The Sting). Basically robbers Butch Cassidy (BAFTA nominated Paul Newman), with all the ideas, and The Sundance Kid (BAFTA winning Robert Redford), with all action and skills, were the leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. They had robbed too many trains, so a special posse eventually starts trailing them through towns, over rocks, across rivers, they won't give up easily. They do eventually go to Bolivia and manage to hide out, and carry out some successful robberies, until of course they are trapped by the authorities, and there is nowhere to go but out and meet their fate, you remember that freeze frame fade to sepia ending. Also starring Strother Martin as Percy Garris, Henry Jones as Bike Salesman, Jeff Corey as Sheriff Ray Bledsoe and George Furth as Woodcock. Newman and Redford make a great and quite exhilarating double act for this film filled with some exciting sequences, e.g. the leap off the cliff into the river, it may be long, and in my opinion a little overrated, but it is certainly a must see film. It won the Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Music for Burt Bacharach, Best Song for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (also nominated the Golden Globe, and it was number 23 on 100 Years, 100 Songs), and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced, and it was nominated for Best Picture and Best Sound, it won the BAFTAs for Best Cinematography, the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Sound Track and Best Film, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score, and it was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Screenplay. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were number 20 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains (as heroes), Robert Redford was number 61, and Paul Newman number 16 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, and the film was number 54 on 100 Years, 100 Thrills, it was number 60 on The 100 Greatest Films, and it was number 50 on 100 Years, 100 Movies. Very good!