Product Description

Paul Newman and Robert Redford set the standard for the "buddy film" with this box office smash set in the Old West. The Sundance Kid (Redford) is the frontier's fastest gun. His sidekick Butch Cassidy (Newman) is always dreaming up new ways to get rich fast. If only they could blow open a baggage car without also blowing up the money-filled safe inside... Or remember that Sundance can't swim before they escape a posse by leaping off a cliff into rushing rapids... Times are changing in the west and life is getting tougher. So Butch and Sundance pack their guns don new duds and with Sundance's girlfriend (Katharine Ross) head down to Bolivia. Never mind that they don't speak Spanish - they'll manage somehow. A winner of four Academy Awards (including best screenplay and best song) here is a thoroughly enjoyable blend of fact and fancy done with true affection for a bygone era and featuring the two flashiest friendliest funniest outlaws who ever called out "hands up!"System Requirements:Features: Disc 1: Widescreen Feature Commentary #1 by George Roy Hill Lyricist Hal David Associate Producer Robert Crawford and Cinematographer Conrad Hall. Commentary #2 by Screenwriter William Goldman. Disc 2: 2005 documentary ALL OF WHAT FOLLOWS IS TRUE: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch & Sundance. History through the lens: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Outlaws Out of Time" 1994 documentary: THE MAKING OF BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUDANCE KID" 1994 Interviews Production Notes Alternate Credit Roll Theatrical Trailer #1 Theatrical Trailer #2 Theatrical Trailer #3 The Films of Paul Newman From the Terrace Hombre The Hustler The Long Hot Summer Quintet The Towering Inferno The Verdict What a Way to Go! Running Time: 330 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: PG UPC: 024543244578 Manufacturer No: 2234458

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2194 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .35 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
This 1969 film has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more levelheaded partner, the sharpshooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the movie maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh

On the DVD
The original DVD release in 2000 was an excellent duplication of the 25th anniversary laser disc produced in 1994. This 2006 "ultimate edition" includes those features and adds another disc of extras, but many of the extras go over the same stories and facts numerous times. On the good side, screenwriter William Goldman begins his new commentary track by stating there was a deleted sequence echoing the nickelodeon footage seen in the opening titles. His wish that someone would find the sequence he has never seen is granted with this DVD (the sound was lost, but there are subitles and commentary from director George Roy Hill who died in 2002) Goldman does his usual crack commentary diagnosing the film and dishing out wisdom on the industry in general. There are two features here produced for the disc, one about the making of the film ("All of What Follows is True") with new interviews and "The True Tale of Butch and Sundance." The interviews in 2006 cover much of the ground as the 1994 interviews (with a few new mysteries cleared up including why Steve McQueen fell out of the project). A standard 90-minute TNT program expands on the historical facts stated in "True Tale" (with some of the same historians to boot). The best stuff was seen and heard on the original disc, thanks in part to Hill's involvement. His original commentary along with other crew remembers (including master cinematographer Conrad Hall) is biased, rambling, and fun. The mistakenly labeled 1994 making-of documentary was produced in 1968 by associate producer Robert Crawford. This 45-minute film is no piece of fluff; narrated by Hill, Goldman, and the stars, it tells of troubles on the set, gives frank assessments of talent, and deconstructs many of the scenes. For anyone brought up on tight, studio-controlled making-of docs, it's a breath of fresh air. The print is a bit warmer in this edition, but just as crisp. The original mono track has been slightly dressed up to a 2.0 stereo mix. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Poor image definition
What a disappointment!!! I was waiting for the release of this title for more than two months and bought it as soon as I could. However, and despite the quality of the movie, THIS IS NOT A HIGH DEFINITION PRODUCT, as the blu-ray category implicitly suggests. In fact, its image is not better than what is found in ordinary DVDs, and this made me not only quite disappointed, but also worried about my future purchases, as I noticed the same problem in other BD products (concerts, specifically). Anyway, customer surprises could be avoided with a clear indication of the image definition in the BD boxes (as well as in the corresponding catalog of Internet retailers, like Amazon).

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
This is a old movie and I really enjoyed it. I've seen it many times and still love it.

Entertaining and delightful - as westerns go
This is a very entertaining and delightful western to watch.

If you are looking for historical value and true-to-life realism in your western, then this might not be your best option. Other than the fact that the two main actors are called Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, and they rob trains, and they end up going to South America and rob banks, there isn't a whole lot of hardcore truth and factual events that you could point to in this movie and say with conviction that these were the true final days of BC & SK.

With that being said, let's not forget that this was made in 1969. The movie itself looks about the same as many westerns being put out on television during that period - a bit campy and certainly more concerned with style and how well it looked, rather than telling the hardcore-gritty story of the two bandits. The movie comes off as a very Hollywood-ish story that devotes more focus on making sure that the viewer was going to like BC & SK, (or specifically Newman & Redford) than it did on the subject of the story itself. Watch and see if you don't think that this film is a case of Newman and Redford - playing themselves, as cowboys, then it does as them playing the cowboy characters.

As for entertainment value - this is an awesome movie. It has plenty of cute one-liners and certainly repeatable lines (Who are these guys!?), funny and delightful moments, and plenty of time (film) devoted to making you feel all warm and fuzzy about the last pair of true western outlaws to grace the western hemisphere.

I would certainly not rate this in my top ten list of western movies, but that is because I look for more realism and reality in my movies than I do for artistic relevance and screen-appeal of the actors. I would however rate this as being a movie that most people will really enjoy and get a kick out of seeing. It's the type of movie that you SHOULD see, and will be happy that you did. It will also appeal to those who want a taste of the late 60's early 70's style of making and presenting a movie - the musical score - the wide to zoom shots - the starry shots of presenting a pretty girl (Katherine Ross), etc. All those crafts and that particular style of movie-making is now gone.