Blu-ray Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Robbed, we’ve been robbed! Well not exactly, but someone again has made off with some of the special features that were found on the DVD release of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Maybe it was Paul Newman and Robert Redford?

Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) are the leaders of the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang. When gang member Harvey Logan (the massive Ted Cassidy) is selected as the new leader of the gang it’s up to Butch to challenge Logan to a knife fight to settle the matter.Butch wins, but not exactly in a gentlemanly style. The hurt Logan confesses that his plan was to rob the Union Pacific Flyer – twice. They’d never expect the second time round. Butch likes the idea and requisitions it as his own.

The first robbery goes off like a charm, but the second is all-wrong. The railroad has decided to form a super posse to track down and kill the Hole in the Wall Gang. The duo decides to take Sundance’s girl Etta Place (Katherine Ross) and head for Bolivia. They try their robbing ways, but lacking the ability to speak Spanish plays havoc with their first robbery. They develop the same kind of reputation in Bolivia that they had in America and soon the Bolivian authorities are out to get them – just like old times. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is the beginning of a beautiful friendship and would also result in The Sting (1973). Newman and Redford are tops here and their easy chemistry carries the entire picture. It also doesn’t hurt that they both play well with Katherine Ross as their characters covet her as well. The film seems to be a western that really has a contemporary feel to it, well contemporary for 1969. The score is reminiscent of something akin to muzak, definitely not of the time period, and “Raindrops keep Falling on your Head” jumps out at you. Even with some of those oddities, the performances of the leads keep this film at the top of many critics and audiences’ lists. It has a bittersweet quality as well as the ending isn’t exactly the happy one that we might associate with “Raindrops.” In fact, I recall being a little shocked at it when I first watched the film. However, our two heroes seem to be consigned to legendary status and don’t go out in a hail of bloody bullets as in the Wild Bunch. It’s definitely a classic and rides high on the charisma of the cast. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is presented in 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Again, as is Fox’s habit apparently with Blu-ray, several special features found on the regular DVD have been dropped. They include a 40 minute “Making of,” the 1994 25th Anniversary interviews with Redford, Newman, Ross, etc., a 22 minute television episode of “History through the Lens” about the film, and an alternate end credit roll.

The second is from screenwriter William Goldman. Next is the 35 “All of What Follows is True: the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (2006) features interviews with Newman, Redford, Ross, Goldman, and others. The 25 minute “Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch and Sundance” separates the fact from the fiction of the film. The 4-minute “Tent” deleted scene follows and has an optional commentary by director Hill. Finally, there’s the 1-minute teaser trailer, the 1-minute theatrical trailer, and a 3-minute second theatrical trailer. The Special features are really quite good this time around and Fox might be a little more forgiven for their missing status. However, my thought is you always start with what came before and add to it, even if they’re not in high-def and only in standard definition. I’m going to give this one the full rating and not count off for any special feature omissions. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.