Junior Bonner - 1972 Movie w/ Steve McQueen, Total Badass
Steve McQueen's role as a rodeo rider. I feel like there were so many rodeo/cowboy films during this time including - The Honkers, J.W. Coop
and When the Legends Die.Need to try and figure out what started the whole trend sometime.
Junior Bonner: "Junior "JR" Bonner is a rodeo rider who is slightly "over the hill". Junior is first seen taping up his injuries after an unsuccessful ride on an ornery bull named Sunshine.
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| Junior Bonner (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
He returns home to Prescott, Arizona, for the Independence Day parade and rodeo. When he arrives, the Bonner family home is being bulldozed by his younger brother Curly, an entrepreneur and real-estate developer, in order to build ranch homes."
It was directed by Sam Peckinpah, who was known for the visually innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence as well as his revisionist approach to the Western genre.
Peckinpah's films generally deal with the conflict between values and ideals, and the corruption of violence in human society. He was given the nickname "Bloody Sam" owing to the violence in his films.
But this one was different. Peckinpah would remark,
"I made a film where nobody got shot and nobody went to see it."At the time, The Wild Bunch
,(controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means) was his most renowned film.And Straw Dogs
, one of his darkest and most psychologically disturbing films was in preparation to be released to theaters.
A note from the production of the movie:
According to Marshall Terrill's biography of Steve McQueen
: "The closest McQueen ever got to a bull was one called Docile Sunshine, who was fun, playful, and even kid-friendly.
McQueen was not allowed to get near Evil Sunshine, who was the meanest, craziest, bull on the planet." As a prank between shots, McQueen thought it would be funny to release Evil Sunshine into the bull ring.
People climbed over each other to get out. The bull destroyed an expensive 35mm camera.
: "The closest McQueen ever got to a bull was one called Docile Sunshine, who was fun, playful, and even kid-friendly.McQueen was not allowed to get near Evil Sunshine, who was the meanest, craziest, bull on the planet." As a prank between shots, McQueen thought it would be funny to release Evil Sunshine into the bull ring.
People climbed over each other to get out. The bull destroyed an expensive 35mm camera.
