That was an excellent one.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Set in 1880s New Mexico this film tells the story of Sheriff Pat Garrett and his hunt for his old friend, the outlaw William H. Bonney... aka 'Billy the Kid'. Early on Pat catches up with Billy and arrests him but he isn't in custody for long as he escapes from the jail in the town of Lincoln, killing two deputies in the process. Billy reunites with friends and head off. Garrett is soon looking for him again and it is only a matter of time before the two will meet again... before then though many other people will die.As one might expect from Sam Peckinpah there are some bloody moments; most notably when Billy guns down a deputy with a shotgun loaded with dimes. Still by today's standards the blood shed is fairly mild. The plot is fairly simple without twists and turns; that suits the subject matter though. Neither of the two protagonists are particularly sympathetic; both are quick on the draw and aren't too bothered by killing people... in fact nobody seems bothered by the violent deaths; children watch as men are gunned down in the street. James Coburn impresses as Garrett and Kris Kristofferson is solid, if a little old, as Billy the Kid. The rest of the cast, which includes many familiar faces is pretty good; even singer Bob Dylan, who also provided the film's music, puts in a good turn as a man who calls himself 'Alias'. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to people who like their westerns gritty with morally ambiguous characters rather than obvious heroes and villains.

To appreciate the film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid needs to be seen in a movie theatre, but it rarely gets released so the next best thing is to get a really big TV screen and play the music loud. Sit down with some good friends and be prepared to turn off your phones, and spend 2+ hours watching the film evolve, because it is the passage of time that is one of the central characters in the film, and this can only be understood and experienced without interruption.You'll also need to see it all at once because it is difficult to keep track of the many characters. In his other films Peckinpah was a master of developing distinct characters (think of Strother Martin and LQ Jones in The Wild Bunch, or James Drury and LQ Jones in Ride the High Country), but here they are a blur. Thus, when they are dispatched (Holly at the bar) it's hard to understand the linkages between the actions that set up the scene and the resolution. As edited, a lot of the action is questionable (why does Billy leave Paco's daughter all by herself min the middle of nowhere?). Watching the film straight through will help, but the truth is it's still hard to keep track of what's happening among the character actors. This isn't a fatal flaw, but in a film by Peckinpah,. it stands out.This isn't one of the greatest westerns of all time. The Wild Bunch, The Searchers, Jeremiah Johnson, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and a few others round out the top ones. But this could have been "the" greatest had it not been for circumstances not the least of which were the warped lens, the crew's sickness, the a*hole studio head, and of course, Sam Peckinpah himself.Flawed as it is, the film nonetheless is memorable and impactful. There is a listfull, lyrical mood, almost deterministic, with a man who is waiting to be caught being circled by a man who doesn't want to catch him. The West is changing and Billy won't change because being "the Kid" is all he has. Garrett will sacrifice everything he has to change with the West, even killing his old friend, and in essence, both are doomed.Wonderful photography, unsurpassed music, and great performances from most of the characters still don't compensate for the many script flaws and inconsistencies. This is why this isn't the best western ever made. But sit back and enjoy it and dream about what it might have been

I am a big fan of westerns, but at the same time I am open to a western that tries to do things with another angle. But I must say that "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" often left me feeling somewhat bewildered. If you don't know a lot (or even just a little) of the history of the two real life figures, it's likely that you'll feel somewhat lost; the movie doesn't really explore the history or personalities of these two figures. Part of the reason for that is that the movie is mostly directed in an extremely laid back style, which makes the movie feel very slow and lacking in grit. Indeed, the movie has a lot of scenes and elements that don't seem to have much point, such as Bob Dylan's character. But it could be argued that many of these seemingly pointless scenes are, at least individually, are kooky and offbeat enough to be interesting. The movie may be slow, long, and seemingly without point, but I was never bored. While I can't give the movie a general recommendation - it's definitely not for the typical moviegoer - I do think that fans of westerns who are in the mood for something significantly different than usual will probably enjoy it.

A zapata western fantasy based on how Pat Garrett hunted his old compadre William Bonnie down. James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson are great, and the movie is a sumptuous vision of the wild west. There's a problem with the structure, though: as Garrett follows Billy the Kid down to Mexico, they run into new character after new character, and like as not shoot one or all of them. Before long, you lose track of who's who among the cameos by old-school Western standbys like Slim Pickens, Chill Wills and Jack Elam. The atmosphere keeps you watching though.The superfluous character problem is epitomised by Bob Dylan's 'Alias', a knife-throwing geek who works at the barber's. There is absolutely no point to the character; he doesn't do much, he doesn't want anything, and every time he appears on the screen you know it isn't going to lead anywhere - which may have been the point, but that's for a different movie. Maybe Bob's acting might have been better with more character motivation - as it is, he coquettishly flutters his eyelashes at Billy the Kid in a way that suggests plot developments more appropriate to Brokeback Mountain.The music consists of Bob's Nashville sound, which I like, but I'm not sure it works when it just comes out of nowhere in the quiet bits of the movie. 'Alias' might have worked better as a travelling troubador, but I suppose that was considered too obvious.Somewhere in PGABTK there's a great modern western struggling to survive but Peckinpah didn't keep it simple enough.