Pat Garrett and Billy the kid (1973) (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)

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Sam Peckinpah’s cycle of genre-redefining westerns came to a close with this blood- and dust-caked elegy for the American West, which marries his renegade style with a fatalistic sense of finality. As newly minted lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) stalks the outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) across the plains, their old friendship is twisted into rivalry, and mythic ideals of freedom come up against an emerging ruling-class order—all to the strains of a haunting soundtrack by Bob Dylan (who also appears as the mercurial Alias). Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid—presented here for the first time in three separate versions—stands as perhaps the maverick auteur’s richest, most mature work, a world-weary ballad that bears the solemn weight of history passing into legend.

They are fast friends and worse foes. One is Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson), a law unto himself. The other is the law: Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn), who once rode with Billy.
Set to a bristling score by Bob Dylan (who also plays Billy's sidekick Alias) and with a `Who`s Who` of iconic Western players, Sam Peckinpah`s saga of one of the West`s great legends is now restored to its intended glory. For the first time since it left the cutting room, the film has the balance of action and character development Peckinpah wanted, a mix of fury and elegy based on the director`s notes and the insights of colleagues.The difference is profound, as different as an untouched target and a bulls-eye.