VideoDetective.com
Wild Rovers (1971)
Released By: MGM Home Entertainment   Rating: PG   In Theaters: N/A
Your video will start shortly...



More Videos:
Preview Details
User Reviews
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Blake Edwards
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Karl Malden, Ryan O'Neal, Tom Skerritt, William Holden
Published ID: 2699
UPC: N/A
Plot: If you want to know what The Wild Bunch would have looked like with Blake Edwards rather than Sam Peckinpah in the director's chair, we submit for your approval Wild Rovers. William Holden and Ryan O'Neal play a couple of shiftless ranch hands who impulsively decide to rob a bank. They manage to make off with the money, but also incur the wrath of their former boss Karl Malden, who sends his two sons Tom Skerritt and Joe Don Baker out to bring back Holden and O'Neal, preferably dead. The film's climax is surprisingly melancholy for an Edwards film, but one can't deny that the ending grows logically from the events leading up to it. Severely edited by its distributor Warner Bros, Wild Rovers doesn't make a lot of sense in its release version; the director's cut, incorporated 30 minutes' worth of extra footage, is fortunately available on video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
good film,on a rotten vhs tape
Added 10/31/2009

I bought this ntsc tape resently and it was brand new factory sealed,well this is a good film worth watching,but I have seen better 1980`s exrental tapes,this vhs tape was the pits,how any studio can sell rubbish copies like this is a crime,some vhs are ok but if this is what the last of vhs is like bring on blu ray
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Wild Rovers
Added 11/4/2008

I was the location manager on this project. The big ranch house is the same one used in McLintock. Located about 80 miles from Tucson in the San Rafael Valley, the owner at the time was a very nervous lady called Mrs. Sharp. I remember the first time I took Blake Edwards and his entourage there (which included his wife, Julie Andrews)to see if it could work for the film and get permission from Mrs. Sharp. She and I had been good friends for awhile since I had used her place before in films. During the meeting, she ask me to go to the kitchen with her. We sat at her table and had coffee, while all these important people sat patiently in her living room. She finally said, "I don't like these people". I almost panicked. Then I got an idea. I took her to the door and asked her peek through the little window and said, "Do you realize that's Mary Poppin's sitting there?" Of course, that changed her mind and they talked a long time and became fast friends. A great western movie that I hope someday is put on DVD.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
Wild Rovers
Added 1/15/2008

Big fan of William Holden so it had me at hello. The music is wonderful. I have seen this movie many times and never tire of it. Best movie I ever saw Ryan O'Neal in.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Don't Shoot the Piano Player
Added 8/31/2005

I watched "The Wild Rovers" last night mainly because I have always enjoyed the acting of William Holden (as well as Karl Malden who also plays a major role in the movie). Holden has such a quick, yet (by American standards) articulate delivery that he sounds like an effusive Bob Hope in a dramatic role. He has made every movie I've seen him in better because of his presence in the cast. Sometimes, however, the structure of the movie fails to support the quality of the cast. For me, the problems with "The Wild Rovers" is not Holden or any of the actors; it's Blake Edwards.

What "The Wild Rovers" lacks is a coherant story. There is a scene about two thirds into the movie when there is a gun battle. Holden enters the fray late only knowing one person in the fight. He sees the bartender with a gun in his hand and promptly shoots him dead. Why he did so is never really explored or explained (although other characters in the movie commented on the pointlessness of the act). For all we know, the bartender hadn't taken sides and was seemingly trying to restore the peace. The scene is instructive of the movie because there are many other people and events in the movie that go unexplained. The background of the two main characters goes largely unexplained. Well, so what? Except that there is a scene in which Holden marvels at how two such different people became friends. Outside of the age difference, we pretty much have to guess for ourselves as to what else is different about them. There's a conflict between sheepmen and cattlemen which is rather historic during a period of Western history. However, we could use at least a weak explanation as to why that is an issue istead of just accepting the hatred we find. The relationships between father and sons are ripe for exploration but we only see the results. On and on we get scenes and situations that look good on film but don't seem to relate to everything else we're watching. Maybe the answer was on the cutting room floor. After all, I understand that Edwards had to cut about 20 minutes off the original film. However, blaming the film editor is like shooting the bartender.

5 out of 7 people found this helpful.
One of the best westerns ever
Added 12/4/2002

MY RATING- 7.6

I've just watched this one last night, and it's quite an impresssive western from Blake Edwards, the king of Pink Phanter.
Spite the vulgar screenplay, the characters view is fascinating, specially William Holden, without his usual and cynical presence. We really care for that middle aged cowboy and his tender friendship with the young man Ryan O'Neal. Together, they pass throw challenges after robbing a bank, including a scene with a dog, and most important the slowmotion use in the horse scene.
The curious thing is that we see two different points of view: from the main characters and from the law men chasing them leaded by Karl Malden. In fact, Malden with his wife seems to be a person a bit far away from the story of the mov.
The mov also stars younger Tom Skeritt and Joe Don Baker, Moses Gunn and a yelling Rachel Roberts.
Pretty good western, and I'm not a western fan.


4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
Photos


There are currently no photos.
Shopping
IDPriceImageUrlPurchaseUrlIdTypeBindingStore
VHS
$29.75 @ Amazon