Natalie Wood was at the peak of her loveliness

She didn't always appear in great movies, but this movie proved that she was a great actress, at a time when she was in her absolute womanly prime. Robert Redford was also excellent and there is an explosive chemistry between the characters Owen and Alva.

One minor criticism, Natalie's performance seems to go out of character just one time when she exclaims "Oh my God!" after mother tells Owen that she is a married lady and then she runs off into the night. It is an abrupt and some would say, an unsatisfying resolution to the end of the movie.

The other elements of this movie are fantastic, the dialogue, the cinematography, the use of no less than three magnificent pull-back helicopter shots (by James Wong Howe) at a time when there was no Wescam or Steadycam and the special effects we know today. Even the music is no less than perfect.

As has been said, there was a lot of talent associated with this movie... Francis Ford Coppola as one of the writers, the aforementioned James Wong Howe, John Houseman as producer, Sydney Pollack (later to direct Tootsie), the principal cast, and, of course, a brutish, threatening Charles Bronson.

I'm told it was a difficult shoot, with frequent re-writes during the actual principal photography and arguments as to which direction the script should go.
As far as I'm concerned, the way the whole project came out is an absolute treasure and it gives us a unique movie that should not be missed.