dougdoepke No need to recap the plot. It's 1972, so if it's Steve McQueen, you know there's going to be slam-bang car chases and maybe one smile. Plus, if it's Sam Peckinpah, you know there's going to be plenty of shooting and red stuff. So how can action fans lose. Okay, so the movie's second half is more than a stretch, but who cares, what with all the bang-bang action going on. Speaking of bang-bang, there's dippy Sally Struthers, giggling every time she strips. Lucky Lettieri. Too bad he's too full of holes to take full advantage. Speaking of full advantage, poor Mc Queen. Prison does something to a guy, like maybe stifling his biological prowess, but then McGraw's patiently understanding. Then too, I really like Steve's bowl haircut, just the sort of clip-clip a prison barber passes out to guys standing in line. And catch his field work sunburn. Kudos to Steve for not caring about Hollywood looks. However, I would recommend a few thespian lessons for McGraw. She's a whole lot prettier than she is accomplished. But then maybe it's the script that fogs up her character. Not so for Lettieri. He's plain evil and enough to scare the pants off Schwarzeneger. Whoops, that's an even scarier thought than Lettieri.Anyhow, it's a rip-roaring two hours with hardly a let-up. So fasten your seat belts, and let Steve punch it up.

moonspinner55 Action-filled crime-drama, expertly assembled by director Sam Peckinpah and screenwriter Walter Hill, adapting Jim Thompson's novel, has Steve McQueen's incarcerated "Doc" McCoy asking his pretty wife to use her feminine wiles with a corrupt Texas parole board member in getting him released; it works, on the condition that Doc partner with two of the businessman's henchman in robbing a neighborhood bank--but things don't go as planned. After a brilliantly designed and edited prologue with McQueen doing time behind bars, this heist flick becomes more routine, with noisy gunfire and police sirens and cars smashing and crashing into everything. McQueen holds the screen with his charismatic, laconic presence, but Ali MacGraw is little more than window dressing (and when she is required to emote, she's open-mouthed and vacuous); taken together, they're not an overly exciting or interesting pair. Subplot with hostage Sally Struthers is mean and nasty, and Peckinpah's florid handling is undeniably potent and gripping. Quincy Jones' score (added at the 11th hour) and Lucien Ballard's cinematography are also first-rate. *** from ****

Fella_shibby In the movie The getaway we find the paramount representation of the power of the shot-gun. McQueens shot-gun bullets destroy police-cars, devastate a whole hotel, demolish an elevator, knock down a door slaughtering the thug hidden behind...The action is great, as one can expect from Peckinpah. The final shootout is especially memorable and McQueen just looks great with that rifle. This is the sort of screen presence most movie stars could only hope to have. I saw this way back in early 90s. Saw again on WB channel years back when the channel was newly introduced in India. Revisited this recently on a DVD. It is a well paced, action/thriller. Its a decent heist/road film. Nice Cinematography by Lucien Ballard n very good direction by Peckinpah.

HardSteelMill Before watching "The Getaway," I thought it would be a decent, entertaining, 70s-style action film - not a classic, but a solid, enjoyable movie. Steve McQueen was known as one of the first "cool" movie stars, and rightly so. Sam Peckinpah was known for directing movies that were violent, stylish, and fast-paced. With "The Getaway" he scored one out of three. What little violence there is isn't even entertaining, since it's not "action," per se, but rather criminals murdering other criminals.For a story about bank robbers on the run from the police and other criminals, "The Getaway" is surprisingly lifeless and anemic. The plot has no drive or momentum. There are a couple of head-scratching segments that seem completely out of place, as if the screenwriter ran out of ideas and had to stop and think for fifteen minutes before writing the next scene. On top of all that, Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw both play unsympathetic characters, and the numerous scenes with Al Lettieri and the woman who becomes his hostage/lover just hurt your eyes."The Getaway" has no redeeming qualities: it's boring, it's unpleasant, it's sleazy, it's too long, and the plot makes little sense. In fact, if this movie had been made with an unknown director and unknown cast, it's unlikely that it would be known today at all. That's how bad "The Getaway" is.