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On the podcast this week, Steven and Sean are\\u2026 murdering everyone who crosses us because we\\u2019ve got a taste for that sweet seductress known as gold and no one\\u2019s going to stop us from getting all that we can? We\\u2019re talking about Sam Peckinpah\\u2019s film from 1969, The Wild Bunch.

Safe to say that introduction went off the rails pretty dang quick. However, I think you could say the same thing about this film. You think you\\u2019re going in to watch a fun western, maybe it\\u2019s like any other western you\\u2019ve seen, and then suddenly a firefight explodes, civilians are being senselessly murdered, and the good guys are actually the bad guys! It\\u2019s crazy and it doesn\\u2019t let up.

The film does present a peculiar dilemma for an audience, though. Our main characters, led by the brilliant William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, are not the type of people that usually lead a film. We\\u2019re so accustomed to rooting for the central characters in a film, and then this one turns that habit on its head. They\\u2019re brash, violent, and greedy men. They\\u2019re also addicted to big scores. These qualities make for some pretty despicable human beings.

It leads us to a strange conundrum: do we dare root for the outlaws who are willing to use innocent people as human shields in their quest for glory and riches? That\\u2019s a hard question to answer. You\\u2019ll reach the end and wonder about what the hell you just watched. I mean, we were a little bummed about the fate that befell these aging criminals by the time the credits rolled. We\\u2019d just spent nearly two and a half hours with them. That\\u2019s a long time to spend with someone, and then you remember that they\\u2019re unapologetic murderers.

It\\u2019s surely one of the earliest antihero films, and paved the way for many similar stories that have been told since this one\\u2019s release. If you\\u2019ve ever watched something like Breaking Bad or Taxi Driver, then you can witness the indelible mark on film history that The Wild Bunch has left (even if it is a tough watch at times).

(Recorded on March 29, 2021)

Links to Stuff We Mentioned:

The Wild Bunch - IMDb

The Wild Bunch trailer - YouTube

William Holden - IMDb

Ernest Borgnine - IMDb

Robert Ryan - IMDb

THE SQUIBBENING - Vimeo

(For your viewing pleasure, here\\u2019s funny man/podcaster, Matt Gourley, living out his lifelong dream of being gunned down in a hail of fake machine gun bullets while squibs are exploding all over his body.)

Scrooged - IMDb

Sam Peckinpah - IMDb

Straw Dogs - IMDb

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - IMDb

Power Rangers - IMDb

Heavy Metal - IMDb

Scarface - IMDb

Fight Club - IMDb

3:10 to Yuma (2007) - IMDb

Wealth, shown to scale | Matt Korostoff - Github

(Need further proof that Jeff Bezos is an asshole? In fact, that all billionaires are basically villains of the highest caliber? Give this fascinating visual a look