Sam Peckinpah's films, especially The Wild Bunch, were a great influence on my work. He was a master of action choreography and presenting heroic characters in a very violent world. The balletic gunfights and slow-motion violence really showed me what was possible.
When he does a sword fight, it's blood and guts. It's not just two guys clanging away with no blood.
— Akira Kurosawa · Roger Ebert's interview with Sam Peckinpah