The first thirty minutes of the film introduce the main characters, Butch and Sundance, and set up the events that will trigger the movie-long conflict. We learn that Butch and Sundance and their Hole-in-the-Wall Gang are planning to rob a scheduled train on its way through town, and on its way back. They figure no one has done this before, and the people controlling the trains won't expect a second robbery and stock both full of money. The first also act introduces another key character, Sundance's lover Etta Place. The relationships between the three main characters are established in this act.
The second act begins with the second train robbery. Not everything goes according to plan, as the gang uses too much dynamite on the safe and blows the train car and the money sky high. Just as this happens, another train with a single car drives up on an adjacent track and stops. Out of the car jumps a posse of six men on horses, and they come straight for the Gang: apparently the owners of the train were expecting something. The whole gang flees, with a couple getting shot by the posse. The team splits up, but the posse has a very good tracker: the entire group follows Butch and Sundance. They are chased for days without rest. Butch and Sundance are always ahead of the trackers, but despite their attempts to lose them, they can never throw the group from their trail. Finally they reach the mountains, abandon their horses, and hole up in the canyon for a shoot-out. Before anyone can fire a shot, though, Butch and Sundance escape by jumping into the mountain stream far below. They make their way back to Etta's home, where they learn the group was hired to track and kill them by the owner of the trains they robbed. They decide to leave the country and lie low, and convince Etta to come with them. The end of the second act is marked by a still montage of the group's trip to New York, en route to Bolivia.
The third act of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid finds Butch, Sundance, and Etta in Bolivia. Soon after learning basic Spanish from Etta, the guys set about robbing banks again. They earn a reputation as los banditos yanquis and soon become the most wanted men in Bolivia. But just as they are beginning to enjoy their rich lifestyle, they find that the group that was hired to get them has finally tracked them down. In an effort to outlast them, Butch and Sundance seek honest employment. They get jobs as payroll guards for a mining company; unfortunately, that job doesn't last. The first trip they make with their employer, they're ambushed by thieves on the way from the bank and their boss is shot. They confront the bandits and shoot them all, retrieving the money. But their boss is dead, and their stint in honest living is over. Etta tries to convince them to find other ways of "going straight," but they can't bring themselves to try anything different. Seeing that their actions can only lead to trouble, Etta makes the decision to head back to the U.S. Butch and Sundance pull a couple more jobs, robbing trade routes through the jungle. However, after stopping for lunch in a small town, they are identified and ambushed by the local police force. Soon the entire Bolivian Army is outside the building they've sheltered themselves in. They know there's no hope, so Butch and Sundance leap out of the building and open fire. The last scene is a still shot of the pair firing, but the audio goes on and the viewer knows that they were both killed. This unorthodox ending is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid strays from the typical three-act formula: the climax of the film is actually the final moment. There is effectively no plot resolution, as the two title characters are dead. All viewers are left with is a nostalgic picture of them carrying on as they always had, whether there was hope or not.
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