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| Director: George Roy Hill
Actors: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones
Studio: 20th Century Fox
List Price: $9.98
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New (24) Used (43) Collectible (7) from $1.01
Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 9509
Format: Color, Hifi Sound, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6303393977
UPC: 086162869235
EAN: 9786303393971
ASIN: 6303393977
Theatrical Release Date: October 24, 1969
Release Date: March 22, 1995
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 79
 An impressive "Ultimate Collector's Edition" June 12, 2006
Cubist (United States)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
On the first disc and carried over from the previous special edition is an audio commentary by director George Roy Hill, lyricist Hal David, documentary director Robert Crawford and cinematographer Conrad Hall. This track provides a history of the production with plenty of anecdotes. The participants give the lowdown on every scene on this very informative track.
Also included is a new commentary by screenwriter William Goldman. Goldman points out that westerns are about confrontation and yet Butch and Sundance spend most of the film running away. This is an excellent track as Goldman doesn't just talk about the film but the state of cinema now as well as the business side of things.
There is a "1994 Documentary: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" sees Hill, Goldman, Newman and Redford narrating over behind-the-scenes footage as they tell the story of how the film was made with clips from the movie that is an unconventional approach but works well.
The second disc starts off with a new retrospective documentary entitled, "All of What Follows is True: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." This is an excellent look at this important film with new interviews with principle cast members even if there is some repetition from the 1994 doc and the commentary tracks.
"The Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch and Sundance" gives a historical perspective and provides insight into who these infamous figures really were. Various historians talk about the origins of their nicknames and examine how authentic the film is to the actual history.
"History Through the Lens: `Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Outlaws out of Time'" is another look at the movie and compares it to the historical record. It also examines how Butch and Sundance are classic anti-heroes and how the film reflected the social and political climate of the late 1960s.
"1994 Interviews" with Newman, Redford, Ross and Goldman. They talk about the movie and their experiences working on it. This is nice inclusion but nothing you really can't get from the numerous other docs on these two discs.
"Tent" is a deleted scene with optional commentary by Hill and features Butch, Sundance and Etta going to see a movie about them. They comment on how inaccurate it is to what they really did and who they are. The studio felt that the scene was contrived. Hill says that he felt that it didn't work and it was rightly cut.
"Production Notes" is a collection of memos to the studio outlining character development and the importance of certain scenes and script changes.
"The Films of Paul Newman" is a collection of trailers from a few of his movies.
"Alternate Credit Roll" features a different look and music to the end credits.
Finally, there are three theatrical trailers.
 One of the best movies ever made, one of the best DVDs ever made. November 23, 2006
thornhillatthemovies.com (Venice, CA United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is one of the best films ever made and Fox has recently released a fitting two disc DVD edition of the film. Fitting because the DVD is one of the best I have ever seen.
Directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman, the God of screenwriters, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" stars Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katharine Ross. How could a film with this pedigree be anything but good?
What you may not realize, or know, is that this film made Robert Redford the star he is today. Paul Newman, already an established star having appeared in "Hud", "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Hustler", among others, was a bankable star and the film was made because he agreed to make it. Initially, he wanted to play the Sundance Kid, but eventually settled on the role of Cassidy. Robert Redford was not new to film, but he was nowhere near the icon he would become. He had some early success which was followed by a few clunkers. The pair became a match made in heaven and would go on to appear in more films together. On screen, they appear to be friends, much like their characters, and this adds to the charm of their relationship.
Redford clearly recognizes the influence this film had on his career. His famous film academy and film festival are named after his character in the film.
Butch and Sundance decide to rob the mail car of a train owned by a powerful rail baron. Butch is tired of the work and wants to retire, but he needs one or two big scores to set him up. After blowing up the rail car, they run off with the loot and hide out in a small town, at a brothel they frequent. Meeting up with the rest of their gang, they quell a revolt and decide to do one more job. They will rob the same mail car on the same railway, on its next run through the area. It is the perfect crime, no one would suspect the same train being robbed, so it will probably be loaded with money. After blowing up the car for a second time, they notice another locomotive speeding towards them and a crew of men on horseback alight from the car and give chase, chasing Butch and Sundance, and their two accomplices, for days, across many terrains. Finally, they realize the rail baron has hired a famous Indian tracker to help a band of men, including a former sheriff who is now a famous bounty hunter, catch the duo. After the chase, they return to the home of Ella (Katharine Ross), the Sundance Kid's girlfriend. Tired, they decide to leave the country and travel to Bolivia and begin robbing banks there.
As I watched this DVD of "Butch Cassidy", two things quickly became apparent. This film is virtually timeless. With the lone exception of the song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", the film could've been made yesterday, the images are so clear. The second is that the DVD print is one of the most beautiful transfers I have ever watched. The cinematography by Conrad Hall (who would later work on "American Beauty" among others) is simply stunning and brings out all of the rich detail of the landscape. Everything is crisp and clear, when it is supposed to be, colors are bright and vivid, it's just beautiful to watch. It doesn't hurt that the stars are two of the most handsome men to ever appear in film, at the prime of their careers, and one of the most beautiful women to ever co-star. How did anyone get past all of that eye candy?
The key to becoming fully invested in this film is William Goldman's screenplay. He introduces the characters in action, we learn as we go, and they are almost always moving, or doing something. Goldman fills their mouths with witty dialogue, showing us how their relationship works, and they are instantly likeable to us. This is basically a love triangle with Ross' Ella playing the go-between. The two men have a very close friendship, enjoying each other's company. But Cassidy loves Ella as well, even appears slightly jealous until he realizes his friend is the recipient of this woman's love, so they get along. Then, there is the famous chase. The railway baron's men chase Butch and Sundance for days, taking up a significant chunk of the film. But this scene proves to us how committed the two men are to each other and makes their future trek to Bolivia all the more believable. We have to believe there is a real threat and these men never let up on the chase, if they catch Butch and Sundance, they will be killed. As soon as they reach Bolivia, Goldman has a lot of fun with the characters again, exploring their relationships, rebuilding them in a way, and making them light hearted again. It is almost amazing to watch this film because if a studio executive were presented with the same screenplay today, it would probably not be made. It doesn't hit plot points at pre-determined pages, it tells an unconventional story, and we never actually see the villains. Goldman had the luxury of writing this film during a period in which studios were still able to work with somewhat unconventional screenplays. Of course, they wanted to make money as well, but they still considered film an art form.
George Roy Hill is an underappreciated director. I think a large part of this is because many of his films are very humorous. Comedy is not as highly respected in Hollywood as drama, even though making a good comedy is much more difficult. So I suspect the humorous elements of most of his films made him less respected in Hollywood, but when your films are as good as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting", you deserve some respect. He made his share of duds, but when he passed away a few years ago, Hollywood was robbed of a talent ready to make at least a few more classics.
During this period, big screen Westerns were becoming unpopular. Perhaps the dearth of television westerns was keeping the public out of the theaters, but this genre was considered risky at the time. Recent films starring Burt Lancaster and others were failing to light the box office fire. The second disc contains a new "Making of" feature including interviews with Newman, Redford, Ross, former studio executives David Brown and Richard Zanuck and more. Zanuck reveals that he took a real chance in greenlighting this film, but fought for it all the way. He also haggled with Hill and the filmmakers, in an attempt to keep the budget under control; he became concerned when the film was projected to cost about $7.5 million (consider the average studio film now costs at least $125 million). But the film would go on to be a big hit. Such a huge hit the filmmakers followed this with the equally popular "The Sting".
The second DVD also contains some archival interviews with the stars, some trailers and more.
In the "Making Of" documentary, they discuss the inclusion of the song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". People fought against it but Hill and composer Burt Bacharach felt it would be the perfect accompaniment to the scene of Butch and Ella riding a new-fangled bike through her barn yard. It does work, but it is clearly not a fit for the period depicted in the film, and is the most dated element within the film today. It just seems silly today.
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is a superlative example of the treatment all classics should receive on DVD. This is a film every DVD library should have.
 One of the worst Blu-ray disc I have seen May 11, 2008
Truong Cam Hung
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I am sorry to say this is one of the worst Blu-ray disc I have seen, and I own about hundred of Blu-ray discs since its inception. Actually I have forgotten how the original DVD version looks liked, so I took it out for comparison, and yes, the Blu-ray version does look a little bit better, but overall the picture quality is still so dreadful, it seems you are watching the movie through a muddy window: colour is dull, contrast is low, and the image is blur.
If the studio can't make an aged movie look decent, then they better don't release it in the high definition format, as there are so many other good, classic movies waiting to be re-mastered.
The audio also improves a bit, but still don't expect much from it.
No matter how the West was WON this film shows it was FUN! December 8, 2002
Amanda Christoph (Philadelphia, PA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a classic not to be missed. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the last examples of a time when Hollywood made quality classics on a regular basis--instead of the [junk] it now generates 95 % of the time. This movie embodies several gold standard qualities of Hollywood classics: 1) Star power and star chemistry yielding unforgettable characters 2) a well-written script that will be quoted until the end of time 3) ingenuity in cinematography and film editing.1) There are many stories about how exactly Newman and Redford got cast. Some say Steve McQueen was supposed to star opposite Newman, but refused after he found out he would not get top billing. Also, originally, Newman was cast as Sundance and Redford was Butch. Depending on who you ask, either Redford or the Director recommended the switch. Newman strongly backed the casting of Redford, a relatively new and unknown star at the time. We are all glad he did. Their chemistry is fantastically brilliant, with colorful threads of wit, humor, and humanity thread throughout their relationship. Newman, one of the finest actors of all time, projects a warm and friendly "old buddy, old pal" character as Butch Cassidy. This leader of the "Hole in the Wall gang" is devilish, ingenious, endeavoring, and affectionate (you will love the bicycle scene with Katherine Ross). His "Get rich quick" schemes have him and Sundance living life to the full hilt-alternating periods of lavish living, mishaps in bank/train robbing, and running/jumping/floating from a "out to kill" posse. Redford's dry wit and serious demeanor nicely compliment Newman's character. No one delivers a line like Redford, you can almost hear his teeth grinding in the background. No scene illuminates this better than when they first arrive in Bolivia with dreams of wealth and easy living to find desolate farm land and a few goats. The wit is unsurpassed here. 2) Quotes/scenes that are classic, or at the very least pretty damn funny-
Butch Cassidy: What happened to the old bank? It was beautiful!
Guard: People kept robbing it.
Butch Cassidy: Small price to pay for beauty. Butch: Boy, I got vision while the rest of the world wears bifocals. Butch Cassidy: You jump first.
The Sundance Kid: No, I said.
Butch Cassidy: What's the matter with you?
The Sundance Kid: I can't swim!
Butch Cassidy: Why you crazy--the fall will probably kill you! Sundance: Can you take the two on the right?
Butch: Kid, I think there's something I oughta tell ya. I never shot anybody before.
Sundance: One HELL of a time to tell me. Butch Cassidy: If he'd just pay me what he's paying them to stop me robbing him, I'd stop robbing him! 4) If you buy the latest release of the film, there is a bonus "making of" feature at the end. It's a nice summary of how the cinematography, editing, music, and characters all came together to produce "one of the most popular screen westerns ever made, this Academy Award winning classic blends adventure, romance, and comedy to tell the true story of the West's most likeable outlaws."-(back cover) For example, the sepia toned frames of New York with Newman, Redford, and Ross superimposed give the film a vintage touch. James Dean may have defined "cool" in "Rebel Without A Cause" but Newman and Redford certainly pull no punches in presenting their definition-their wit is beyond cool.
Legends. May 1, 2008
Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
How do you ensure somebody's legacy as a hero? In the good old days, you wrote a book. Nowadays, you make a movie - and if you're lucky and it's really, really successful, you can retrospectively even make legends out of dangerous criminals. Not that that always works, of course. But with two great actors with instant chemistry (Paul Newman and Robert Redford), a script (by William Goldman) bursting with one-liners making the audience bowl over laughing every other minute, without once derailing into slapstick, a director's (George Roy Hill's) ingenious use of the occasion to turn a whole genre on its head, and some of the world's most beautiful locations, filmed by an exceptional cinematographer (Conrad Hall) ... you just may pull it off. Case in point: "Butch and Sundance."
While Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) was known as the Old West's Robin Hood for his charm, masterly planning, avoidance of bloodshed - he really did claim he'd never shot anyone - and his stance for settlers' rights vis-a-vis the wealthy cattle barons, Sundance (Henry Longbaugh) had the reputation of a loner; a fast draw repeatedly in and out of prison before even turning twenty-one. After several of their Wild Bunch/Hole in the Wall Gang associates had seen the short end of the stick in various encounters with the law, Butch and Sundance determined things were getting too hot in the West and, unlike the outlaws who not much earlier had stood it out until the end (Billy the Kid, the James Gang and the O.K. Corral gunfighters), decided to head for South America. With a woman named Etta Place, possibly a teacher as portrayed here or, perhaps more likely, a prostitute, they first spent several years farming in Argentina - both had done cattle work before turning to robbery, although in the form of rustling (stealing unbranded cattle) - but eventually reverted to their more profitable, preferred occupation. Most sources believe they died in a 1909 shootout with the Bolivian military in a town named San Vicente; others, however, claim either or both escaped alive, returned to the States under assumed names and died there (Sundance in Casper, WY in 1957 and Cassidy, according to his sister, in Spokane, WA, in 1937).
While their decision to leave the West instead of duking it out with the law and the mystery surrounding their deaths would already have made for a great movie, director Hill cleverly used the material for a 180-degree-turn on the Western genre. The opening credits roll next to sepia-tinged silent shots depicting a Hole in the Wall Gang train robbery, followed by the bold claim that "most of what follows is true" - which in itself couldn't be further from the truth. What does follow is a wild ride from the Outlaw Trail to Bolivia ... during which our heroes aren't getting rid of their pursuers, no Western music with guitars and harmonicas accompanies them but Burt Bacharach's multiple-award-winning, deliberately anachronistic, upbeat score (plus "Raindrops Are Falling on My Head" during the most romantic scene - raindrops???), a knife fight is settled by a kick in the groin, and a marshal trying to assemble a posse first meets with a lackluster population, neither willing to bring their own horses and guns nor clamoring to be supplied with such by him, and in short order sees his meeting usurped by a bicycle salesman. Add to that Oscar-winning cinematography, repeatedly using black-and-white lighting techniques even after the film's switch to color (e.g. in Sundance's first visit with Etta), reverse lighting to make daytime shots look like nighttime (during several scenes of the pursuit) and sepia-tinted shots for period feeling (besides the opening, also to sum up the trio's stay in New York), a Bolivian bank robbery with a crib sheet containing "specialized vocabulary" that Butch, contrary to initial claims, doesn't know in Spanish, and an immortalizing freeze-frame ending - and you have one heck of an entertaining movie, shot in some of the West's most spectacular settings and in Mexico (as Bolivia's stand-in).
"Butch and Sundance" turned Redford into a megastar - Hill lobbied hard for the then-perceived "playboy"'s casting, and his instincts proved so dead-on that Newman's entourage became worried the movie's expected primary star would be sidelined (a feeling never shared by Newman himself, though, who has been friends with Redford ever since). In a twist worthy of Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay, fearsome loner Sundance became one of Redford's most popular roles, and his independent film festival's namesake. The movie renewed popular interest in the Outlaw Trail, which Redford himself traveled later, too (chronicled in a fascinating, alas out-of-print book). Its script is littered with memorable one-liners; from both heroes' "Who *are* those guys??" to Butch's comments on the small price to pay for beauty, on Sundance's gun-prowess ("like I've been telling you - over the hill"), on vision, bifocals and Bolivia, on Sundance's asking Etta (Katherine Ross) to accompany them, although if she'll ever "whine or make a nuisance," he'll be "dumping her flat" ("Don't sugarcoat it like that, Kid ... tell her straight!") and his downplaying the final shootout because their archenemy LaForce isn't there; Sundance's "You just keep thinking, Butch," his comments on the secret of his gambling success (prayer), on not being picky about women (followed by a litany of required attributes), on the excessive use of dynamite, and his one weakness ("I can't swim!!"); and finally Strother Martin/mine-owner Percy Garris's deadpan delivery of the Shanghai Rooster song, of "Morons ... I've got morons on my team" and his assertion not to be crazy but merely colorful. The famous freeze-frame ending has repeatedly been cited, both cinematographically (e.g. "Thelma and Louise") and in dialogue (e.g. 1998's "Negotiator"). And although initially almost uniformly panned by critics, the movie won quadruple Oscars and multiple other awards. In true Hollywood fashion, it has made two fearsome outlaws legends forever ... and in the process, also won legendary status itself.
Also recommended:
The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time
Digging up Butch and Sundance (Second Edition)
Butch Cassidy: A Biography (Bison Book)
Hud
Jeremiah Johnson
The Sting (Universal Legacy Series)
Adventures in the Screen Trade
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