NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion (June 2024): Criterion have transferred Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid to 4K UHD and Blu-ray. The Criterion offers three versions of the film. On the first disc are the one hour 57-minute "50th Anniversary Release" from a new 4K digital restoration of the "50th Anniversary Release", supervised by editors Paul Seydor and Roger Spottiswoode. Also on the first disc is a new 4K digital restoration of the 1-hour 46-minute "original theatrical release". The second disc has the New 2K digital master of director Sam Peckinpah’s "Final Preview Cut", from a new 2K digital master, which runs slightly over 2-hours. Okay there are two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range and two Blu-rays with the films and special features. The two Blu-rays are also sold separately in a single package. We won't be able to obtain 4K 2160P captures, probably, till after the release date - a function of the encode. This is presently true of many 4K UHD transfers - sometimes we get lucky - not here. We will try to add them here when they are accessible. The 1080P should give you an idea of the rendering as it will be from the same sources. In 2006 we reviewed a two-disc Warner DVD set HERE. We've never been aware or own subsequent (overseas?) Blu-ray editions to compare. The Warner DVD package had the 2005 "Special Edition" (1-hour 55-minutes) and a second disc of the 1988 "Turner Preview Version" running just over 2-hours. The separate (not seamlessly branched) 1080P Blu-ray and 2160P transfers of the "50th Anniversary Release" and, shorter, "original theatrical release" seem to be about the same in terms of color scheme but the "50th" does show a shade more information in the frame. It looks excellent with contrast and colors balanced effectively, depth and instances of appealing grain texture supported. Each of these visual characteristics get exemplified in the 2160P renderings easily looking th best digital presentation ever available for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. The "Final Preview Cut" on respective second discs) is both the longest version and shows the most information in the frame. It is cited as never having been released previously. It has, mostly frame specific, damage marks (see sample HERE) and speckles - maybe even one 'jump cut'. It is quite 'golden yellow' through much (see comparative samples below) but is a fascinating curiosity for devotees of the film. Despite the wart imperfections (despite the max'ed out bitrate) I really enjoyed it as an extra feature.

Wikipedia tells us: "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid was noted for behind-the-scenes battles between Peckinpah and the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Soon after completion, the film was taken away from the director and substantially re-edited, resulting in a truncated version released to theaters and largely disowned by cast and crew members."

William D'Annucci informed us in email back in 2006: "The main problem is that no "real" finished version of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid exists. Peckinpah was working with a shaky script and an abbreviated deadline that gave him far too little time to make a fine cut. Peckinpah's friends and critics interviewed here dance around the sad fact that Peckinpah's alcoholism had gotten totally out of control during Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, leaving him with a scant amount of functional hours in the day. The version we'd all want, with Peckinpah at his full energy focus and skill displayed in the Wild Bunch, was never fully allowed to happen."

NOTE: We have added 64 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their 4K UHDs and Blu-rays, Criterion use linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language with some background Spanish. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid has plenty of Western gene sound effects with gun and rifle fire, horses, clucking chickens that come through authentically flat but with decent bass response. The score is credited to Bob Dylan, notably for the artist's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" sounding beautifully clean. Kristofferson also brought Bob Dylan into the film, initially hired to write the title song. Dylan eventually wrote the score and played the role of "Alias". The discs have consistent dialogue in the uncompressed transfers with the "Final Preview Cut" being the most scattered. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-rays and region FREE 4K UHD discs.

The Criterion 4K UHD and Blu-ray offers a new commentary for the 50th Anniversary Release featuring Paul Seydor (the lead editor on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid), Roger Spottiswoode (The Children of Huang Shi), and critic Michael Sragow (A Uniquely American Epic: Intimacy and Action, Tenderness and Violence in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.) Sragow describes that Paul Seydor is the supervising editor of this 'special edition' which splendidly augments Peckinpah's brilliant work on the theatrical release with the best material lost in the cut. He comments on the three editions of the film including the "second preview" version that has never been released before. They discuss examples that Roger and Paul had to make; the prologues that intercuts Pat Garrett's death (sepia) in 1908 with Billy and his gang shooting chickens etc. They discuss why the prologues came to be and why it had to be cut for the theatrical release and how it evolved in the cutting room. It's a marvelous insight into the film, Peckinpah, the versions, the cuts, performers, back stories, and anecdotes. Fns will devour it with relish.        

On the second Blu-ray there is the "Final Preview Cut" and more supplement material; Dylan in Durango is a new 1/4 hour interview with author Clinton Heylin (The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry Feeling, 1941-1966) about the film’s soundtrack which was nominated for two BAFTA Awards for Film Music (Dylan) and Most Promising Newcomer (Kristofferson). Included is Mike Siegel's 48-minute, 2024, documentary about the making of Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah’s Last Western has video clips with R.G. Armstrong, James Coburn, Gordon T. Dawson, Chalo González, Katherine Haber, L.Q. Jones, Kris Kristofferson and Daniel Melnick. Mike has done a few Peckinpah documentaries and we even reviewed one, "Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah", in 2009 HERE. There is also a 1/2 hour of American film critic and writer Charles Champlin's archival interview with actor James Coburn. It is prefaced by "This transfer of Champlin On Film: "James Coburn" was derived from the only known copy. It was recorded on VHS by author Clinton Heylin during its original 1988 broadcast on the Z Channel." Plus there is a trailer and a handful of TV spots. The package has liner notes with an essay by author Steve Erickson.

Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid on Criterion, 4-disc, 4K UHD and, 2-disc, Blu-ray is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The cast is part of 70's western cinema lore with James Coburn (Peckinpah's Cross of Iron) as Pat Garrett, Kris Kristofferson (Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, Anne Feinsilber's Requiem For Billy the Kid, John Sayles' Lone Star and Peckinpah's Convoy,) as Bill the Kid, plus Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado (High Noon,) Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason Robards (Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue), famous recording artist Rita Coolidge (Kristofferson's new bride at the time,) Luke Askew (Easy Rider), Matt Clark, Jack Elam (Once Upon a Time in the West,) L. Q. Jones (Junior Bonner,) Slim Pickens (Rancho Deluxe,) Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas) and, of course, iconic Bob Dylan as "Alias." If you looks closely you can see uncredited Sam Peckinpah as 'Will' and Bruce Dern (The Cowboys) as a Deputy Sheriff. Rudy Wurlitzer wrote the screenplay (as well as playing 'Tom O'Folliard' in the film,) later with Peckinpah's reworking of the narrative. Wurlitzer also wrote the screenplays for 1987's Walker directed by Alex Cox, Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop, and Little Buddha directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is filled with back stories including Dylan calling Willie Nelson to the set. He played many hours of Django Reinhardt tunes on his old Martin guitar. The film's controversial legacy and alternate versions make it one of the most fascinating revisionist Westerns of all time. There is immense value here for Criterion's 4-disc, 4K UHD and, 2-disc, Blu-ray sets. It gets our highest recommendation.  

Gary Tooze