- It is a collaborative masterpiece. Roy Hill is a solid director (the Sting) but here he’s aided by an oscar- winning (and sharp as hell) screenplay by William Goldman, Oscar-winning photography by Conrad Hall (one of the best of all-time), costumes by Edith Head ( 8 Oscar wins 35 total nominations), and of course arguably the best work from both Paul Newman and Robert Redford
- That washed out color opening is masterful. First we have the scenes of Newman looking at banks and then the close-up of Redford playing poker. The film’s visual style is based on the black and white old-timey film reel opening and the black and white photographs. Roy Hill/Hall goes slowly into the film several times after these interludes before going into color
- 4 Oscars- I love the cinematography and writing but you can keep that Burt Bacharach “Raindrops keep falling on my head” song and scene
- As said in the movie Newman is affable as hell—gregarious—Redford is the strong silent—they’re both so damn impressive
- As entertaining a screenplay and film as you’ll see– filled with sarcasm (repetition of “who are those guys?” and “they fall alone will kill us”—countless lines like this)
- 5-6 zooms—feels like the universal minimum in 1969
- I actually love the Bolivia travel montage- I love how Hall/Conrad wash out the photography of the bicycle prior to leaving
- Strother Martin is great in his scene
- Called by many an significant buddy movie and I see that- from 48 Hours to Lethal Weapon and the like- it’s influential as a story genre, a box office smash and the two (already) stars went into the stratosphere—such great rapport- these two characters clearly love each other
- Slow motion falls of the Mexican gang like the wild bunch – same year
- The final freeze frame is a stylistically transcendent moment—the audio carries over, the photography. Washes out. – it’s a watershed moment—400 Blows, Goodfellas, Jules and Jim and Butch Cassidy when it comes to freeze frame
- A masterpiece
[…] Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Roy Hill […]
Is this the best bromance of all cinema? I just watched RRR a few days ago, and it’s definitely the best bromance *since* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid –but is it better?
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is obviously the better movie. Just asking as far as bromances are concerned.
@Bullweather- haha not sure- have not thought about this one. My guess is most people would go with Shawshank. I found this: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/10-greatest-movie-bromances-2/
@Drake
This is a fantastic list. All epic bromances in their own way. I will have to think about this further, but the RRR can certainly be included in this conversation
@Bullweather – There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugTbwvVuLKA
This made me laugh
@James Trapp
Ha, thanks for the chuckle
@Matthew – ha thanks, obviously I was joking about the bromance thing but there is something comically absurd about their rivalry. They are both charlatans but only one of them (Eli) lies to himself. That final scene in the bowling alley after Eli says “We’ve seen ups and downs, haven’t we?” Daniel snickers “are things down right now Eli?” He knows exactly why he’s there.
Agreed, their relationship is fascinating. On another note, have you seen any of the 2022 films you said (on another page that I can’t remember) you were gonna get to? What’s been your #1 of 2022?
@Matthew – yeah a little behind on 2022 but I have been catching up slowly
So far I’d go
1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Decison to Leave
3. Tar
4. Barbarian
5. God’s Country
6. Nope
7. Speak No Evil
8. Blonde
It probably goes without saying but I imagine this will change quite a lot as I see more 2022 films.
The top 3 are quite strong but 4-8 are very weak for top 10 films of the year so I got some catching up to do
What about you?
Well, as of right now I’ve seen 20 films from 2022, but I have a list of about 20 other films I’m gonna try to get to as well (obviously won’t get to all of them, but I’m gonna try to see as many as possible) and I want to rewatch about 5 of the ones I’ve already seen.
I’m also have not seen Bardo or Everything Everywhere yet…which seem like contenders for the top, so I’ll refrain for now but at some point I will do a ranking and post it here. Your top 3 would all land in my top 10 as of right now though, with Tar topping those 3. I would emphasize getting to The Northman and The Batman too, I can’t imagine those falling out of the top 10 when I’m all said and done
Oh Blonde would make my current top 10 too
@James – I hadn’t heard of God’s Country and Speak No Evil but they both sound interesting, what grades would you give them?
@Harry – probably HR for God’s Country and R/HR for Speak no Evil. As I said I still need to see a lot of 2022 films but both are worth seeing for sure. I doubt Speak no Evil will make my top 10 for 2022 once I catch up but God’s Country might, Thandiwe Newton is very impressive.
All Quiet on the Western Front is quite impressive. It makes great use of 2:39 to 1 ratio with stunning battle sequences and work particularly well for the trench warfare of WW1. It also makes interesting use of color, for example a thick yellow smoke appears in one scene; reminds me a little of final shots of Red Desert (1964). These scenes juxtapose with the otherwise muted color palette. Some great handheld camera work from soldiers POV during many of the most intense moments.