The Homeric Power of Peckinpah’s Violence

Abstract

Michael Sragow’s essay outlines the conflict between Warner Bros. and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) over the X rating that the MPAA initially gave to the proposed rerelease of The Wild Bunch in 1993. Sragow also discusses the film’s depiction of violence and how, in contrast to many other movies, the film is not self-indulgent in depicting it.