Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Starring:Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young, Helmut Dantine, Emilio FernÃ¡ndez, Kris Kristofferson, Chano Urueta, Donnie Fritts, Jorge Russek, Chalo GonzÃ¡lez, Don Levy, Enrique Lucero, Janine Maldonado, Tamara Garina, Farnesio de Bernal, Ahui Camacho, Monica Miguel, Paco Pharrez, Juan Manuel DÃaz
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Sam Peckinpah knew he couldn't call a movie Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and get away with it. That's why he did it. When he undertook this nakedly personal project, in self-exile in Mexico, the director was a deeply bitter man out of favor with critics, the media, and the Hollywood establishment, which had just released his Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid in a mutilated version. "Bring Me the Head..." sounded like the parody title of an ultraviolent Sam Peckinpah movie, and he flung it in our faces just as his onscreen surrogate tosses the titular object at the camera.

Thing is, the movie is a masterpiece--raw, shocking, beautiful, and brave--in which Peckinpah confronts his enemies and his own demons. Warren Oates plays a gringo piano-player stuck in Mexico who hears that some powerful men are willing to pay a bounty on a guy he knows. They don't know the guy is already dead, killed in a car accident. It'll be easy to exhume the trophy and collect the money--except that it will cost our seedy hero everything he has and ever wanted.

Amazon.com

Sam Peckinpah knew he couldn't call a movie Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and get away with it. That's why he did it. When he undertook this nakedly personal project, in self-exile in Mexico, the director was a deeply bitter man out of favor with critics, the media, and the Hollywood establishment, which had just released his Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid in a mutilated version. "Bring Me the Head..." sounded like the parody title of an ultraviolent Sam Peckinpah movie, and he flung it in our faces just as his onscreen surrogate tosses the titular object at the camera.

John Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre had always been a key legend for Peckinpah; this film is a subterranean re-imagining of it, with Oates as both the son of Fred C. Dobbs and the carnival-mirror reflection of Peckinpah himself. And Isela Vega's performance as the sainted whore Elita--bruised and worldly one minute, radiant and clear-skinned as a child the next--is an act of grace. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Some people will do anything for a million dollars even if it means killing anyone who gets in their way! Written and directed by OscarÂ(r) nominee* Sam Peckinpah and starring Academy AwardÂ(r) winner** Gig Young, Warren Oates, Robert Webber, Kris Kristofferson and the seductively beautiful Isela Vega, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a gritty classic that vibrates with explosive action and nail-biting tension. When a Mexican land baron puts a million dollars on the head of the man who seduced his daughter, two money-hungry men (Young and Webber) recruita small-town bartender (Oates) to help them do their dirty work. But their tequila-fueled trek across the desolate Mexican frontier grows more intense, gruesome and bloody with every savage murder they leave in their wake! *1969: Original Screenplay, The Wild Bunch (With Walon Greenand Roy N. Sickner) **1969: Supporting Actor, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Customer Reviews:

Classic Dramatic Hardcore.......2007-06-03

This Title says it all and for $1,000,000 Cash the action and suspense fills this movie. Gritty, Intense, VIOLENT, DARK HUMOR! This movie was ahead of it's time. So was Director Sam Peckinpah.

Still Holds Up.......2007-05-26

I watched this movie 2 days ago, and as usual it had a lasting effect on me. I would have to almost go out on a limb and say this may be Peckinpah's most complex and brilliant work; The storyline starts as a basic premise, then gets a little more complicated mid-way through. For a film made in the early '70's, the dialog still stands strong, the desert-like landscapes are captured perfectly, the acting/characters are are both commanding and quirky, which was something you did not see done alot in early '70's films, let alone done well. Most of the action comes to a boil in the last half hour or so, but I didn't really care. Oates takes control as the lead, which is nice to see; He is a charismatic leading tough guy type, and here he gets his moment; The German guys are quite amusing, esp. at the end when their relationship becomes a little more defined in a strange way. This is probably as close to a Tarantino movie as Peckinpah ever got, and it's just as worthy. 'The Getaway' was a good movie, but this one is soooo much better. On par with 'Straw Dogs' and 'The Wild Bunch', yet different.

i expected to see ambrose bierce walk onto the set ..........2007-04-26

while i recently called "ballad of cable hogue" my favorite sam peckinpah movie, this outre take on revenge is undoubtedly his best, and imho one of the best of the 1970s. for those who havent seen it, the setup is the daughter of (presumably) mexican land tycoon has been impregnated by one alfredo garcia; the angry dad offers a huge reward to whomever delivers to him the severed head of alfredo, and down on his luck bum warren oates (think a seedier version of bogart in "sierra madre") is hired by a pair of "entrepeneurs" (gig young and robert webber) to do the dirty work. the irony: alfredo is already dead in a car accident. and that is the setup for where the movie really takes off in a spin of revenge, justice, betrayals, love, &c -- all against the sight and smell of the deteriorating severed head rotting in 100 degree plus heat. oates was always an underappreciated actor, but here he gives his best performance, matched by mexican actress isela vega as his doomed girlfriend. not a movie you want to watch frequently, but it is a masterpiece.

Classic Sam Peckinpah!.......2007-01-30

It's been 30 years since I've seen this film on cable. I decided to re-visit this obscure film and see if I missed anything in the initial viewing. As it turned out, I didn't miss anything. It's pretty much the same, routine Sam Peckinpah film, filled with lots of blood, guts, bullets and slow-motion action. It's also a long, tedious film that is not one of his best, but will satisfy those who enjoy ultra-violence in their movies.

Alfredo garcia.......2007-01-23

Movie way ahead of its time. The violence is cuttiing edge for its time, a peckinpaw trait, but is tame by today's standard. First rate movie I think and very underated. I like warren oates and the support acting roles are well done. I think well worth the money.--5 stars

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