The phrase is such a part of the American lexicon, and so engrained as an element of the modern-day Hollywood filmmaking enterprise, that the movie from which all ramshackle “buddy films” sprang is sometimes almost forgotten: 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Just a few minutes, though, of screenwriter William Goldman’s dazzlingly unconventional take on the Western genre, sold to 20th Century Fox for a then-record sum of $400,000, and you’ll be hooked, recognizing this film classic’s imprint on future generations of male-bonding-and-bickering action flicks.
When a relentless “super posse” is dispatched to corral notorious Old West outlaws Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), the duo take a break from their lawless ways and flee to Bolivia with Sundance’s girlfriend, Etta (Katharine Ross). But old habits die hard, of course, and the pair soon find themselves on the lam again, outnumbered and outgunned.
Director George Roy Hill’s work is brave and interesting (he keeps his actors committed to the seriousness of their lines, and who else would’ve okayed the offbeat inclusion of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head?”), and cinematographer Conrad Hall shoots a gorgeous frame. But it’s Newman and Redford, of course, who make the biggest and best impressions here. The former was already a star, but the latter bloomed into one with this picture.
Housed in a clear Amray case with a snap-in tray for its first disc, the two-disc Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, billed here as an ultimate collector’s edition, slips into a cardboard keep-case and comes with an eight-page insert booklet that features photos from the movie and offers up some interesting bits of trivia: the studio wanted Paul Newman… for the role of Sundance, and Steve McQueen as Butch Cassidy. And even after Hill stuck to his guns and Newman was cast as Butch, Redford almost didn’t land the role that would help jumpstart and define his career; Marlon Brando was allegedly slated to play the sharp-shooting bandit until he dropped out due to distress over the April 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King. (One can perhaps imagine today an eponymous culinary celebration or Native American arts fair in lieu of a film festival had the part of Sundance remained cast the way it was originally intended.)
The film is presented in a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with audio in English stereo, English mono, Spanish mono and French mono mixes. Imported from the previous DVD release are a nice, hearty handful of period cast interviews; an audio commentary track with Hill, Hall, lyricist Hal David and associate producer Bob Crawford; production notes; and a 43-minute making-of documentary, rife with narrated production footage. Amongst the new supplemental features is an audio-commentary track with screenwriter Goldman, one of Hollywood’s richest and most astute observers and commentators. There’s also a feature-length doc on the history of outlaws of the time, and an all-new retrospective documentary with superb interviews with Newman, Redford, Goldman, composer Burt Bacharach and others. Buoyed with interviews with historians, the 25-minute Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch & Sundance, meanwhile, specifically examines the delicate balancing act of fact and fiction with regards to the film’s main characters. A timeless film stocked here with extras of ample value, this DVD release of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a bull’s-eye winner. A (Movie) A (Disc)