Butch and Sundance - The Early Days

20th Century-Fox/Pantheon. Director Richard Lester; Producer Gabriel Katzka, Steven Bach; Screenplay Allan Burns; Camera Laszlo Kovacs; Editor Antony Gibbs, George Trirogoff; Music Patrick Williams; Art Director Brian Eatwell

William Katt
Tom Berenger
Brian Dennehy
Peter Weller
Jeff Corey
Jill Eikenberry

This prequel doesn't match its progenitor in either casting or style. Without Paul Newman or Robert Redford in the title roles, it doesn't matter whether Butch dwells on the pair's infancy or senility - there's no star chemistry. Tom Berenger and William Katt acquit themselves admirably, but they simply can't compete with the ghosts of two superstars.

Butch is standard sagebrush material, with few of the comic misadventures that characterized the original. There are some patented Richard Lester hijinks in the first half-hour of the prequel, but these peter out surprisingly soon.

1979: Nomination: Best Costume Design

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1979. Running time: 110 MIN.

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