The movie is extremely violent for its time, repeatedly accused of exaggerating violence. Finally recognized as a bloody poem of violence and one of the best westerns in cinema history.
Year 1913. On the Mexican border, the outlaw Pike Bishop prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, which includes Dutch Engstrom and brothers Lyle and Tector Gorch, Bishop discovers the heist is a setup orchestrated in part by his old partner, Deke Thornton. As the remaining gang takes refuge in Mexican territory, Thornton trails them, resulting in fierce gunfights with plenty of casualties. During the finalization of the Americans’ transactions, however, there are doubts – should they not stand on the side of Pancho Villa and peasant partisans?

The director discusses the problem of the impact of war on the human psyche, fascination with violence, and social degeneration. “The Wild Bunch” is a shocking image even today, also due to the specific, shaky editing – it has more than 6 times more shots than typical films from those days.
Peckinpah politicized and reactivated the genre and created a film that became an inspiration for a new generation of film makers in the 1970s. It is a film masterpiece and the best anti-competent in the history of cinema.
The film received two Oscar nominations (music, the best original script). The American Film Institute considers it one pf the hundred best films in the history of cinema.