Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett, portrayed by James Coburn, is forced to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson). Circumstances lead me to watching both the preview and special editions of the film, which is definitely an interesting way to compare a director’s vision with that of people less connected to the production. While the cast is strong and I enjoyed Bob Dylan’s soundtrack here, I realized that I find myself more disconnected from revisionist Westerns than the classic Hollywood versions. The revisionists are definitely more gritty with no real good characters, but they don’t feel any more realistic to history than the glossy, moralistic stories of the past.