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Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

Western · Drama · History · 1973

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Movie details

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

“Best of enemies. Deadliest of friends.”

1973 Western · Drama · History 1h 55m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

23.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

60 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

53 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sam Peckinpah

Written by

Rudy Wurlitzer

James Coburn

James Coburn

Pat Garrett

Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Billy the Kid

Richard Jaeckel

Richard Jaeckel

Sheriff Kip McKinney

Katy Jurado

Katy Jurado

Mrs. Baker

Chill Wills

Chill Wills

Lemuel

Barry Sullivan

Barry Sullivan

Chisum

Jason Robards

Jason Robards

Governor Wallace

Court is in session

Put Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.