The Wild Bunch

"If they move, kill 'em!"  This one line seems to sum up Sam Peckinpah's classic western superbly.  One of the best westerns ever made, The Wild Bunch was (and, to an extent, still is) rather controversial for its explicit violence (the use of squibs to simulate blood spurting from a wound was fairly uncommon in 1969).  William Holden (winner of the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17, among other awards that included an Emmy), Ernest Borgnine (winner of the Best Actor Oscar for Marty, but perhaps best known as the voice of Mermaid Man), Robert Ryan (The Dirty Dozen, Bad Day at Black Rock), Warren Oates (Stripes) and many others star in the film, which is about a gang of bank robbers (led by Holden) chased by a posse hired by a railroad company that is led by Holden's former comrade (Ryan).  After botching a robbery (which ends in an extremely bloody shootout that catches a local temperance group in the crossfire), Holden and his bunch flee to Mexico, where they become involved with a group of rebels who want American weapons to fight against the government (the film takes place around 1913).  Filled with gunfights, explosions, dramatic chases, and even a train robbery, this is not a film to be missed.  On an interesting side note, an attempted rerelease of the film in 1993 (with 10 minutes of footage restored) was delayed when the film (which had been rated "R" back in 1969) was given an "NC-17" rating, in spite of being much less violent and featuring less nudity than many current "R-rated" films.  The rating was appealed, and the film remained with its "R."

Rating: 100/100