Director Sam Peckinpah's blood-spattered tale of the destructive lure of gold is an ultra-violent, nightmarish vision of rural Mexico as a place where men are pushed to the limit and forced to act in savage, barbaric ways of which they might never have dreamed. It polarised critics 20 years ago like no action film before and gave Warren Oates - a sadly underrated actor - one of the most memorable roles of his career as the bar owner enlisted by homosexual hitmen Gig Young and Robert Webber to help them trail a wanted man for a $1million ransom. Some of Peckinpah's camerawork is very sloppy, the film contains too many slow-motion deaths, and there are a couple of unintentionally funny scenes - but there's no denying its single-minded and highly distinctive visual style. You'll either love it or loathe it.


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