Former outlaw Pat Garrett, now a sheriff, is ordered to hunt down his old friend, the infamous criminal Billy the Kid.
Director Sam Peckinpah is a larger-than-life character who in the 1960's breathed new life into a faded movie genre with his brand of "revisionist" Westerns, and redefined how violence was portrayed on-screen. After his breakout hit The Wild Bunch, Peckinpah tried his hand at different material, including comedy, social commentary, and action thriller. A failed marriage and struggles with alcoholism followed into his next project, a return to the Western which would continue his deconstruction of historical myths.
Peckinpah cast former collaborator James Coburn and country musician Kris Kristofferson in the title roles, and peppered the rest of the cast with a host of veteran character actors including Jason Robards, Jack Elam, Slim Pickens, Harry Dean Stanton, and Katy Jurado. Screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer was instrumental in bringing Bob Dylan into the production, first to compose a song for the film, then the musical score, and eventually appearing on camera in a significant supporting role.
The production (taking place entirely in Mexico) was fraught with problems; in addition to Peckinpah's heavy drinking, members of the crew became sick, camera equipment was damaged resulting in unusable footage, and the film eventually went over budget and behind schedule. Peckinpah had fought with studios in the past but his troubles with executives reached new heights here, with the director eventually taken away from the editing process, his version edited heavily before its theatrical release.
Reviews of the film were mixed to negative, but in 1988 Peckinpah's "preview cut" made the rounds on cable and home video and was soon hailed as a far superior work than originally thought. An additional edit was made in 2005 attempting to reconcile other missing elements and streamlining Peckinpah's early cut.
Dylan's most notable contribution to the film is the song Knockin' on Heaven's Door, which would go on to become one of his most recognizable recordings, and the production experience would influence some of his subsequent writing.
Running time is approx. 2 hrs.
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