Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979)

BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY YEARS is a western prequel to BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID; they couldn't make a straight sequel to that movie for obvious reasons. This one sees the notorious duo just starting out, with William Katt (of CARRIE fame) a lot of fun as Sundance and Tom Berenger slightly wooden and uncomfortable as Butch. The film is directed by Richard Lester, of THE THREE MUSKETEERS fame, and much in the spirit of those movies, i.e. very silly, over-directed, and barging its way through genre tropes with high energy and low wit. What does keep this watchable are the minor roles for future greats, with Christopher Lloyd playing a typically goofy role (he gets one of the film's funniest lines), future ROBOCOP Peter Weller a lawman, Vincent Schiavelli a bad guy, and the great Brian Dennehy a typically larger-than-life presence.

This unnecessary prequel to a seminal western is still fairly enjoyable on its own and the two leads (Tom Berenger and William Katt), then virtually unknown, mimic Paul Newman and Robert Redford, respectively, surprisingly well; Jeff Corey is even on hand to reprise his role from the earlier film! Good-looking if forgettable entertainment - and curiously straightforward, given the stylization of the original and the involvement of Richard Lester (A HARD DAY'S NIGHT [1964], PETULIA [1968]) who, earlier in the decade, had also directed two rousing adventures, THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973) and its sequel, THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1974)!

This prequel to the legendary Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford is not nearly as good but that doesn't make it bad either. If you're going to compare these two, this one is only going to suffer. But if you look at it on it's own terms you'll find there's plenty to enjoy here.Tom Berenger and William Katt step into these legendary roles as Butch and Sundance and they do remarkably well. Director Lester focuses mainly on the comedic aspects of their relationships and at times the film is quite hilarious in depicting their early years as thieves who work their way up to become train robbers. In the final third the movie goes into serious and dramatic territory which isn't all that interesting nor enjoyable, but it does enhance the characters and give them more of a plight. But it picks up for a grand finale where the pair rob their first train.With good supporting actors like Brian Dennehy, Christopher Lloyd and Peter Weller on board, Butch and Sundance; The Early Days is a film that should easily entertain most western fans and even admirers of the legendary "sequel" if viewers are willing to accept it on it's own terms.

Gorgeous scenery, well photographed. Good actors. Sweet tone. Inventive bits that echo the spirit of the previous movie. However, I agree with Leonard Maltin on the one flaw: no story. This movie is more or less a collections of vignettes, sometimes with little to no connection with each other. If there had been a developing story to hang these vignettes on, we would have gotten a movie very close to the quality of the previous movie. But as it is now, it's a simple pleasant movie. Even better when you realize the usual quality of sequels.