In 1972, this Getaway shootout sequence (Steve McQueen vs. seven or eight cowboy-hatted Texas schloombahs) wasn’t intense enough even by Sam Peckinpah‘s own standards of violence, which had been burned into the cultural psyche with Straw Dogs and especially The Wild Bunch. In my book Roger Donaldson’s 1994 remake was better in almost every respect, save for the fact that Alec Baldwin couldn’t hope to measure up to McQueen.

And if someone were to remake The Getaway today, the standing order would be “out-gun the Donaldson version by a factor of ten-plus. And while you’re at it, come up with a flying motorcycle stunt that out-performs that stupid-ass one in that No Time To Die trailer.”

And the dialogue would have to be rewritten, of course. When Sally Struthers‘ distraught character (“Fran”) cries “have you seen Rudy?”, the anonymous Texas gunman would have to reply in a less dismissive way.