by 20th Century Fox
| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 618 (lower is better) |
| Price Used: | $8.84 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
| Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Director: | George Roy Hill |
| Release Date: | 2006-06-06 |
| Label: | 20th Century Fox |
| UPC: | 024543244578 |
| Binding: | DVD |
| Published By: | 20th Century Fox |
| ASIN: | B000EXDS5M |
| Category: | DVD |
Actors and Actresses
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Description
Paul Newman and Robert Redford set the standard for the "buddy film" with this box office smash set in the Old West. The Sundance Kid (Redford) is the frontier's fastest gun. His sidekick, Butch Cassidy (Newman), is always dreaming up new ways to get rich fast. If only they could blow open a baggage car without also blowing up the money-filled safe inside... Or remember that Sundance can't swim before they escape a posse by leaping off a cliff into rushing rapids... Times are changing in the west and life is getting tougher. So Butch and Sundance pack their guns, don new duds, and, with Sundance's girlfriend (Katharine Ross), head down to Bolivia. Never mind that they don't speak Spanish - they'll manage somehow. A winner of four Academy Awards (including best screenplay and best song), here is a thoroughly enjoyable blend of fact and fancy done with true affection for a bygone era and featuring the two flashiest, friendliest funniest outlaws who ever called out "hands up!"
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This 1969 film has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more levelheaded partner, the sharpshooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the movie maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Butch and Sundance ride into the Sunset - Reviewed on 2008-10-13
2 customers found this review helpful.
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is a true silver screen classic. Robert Redford and the late Paul Newman were an electrifying duo. Butch Cassidy laments his age (Newman was 44 at the time) Redford is the debonair bandit. They pull off spectacular heists on locomotives, romance the schoolteacher Etta Place (Katherine Ross) and enjoy the fruits of their robberies. Butch and Sundance are portrayed as charming thieves. William Goldman's superb,smart script is as much a highlight as the desert vistas.
Since it was the '60s, Butch and Sundance were romanticized,anti-establishment outlaws. When Butch romances Etta, Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head" plays. There is bubbly a cappella singing as the trio pulls off heists in Bolivia. However,there is a certain ambiguity. Butch and Sundance can be viewed as antiheroes,or as charming villains who prefer robbing from others than earning for themselves. They live their lives on the run. They assume there won't be consequences. Etta Place foretells a violent end for them both.
In reality,Butch and Sundance's whereabouts remain a mystery. Did they end in a blaze of glory,as in the movie? Some say that Butch hid out in the Pacific Northwest,in Washington state,and that Sundance died of dysentery in a Bolivian jail. Rumor has it that Etta Place lived out her days as a madam in Dallas/Fort Worth. All three remain unknown.
Paul Newman was a great actor,but also a great humanitarian. He made a "Hole-in-the-Wall" camp (named for the thieves' encampment in this movie) for seriously ill children. His legacy was as a great entertainer and a great man. Paul Newman RIP (1925-2008)
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Book Subjects
- Adult Situations
- Adventure
- Americans Abroad
- Bittersweet
- Bounty Hunters
- Buddy Film
- Color
- Crime
- Drama
- Easygoing
- English
- Feature
- Fighting the System
- High Historical Importance
- High Production Values
- Humorous
- Irreverent
- Love Triangles
- Movie
- Nostalgic
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