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I'd like to see it for Coburn and because the trailer was interesting, though I really, really, really don't care for Kristofferson (ever see his horribly miscast performance in Pakula's ROLLOVER? eeesh).
For some reason, I have lacked the motivation to pick this one up. If it fell into my lap tomorrow, I'd probably watch it in the next few days. Otherwise, it's probably gonna be a long time before I get around to it. Low on the priority list I guess.
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One of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen; a mixture of absolute poetry and horrendous mess.
Nicely put, and I agree. However I do wonder how it would have turned out with music by Jerry Fielding working for it. That "Knocking on Heaven's Door" stuff is just... incongruous. And intrusive.
- JMM
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Hmm... I'm a big fan of Peckinpah's misunderstood masterpiece. If I had known I was supposed to have such negative feelings towards it I would've retracted my enthusiasm for it.
So why is it a misunderstood masterpiece? I intend to see it at some point and could use another perspective...
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One of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen; a mixture of absolute poetry and horrendous mess.
Yes. So many great things going for it. And enough bad that it really hurts it. Kristofferson was woefully miscast, as he was in virtually everything he was part and parcel of. Coburn was impecabbly good. I so wanted this to be a good movie. It is a noble misfire. And the movie needed a score, not a folk song.
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One of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen; a mixture of absolute poetry and horrendous mess.
Yes. So many great things going for it. And enough bad that it really hurts it. Kristofferson was woefully miscast, as he was in virtually everything he was part and parcel of. Coburn was impecabbly good. I so wanted this to be a good movie. It is a noble misfire. And the movie needed a score, not a folk song.
I reckon Kris was damn good in this classic.
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Posted: |
Jul 6, 2014 - 4:00 PM
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By: |
Richard-W
(Member)
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I saw the theatrical version more times than I can count, beginning in the summer of 1973. Then I adjusted to the sneak preview version released in 1988 which is a very different film.
PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID is the memory of a man (Sheriff Garrett) whose sins and betrayals in life pass before his eyes as he is dying. Garrett and the Kid only meet at the beginning and at the end. The Kid refuses to leave the country or run away from a Sheriff who doesn't really want to catch up with him, so they circle around one another, bumping into each other's envoys ending each time with fatal results. In the middle, every scene is structured as a long farewell in which old friends turn against each other, expressing regret they can't back down, as if they're caught in the grip of something larger than themselves, something terrible and yet inevitable. Fittingly, the tone and pacing are funereal, with Bob Dylan's primitive yet haunting music -- keyed in E minor, the sound of regret and sadness -- capturing the underlying spirit. The film is a death elegy, full of ghosts, and I love it.
The film remains unfinished. James Aubrey, the head of MGM notorious for sabotaging the company's productions, threw stumbling blocks in the way of Peckinpah and crew and prevented PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID from completing principle photography. It is amazing the director and crew were able to accomplish what they did. The film was given a preview in February 1973, and then released twenty minutes shorter in May 1973. The Special Edition DVD is a must-own. It includes the theatrical preview, which itself was never fully edited, and later, a couple of vital scenes were removed by the Turner Company when they bought up MGM's holdings. Fans never saw this preview until it was released on laser disc in 1988. The DVD set also includes a 2005 reconstruction of the 1973 theatrical release with the chopped-out scenes put back in. That version retains the final editorial decisions Peckinpah made for the theatrical release before Aubrey screwed it up.
Kristofferson is persuasive as the Kid, here portrayed as a stone-cold killer who'd rather not shoot anyone but easily does so when necessity arises. James Coburn's increasingly bitter, self-loathing Sheriff Garrett is the finest performance of his career. He never reached so high or dug so deep in any other film. The cast is peppered with veteran character actors stepping out of their familiar modes to deliver memorable bits in small parts, particularly Jack Elam, Jason Robards, Slim Pickins, Katy Jurado and potty-mouthed Chill Wills.
I still think the autumnal color pallet of the theatrical version is the most awesome cinematography I've ever seen. The old big-box VHS hinted at how awesome it looked. The DVD, with the 2005 reconstruction and the director's Preview, don't hint at it. The two execs at Warner Home Video -- Ned Price and George Feltenstein, both uncaring mediocrities -- pulled an Aubrey and imposed a brown tint that squashes the color pallet. And the yet the film retains its power. Love the soundtrack, especially the instrumentals. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" made a Dylan fan out of me for life.
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Five years later and while I have the dvd I STILL haven't watched the damn thing, but after revisiting the Peckinpah documentary included on The Wild Bunch disc today, I will watch Pat Garrett this week...
....watch this space.
jimbo 5 years?? Disgrace. Yeah album in montage is a fab docu. I saw it at the Nft with a showing of bunch.
I saw pat garrett as a teenager and found it slow. Maturity made me see the film on a different light. Krisoffersons presence wasnt offensive to me, he seemed to fit the films odd style.
There are just some utterly delicious set pieces. My favourite is slim pickens death walking and flopping by the waters edge with katy jurado.
The other one is the scene where Coburn joins in the shooting practice of the guys floating past on the raft.
And yes, heavens door made a belated dylan fan out of me too.
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I know why jim aint come back on, he started Pat garrett and now hes hooked!
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