Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

once-controversial film

I bought this when I was collecting Gene Wilder movies. Turns out, it was his film debut. I hadn't seen this before, but I do remember all the controversy around it when it first came out. Funny, it seems so tame now.

Warren Beatty is Clyde Barrow; Faye Dunaway is Bonnie Parker. They rob banks during the depression, and they're joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and a young gas station attendant (Michael J. Pollard) they recruit as a driver.

They go on their merry way, with preacher's daughter Blanche's protests their only problem, until things start to catch up with them.

It's a wonderful blend of exciting action, humor, and pathos--the sort-of lovers racing gleefully toward their doom. Clyde in particular is almost innocently childlike in his self-centeredness and lack of consideration of the consequences of his actions, not to mention his ambiguous sexuality. I'm not that well-versed in evaluating acting performances, but I believed all these characters.

Which is not to say that I believe Beatty and Dunaway were just like the actual Barrow and Parker. Far from it, I'd say--rather than a portrayal of actual fact, the movie is more fiction based on the true story.

Oh, and Gene Wilder? He was wonderful as a man who's briefly caught up in the gang when they steal his car. November 19, 2008

Crime Doesn't Pay

The story line appears to have told the story of Bonnie and Clyde as it
really happened, i.e. how two average people can join together and make
a go of it. Still, regardless of how well they performed their chosen
field of endeavour it remains that it is a field not to be followed nor
encouraged since "Crime Doesn't Pay!" August 17, 2008

a must have for the film buffs

A bargain at twice the price. This is a preview of the renegade filmmaking that would dominate the 70's and it is a must see. The extras are wonderful but it is the film itself that ranks as a masterpiece. Warren Beatty's first production effort shows he wasn't just a pretty boy anymore. July 27, 2008

A rare Gangster Film.

This movie was before the craze, mobster, super-gore film Pulp Fiction so I suppose it was almost impossible to suspect while being engrossed in Academy Award-like performances that such a horrendous fate would lie in wait for the characters of Bonnie and Clyde; Just as twistedly surprised as for the almost unsuspecting duo as well. The fates of all the ill fated characters in more traditional mob movies such as the very movie which set the bar for all others: The Godfather (Widescreen Edition) had a ticker for its characters and their ends, while shockingly delivered, were all part of the live by the gun die by the gun rule. But this film has you romantically envolved in its characters, to the point where villain and proctagonist are blurred and you wait for your tear-filled happy ending. The ending punishes you and dispells the step-by-step way about doing a Hollywood film. As brave as the legendary Director Stanley Kubrick in all his glory. A Glowing achievement for Warren Beaty and all responsible for this great movie. July 3, 2008

CLASSIC AMERICAN CINEMA. BEST PRESENTATION

THE GREAT THING ABOUT BLU RAYS IS THAT: THEY CAN'T LOOK BETTER.

SO IF YOU DON'T OWN THIS MOVIE ON DVD AND WANT TO HAVE IT. BUY IT ON BLU RAY. IT'S THE BEST OPTION.

ONE OF THE MOST SHOCKING MOVIES OF THE 60s AND A GREAT CLASSIC. June 24, 2008

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