Fans who are lovers of the best classic movies are in for a treat as a film considered one of the coolest ever made is now streaming for free.
Starring iconic Hollywood actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford, 1969 flick Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is currently available to watch at no cost on BBC iPlayer.
The top-grossing film of its year, the Western buddy movie went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture and director, winning four.
There is literally a Reddit thread titled ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – coolest film ever?’ where fans discussed its appeal, so don’t take it just from me.
Helmed by George Roy Hill (who also directed Newman and Redford in 1973’s The Sting) and written by Academy Award winner William Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid follows the titular members of the outlaw Hole-in-the-Wall gang in 1899 Wyoming.
They flee to Bolivia after a train robbery gone wrong with Sundance (Redford)’s lover Etta Place (Katharine Ross), attempting to go straight for the first time after struggling to rob banks in Spanish – but a posse is in hot pursuit.
‘It’s a classic, and I don’t use that term lightly,’ shared John W in an audience review on Rotten Tomatoes, while Jamie X posted: ‘A beautiful film in every way. The cinematography, characters, story and soundtrack, are all on another level. I simply can’t recommend enough.’
‘This western movie had it all. Fast action, comedy, whimsical, intense [sic.] intrigue and fast gun play with two of the most dynamic male actors of their time,’ added Edward B.
Redford, 88, largely retired from acting in 2018, having also appeared in the likes of The Great Gatsby, All the President’s Men and Out of Africa, as well as a stint in Marvel Cinematic Universe as Alexander Pierce.
He was nominated for best actor and best director twice each at the Academy Awards, winning for his filmmaking in 1980 for Ordinary People, his directorial debut.
Newman died in September 2008 aged 83 after a career that saw him nominated for 10 acting Oscars, winning best actor for The Colour of Money in 1987.
He also starred in movies including Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Road to Perdition.
‘Everything I wanted in a movie is here,’ enthused another fan, while Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was also praised as ‘the ultimate buddy movie’ and a ‘classic Western that I just never get tired of watching’.
‘Redford and Newman at it again. If you don’t love Butch and Sundance, then you don’t love cinema,’ insisted another lover of the movie.
Many cinema fans have intense nostalgia around the film as well, remembering first watching it upon its release decades ago.
‘One of the best, a film from my childhood I’ve had the pleasure of discovering again as an adult,’ shared Robin Sattahip on Google, while Ray Moore shared: ‘I watched this wonderful movie the week it was released and fell in Love with K. Ross as well with R.R. and Paul whom [sic.] I was already a fan. I have seen it so many times.’
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid appears in multiple AFI lists, including ranking 73rd in the institute’s 10th anniversary edition of their 100 Years… 100 Movies list of greatest American films.
Based on real-life figures in the Old West, the film is famous too for its anachronistic use of the very 1960s Burt Bacharach and Hal David song Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.
It’s also preserved by the Library of Congress in the United States National Film Registry by for its ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ status.
Other stone-cold classic films currently available to watch on iPlayer include The Shining, Don’t Look Now and John Wayne classic Western The Searchers.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is streaming for free in the UK on BBC iPlayer now.
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