Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron

A documentary on legendary, notorious film director Sam Peckinpah, the man who gave us such classics as The Wild Bunch, Cross of Iron and Straw Dogs. Through interviews with friends and people who worked with him, some of whom are legends in their own right, we get a picture of a complex, larger-than-life individual.

Sam Peckinpah's films are notorious for their action scenes and high levels of violence. Peckinpah's own life was as dramatic and this comes through in this documentary. Calling him complex is understating it as some of his antics are quite unbelievable.

A very honest documentary in that all his issues are brought to the fore. Many documentaries end up just being a cheerleading contest with celebrities trying to outdo each other in saying how great the person was. Here we learn of his greatness and what made him great but we also learn of his darker side and the likely reasons for this.

A very interesting and edifying documentary.

This is a solid look at the man, but tends to gloss over the movies themselves, barely speaking of them at all, with few clips or mentions of their making. Seems like a lost opportunity even though you learn a lot about the demons he was dealing with.