MovieChat Forums > Boxcar Bertha (1972) Discussion > 6.1? REally? I liked it a lot more than ...

6.1? REally? I liked it a lot more than Bonnie and Clyde...

posted 12 years ago by A_Friend_of_Sarah_Connor
3 replies | jump to latest

I fail to understand why everyone is hating on this movie. It's not exceptional by any means but it isn't terrible. Sure, some scenes and plot elements don't make any sense but Scorcese's visual flair is evident even this early in his career. And it was produced by Roger Corman, king of Z-grade exploitation cinema! What did y'all expect? I enjoyed a lot more Bonnie and Clyde, I still don't get why that film is held in such high regard; just because a film sets a trend does not immediately mean that it is a classic... Furthermore, BB was never boring and I could watch it for Barbara Hershey alone...

That's all just my opinion though, I guess.

"I'm gonna need a hacksaw"

[–] donwallo 12 years ago

I watched Boxcar Bertha today and B&C last night for the first time, and I'm tempted to say that I too actually liked BB more. I think it's a matter of having heard that BB was terrible before I saw it and knowing that B&C is treated as a classic.

I guess I would say this - what's bad in B&C is the fault of the director (or possibly the actors), but what's bad in BB is due to the lack of resources. As a result you don't really hold the badness of BB against it but you admire what's good about it. B&C, knowing what a well-funded and professional job it was, you kind of resent for its defects (overdoing the hillbillery for example, or the too obvious pseudo-Freudian touches).

I think it's not only with hindsight that one can say that BB shows more potential talent than B&C does. Still and all I can imagine coming back to the characters and story in B&C but I doubt will ever think about BB once the memory fades. Just not enough meat on the bone.

[–] sanookdee 11 years ago

Bonnie and Clyde is a terribly over rated movie I think. It was ground breaking in many ways but, I never thought Warren Beatty is a particularly good actor. Gene Hackman is the highlight of B&C and the short segment with Gene Wilder and Evan Evans was one of the highlights of the movie. But, Faye and Warren, well, a bit boring with no supporting actors in the scene.

[–] jt-hix2112 11 years ago

I liked this more than Bonnie and Clyde as well, although it's been a while since I've seen that film.

Even though Boxcar Bertha has some very obvious flaws, it is very enjoyable and is a fun ride. It is much more entertaining than other exploitation films that I've seen, which usually strike me as boring and uninteresting. And it is more like watching a Tarantino movie that a Scorsese.

My short films: http://www.youtube.com/user/jthix2554/videos?flow=grid&view=0