In 1913, the end of the frontier West forces Pike (William Holden) and his gang of bandits (including a crazed Ernest Borgnine) to flee to Mexico. They're blackmailed into working for a brutal generalissimo as Holden's former comrade, Robert Ryan, leads a hunt to track down Holden.

Director Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece stunningly portrays the choices people make when they think they have no choice.