Both Red Dead Redemption games were inspired by the western movie genre, but there's one film that stands out as having directly inspired some of the series' most famous scenes. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid tells the semi-fictionalized story of two real-life gunslingers on the run from the law and the modern world itself as they try to live the Wild West lifestyle well into the 20th century.
It's almost impossible to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid without seeing the huge number of scenes directly referenced in Red Dead Redemption, and in some cases almost fully recreated. From certain tragic deaths to lucky escapes and even the names and philosophies of major characters, here's all the parts of Red Dead Redemption inspired by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
John Marston's Death
John Marston's death is one of the most iconic moments from the first game, shocking players when the protagonist was shot by the government he'd been working for throughout the game. After sending his family to safety, John waits in his barn for the US Army to arrive, and in a final hopeless assertion of his freedom walks out to face a hail of bullets.
This famous moment is extremely similar to the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Having fled to Bolivia, Butch and the Kid find themselves cornered by the country's army, hiding inside of an abandoned building as they realize they're unlikely to make it out alive. They decide to run out and face their deaths in a final blaze of glory just like John Marston, and the movie ends on a freeze-frame of the two making their last stand as the audience hears a barrage of gunfire.
The main difference is that players see John's death, while Butch and the Kid's deaths are left ambiguous. Nonetheless, both scenes see the heroes walking out to face unbeatable odds at the end of a long outlaw career. Instead of facing down sheriffs or other classic western lawmen, they face the army itself, a sign of the power of the government extending to the frontier and the end of their lifestyle. John's death takes place in 1911, but Butch and the Kid's deaths take place only a few years earlier in 1908. Like so many Red Dead characters, John, Butch, and the Kid are all men living out of time, and their extremely similar ends show time catching up to them.
Dutch And Arthur's Lucky Escape
There's a scene in Red Dead Redemption 2 which, like John's death in the first game, is almost a one-for-one recreation of a scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as well as a recreation of a scene from the first game. In one of Red Dead's most heartbreaking moments John corners Dutch on a cliff, where he delivers his famous "we can't fight gravity" speech before letting himself fall to his death. In the prequel, Dutch and Arthur are cornered on a similar cliff by the US army, but while Dutch delivers a similar speech, this time Dutch and Arthur manage to escape by leaping down to a river below.
After lawmen chase Butch and the Kid to a very similar cliff edge, the pair are also forced to jump into choppy waters below in order to survive. The similarity between Butch's name and Dutch is unlikely to be a coincidence - both are the schemers and optimists. In the movie, the Sundance Kid is a famously quick shot, loyal to Butch and working as his enforcer. It's a very similar dynamic to Arthur and Dutch's relationship, although Arthur ends up dying long before Dutch does. It's also during this scene that the Kid mentions he can't swim - another similarity he has with John Marston, who can't swim in either Red Dead game.
Dutch's Plan
Dutch and Butch Cassidy are both the man with a plan of their outlaw gang. Both Dutch and Butch are also convinced that if everything goes south, so can they. Throughout Red Dead Redemption 2 Dutch mentions a back-up plan to go to Tahiti. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch convinces the Kid to flee to Bolivia with him, believing that the South American country will in some way help them travel back in time to a place that still has the frontiers that closed years before in California.
When Butch and the Kid find themselves facing almost-certain death at the hands of the Bolivian Army, Butch half-jokingly brings up the idea of fleeing to Australia instead. Australia is also Dutch's backup - before a job he tells Arthur that he's found "a friendly ship captain. He's willing to take us to Australia or Tahiti." Although Dutch's voice actor Benjamin Byron Davis does a fantastic job making Dutch his own, even die-hard Red Dead fans could have trouble distinguishing many of the lines said by Dutch in the prequel from lines said by Butch in the movie. In the end, both men's optimism turns out to be fatally misplaced.
The First Train Robbery
Towards the start of Red Dead 2the Van der Linde gang robs a train owned by Leviticus Cornwall in order to gain the funds they need to get back in the outlaw game. This proves to be one their fatal mistakes - a vengeful Cornwall ends up sending the Pinkertons after the gang, which is one of the major factors in the group breaking up and in the eventual death of John in the first game. At the start of Butch Cassidy, the gang robs a train owned by real-life American railroad executive E.H. Harriman. Harriman ends up sending a crack-squad of outlaw hunters after Butch and the Kid, who are pursuing them throughout most of the rest of the movie.
In both cases the gang's enforcer runs along the top of the train to get it to stop, they blow the doors off using dynamite, and confront a loyal train worker attempting to diffuse the robbery. Red Dead Redemption is inspired by many different westerns, but the series and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have a particularly close relationship. Both deal with men out of time trying to escape the future, and both show their heroes' struggle to be in vain.
Red Dead Redemption is available now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
