Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is and always will be known as one of the greatest Westerns, and really greatest movies of all time. though I personally prefer The Good the Bad and the Ugly, and both versions of 3:10 to Yuma, I think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a much more fun movie.

This film seems like an easier Western to get into. A lot of people have the image in their heads of Westerns as cowboys versus Indians and duels at noon (even though most good Westerns don’t really fall into that.) I think anyone that imagines Westerns to be this way should watch a film like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Its not your average western but at the same time a near perfect one.

The main thing that keeps this film fun and exciting is the team of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. They play off of each other so well, and though it’s not really a Western Comedy it often times feels like one. It’s a different genre yet it has similar style to The Sting made 4 years later, obviously mainly due to the team up of Paul Newman and Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill.

Great dialog, great directing, great acting, great cinematography, and classic shootouts and chases. It’s no wonder why this movie is so popular. Some people, including me, aren’t a big fan of the bicycle scene with “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” I don’t really think it fits well in the film but it doesn’t ruin it. That is my only criticism of the whole film. It’s a very original and clever film that deserves all the attention it has got, yet still deserves more.

Recommended to anyone, especially fans of Newman, Redford and westerns, and anyone that “doesn’t like westerns” but is willing to give it a chance, you won’t be let down.

9/10