Movie · 1972 · Action, Crime, Thriller · 2h 3m · PG · English
Curator score: 6.8/10 (31.2K ratings)
It takes two to make it … The big two.
Overview
A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.73/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Sam Peckinpah
Production
Foster-Brower Productions, First Artists, Solar Productions, National General Pictures, Tatiana Films
Cast
Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri, Slim Pickens, Richard Bright, Jack Dodson, Dub Taylor, Bo Hopkins, Roy Jenson, John Bryson, Bill Hart, Tom Runyon, Whitney Jones, Raymond King, Ivan Thomas, C.W. White, Brenda W. King, W. Dee Kutach
Curator Review
Verdict
A lean, bruised, and surprisingly romantic crime thriller with Peckinpah’s signature violence and a strong sense of momentum. It’s especially rewarding if you like outlaw stories where the action is as much about damaged relationships and pressure-cooker tension as it is about the heist itself.
Best for
fans of 1970s crime thrillers
viewers who like antihero road movies
people drawn to gritty but stylish action
fans of tense marital/criminal partnerships
admirers of Sam Peckinpah or Steve McQueen
Skip if
you want a clean, straightforward heist movie
graphic violence or ugly behavior turns you off
you prefer fast-paced modern plotting over 70s digressions
you dislike morally grim characters
you’re looking for a light or purely entertaining caper
Overview
The Getaway is one of those crime films that feels both hard-edged and oddly tender. Peckinpah stages the violence with his usual ferocity, but what lingers is the strain between the couple at the center of it all, and the way the movie keeps turning a getaway into a test of loyalty, ego, and survival.
Worth noting
It’s slicker than many Peckinpah films, with a polished surface that only makes the ugliness underneath feel sharper. The chase mechanics are strong, the editing keeps the tension alive, and Steve McQueen gives the whole thing a cool, controlled pulse.
Bottom line
What makes it stand out is the balance of genre muscle and emotional rot. It’s a crime movie, a road movie, and a marriage-under-fire movie all at once, with enough swagger to satisfy and enough bitterness to leave a mark.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems · 405 likes
Never thought I’d say this about a Peckinpah movie but…that was really nice? Like yeah full of really ugly stuff and bloody violence but also kinda nice!
Matt! (4★) · 346 likes
You can take Steve out of the car swerving through a crowded street and into a ball of fire, but you can’t take the car swerving through a crowded street and into a ball of fire out of Steve.
Originally supposed to be directed by Peter Bogdanovich (lol what a different movie that would’ve been), The Getaway is what happens when Sam Peckinpah takes a stone cold script by man-on-the-run expert Walter Hill, adds in all of his usual stereotypes… more
Robert Franco · 322 likes
there’s a moment towards the beginning of the film when mcqueen’s doc gets out of prison that i haven’t stopped thinking about. doc’s wife, carol, picks him up and the first thing he tells her is that he wants to go for a walk. eventually they arrive at natural public swimming area. doc, wearing a full three piece suit, gets out of the car and stops as he watches the people swimming and having fun. then it cuts to a… more there’s a moment towards the beginning of the film when mcqueen’s doc gets out of prison that i haven’t stopped thinking about. doc’s wife, carol, picks him up and the first thing he tells her is that he wants to go for a walk. eventually they arrive at natural public swimming area. doc, wearing a full three piece suit, gets out of the car and stops as he watches the people swimming and having fun. then it cuts to a… more
SilentDawn (4★) · 259 likes
78
Sam Peckinpah's work is tremendous here, as usual, but Walter Hill's screenplay surprised me the most. Not a stone unturned, with twists and turns and brutal moments that further develop the complexity of these characters. It's riveting throughout. Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, and Al Lettieri make up a fantastic cast, and Slim Pickens gives his all with just five minutes left on the clock. Quality cinema, through and through, with a hotel shootout that is typical Peckinpah poetic carnage.
nathaxnne [goodbye <3] (5★) · 221 likes
The Getaway is a greasy, sociopathic Texas Noir based upon a Jim Thompson novel, scripted by Walter Hill and directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw as criminals on the lam from other, more powerful criminals. Those are the most important things to know about The Getaway. Lesserly important things to know or to ask oneself is: how badly do you want to see Steve McQueen set a police car on fire by repeatedly emptying shotgun blasts… more The Getaway is a greasy, sociopathic Texas Noir based upon a Jim Thompson novel, scripted by Walter Hill and directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw as criminals on the lam from other, more powerful criminals. Those are the most important things to know about The Getaway. Lesserly important things to know or to ask oneself is: how badly do you want to see Steve McQueen set a police car on fire by repeatedly emptying shotgun blasts… more