Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)

Original title

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

Directed by

Sam Peckinpah

Genre

Western film, biographical film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 02m

Rated

R

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 470 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An aging lawman is hired by wealthy cattle barons to track down and bring in his former friend, a famous outlaw. The film follows their pursuit through the New Mexico territory.

melancholicslow-burnbleakcontemplativeruggedelegiacgrittynostalgic

What happens

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 American revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Rudy Wurlitzer, and starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason Robards, Slim Pickens and Bob Dylan. The film is about an aging Pat Garrett (Coburn), hired as a lawman by a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid (Kristofferson). Dylan also composed the score and songs for the film, most prominently "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", which were released on its soundtrack album the same year and nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of Best Original Score (Dylan). The film was filmed on location in Durango, Mexico, and was nominated for two BAFTA Awards for Film Music (Dylan) and Most Promising Newcomer (Kristofferson). The film was noted for behind-the-scenes battles between Peckinpah and the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Soon after completion, the film was taken away from the director and substantially re-edited, resulting in a truncated version released to theaters and largely disowned by cast and crew members. Peckinpah's preview version was released on video in 1988, leading to a re-evaluation, with many critics hailing it as a mistreated classic and one of the era's best films. It is ranked 126th on Empire magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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