"The Wild Bunch" (1969)

"If they move, kill 'em!"   Sam Peckinpah's best, he wrote and directed.

William Holden and Ernest Borgnine lead a band of outlaws in the early 1900's who get pushed to the proverbial 'one last' job.  Robert Ryan plays the former member on the trail of redemption at the price of their heads.  

Machine gun smiles, single action colts, 1911's, decent shooting (oddly enough), the Mexican Army gets shredded, honor among men, your word being your bond, staid men in changing times.  Train wrecks.  One of the greatest bridge destructions filmed (with live horses and men!).  Unwavering determination.  Doing what's right for your friend....all the way to the end.

it's not subtitled for the most part (there are some scenes with the Mexican army), so Gloftoe could even watch it.  

If you've never seen it, by today's standards it's not bad, but at the time it was made, considered the bloodiest movie made.  The slow-motion effects were big ticket F/X at the time, which are now pretty standard.  John Woo credited this film as one of his main influences.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0065214/


"The Getaway"

McQueen/MacGraw star in this flick.  The remake with Basinger/Baldwin sucks....even more so after watching Steve go to work in this one.  Steve McQueen could drive, shoot, and did a decent job of acting, plus he taught Ali MacGraw how to drive and shoot specifically for this film--two things she hadn't done before.  

Not quite as much action overall, but good story and it's a fun ride.  

"Cross of Iron"

Another good flick he did, about WW2 Germans fighting in Russia.  James Coburn stars as a German Sargent trying to get his platoon back to the main body during a retreat.  Scary stuff...the tank battle at the end is downright nasty stuff.

Although not always mentioned, Sam also worked on the TV shows "The Rifleman", "Gunsmoke" and several others.  He was a volatile and occasionally abusive person, Charlton Heston claims Sam was the only person he threatened physically on a set.  Died in 1984.  

The Wild Bunch is a great flick. Got to love Winchester M12 , 97s and 1911s in a western!

Cross of Iron has the best single shooting ever, in a movie.  Coburn empties the entire 71 round drum into one guy, and then his friend stabs said guy repeatedly.

He also did "The Killer Elite" with James Cann and Robert Duvall, not the best movie but some memorial scenes.