If somebody were to remake The Wild Bunch or re-shoot the climatic gun battle scene in another context, the one thing they couldn’t repeat is that moment inside the salon or bedroom when the pretty Mexican girl shoots William Holden in the back, and he delivers an angry verbal response before returning fire with a shotgun. That couldn’t happen today. Peckinpah was never better or more inspired than when he made this 1969 classic, but he was one of the most worst woman-hating guys to ever work in Hollywood. He was really diseased in that respect.
