Riveting western...

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid opens with a title card that reveals "most of what follows is true". That title card is accurate. In reality, there were two men named Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They really did rob banks in addition to trains.

The filmmakers executed substantial research before getting involved with the project with the intention that they could make the movie as accurate as possible. No-one will ever know what actually happened of course (apart from the two men), but the film was never meant to be an in-depth history lesson. The filmmakers are allowed to get away with inventing some creative dialogue. Even if the two men were alive today they wouldn't be able to know what they said word for word.

Butch Cassidy on the Sundance Kid tells an engrossing, funny, fast-paced tale of the two historical figures in the form of a western. Butch Cassidy (Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Redford) are the two leaders of a gang of thieves. The two men are exceedingly proficient in their main area of aptitude - for Butch it's ideas and brains, for Sundance it's his ability with a firearm. When their gang commit a few too many robberies a special posse is organised with the objective of eliminating the two outlaws.

The plot is a complex of interesting sub-plots with the main objective in mind of chronicling the rise and fall of the protagonists. However the film is not powered by the plot - it's powered by the fantastic performances and great character development.

The film runs at a brisk 105 minutes and moves at an invigorating pace. There are a lot of exciting western shoot-outs and engaging robbery scenes. The film works because there's always something interesting to exhibit on the screen. The film was crafted beautifully; each shot has been framed with style, each location looks gorgeous. And above all the costumes and props look highly authentic. The costume donned by each character looks genuinely stunning. And the atmosphere is spectacular. It's easy to find yourself immersed in the action occurring on the screen because every detail you see is impenetrably hard to fault. The film won an Oscar for Best Cinematography with good reasoning!

I was very impressed with the performances from all the actors. Paul Newman makes a realistic Butch Cassidy. He looks like a person who would use his brains rather than brawn. Newman's dialogue is snappy and fascinating. Kudos to Newman for pulling off yet another great performance! Robert Redford has the look of a gun-touting outlaw.

The film's atmosphere is also established skilfully by director George Roy Hill. It's his direction coupled with the fantastic cinematography that gets the audience engrossed in the film. Within the first 10 minutes I was already hooked.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a classic western that is witty, funny and entertaining. In the film you'll find both action and humour; a prize-winning combination for a western. Don't be put off by its age. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is quite simply one of the most breathtaking films in history.