Unforgiven

Rating:
Summary: Forgiven
Review: After 57 other posts, there isn't much for me to add. It's agreat film, even if the themes of heroism and gunplay get a bitmuddled toward the end. (I mean, regardless of what he does, Eastwoodgunning people down will always be the American male moviegoer's ideaof a hero. He may talk about killing women and children, but noticewe never see him do it. And the most shocking bit of violence, hisrandom shooting of one survivor as Eastwood is leaving the saloon atthe end, is always cut by ABC television, thus reinforcing this idea.)Hackman is superb as a villain who believes in his righteousness andthe righteousness of upholding the law. It's the complex gray layersthat he gives to his characters that makes him the best we have today.(How do you feel about his Avery Tolar in "The Firm"? Youcan't help but have mixed feelings.) The pacing and structure, mixedwith the precision of the curiously dated language, create a spellthat holds you until the very end. Without these, it might have beena very ordinary film indeed. One thing, though -- I know that it'sracist nowadays to insist that any actor can't play any characterbecause of the difference in race or nationality. But didn't itstrike you as just a bit disorienting and unrealistic to see Hackmanwhipping a black man (Morgan Freeman) in the old West and have it havenothing to do with race?

Rating:
Summary: The Best Western Ever
Review: This is the best western ever! Clint Eastwood stars as a washed up old time outlaw turned pig farmer who is after a bounty from vengeful prostitutes. He and Gene Hackman shine throughout the film and Freeman gives a respectable performance. The final scene between Hackman and Eastwood is the highlight of the film.

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Summary: Not the end of the Western, just a different path to go down
Review: It can be a little disconcerting, the sight of The Man With No Name tripping over pig s**t and falling clumsily off his horse. But Eastwood is after more here than the heroic anonymity that that character afforded him. No, his "last" Western (and I dare say this film proves that the genre is too flexible to be dead) deals with the nihilism of the old West, and the grey area between good and evil that the "new" kind of outlaw must deal with. And how that outlaw is no longer a perfect, indestructible beast, but a man with tough choices to make. Eastwood did a wonderful job putting all these issues up on screen.

Eastwood is a very interesting actor. He really isn't technically proficient, and if he's given too much dialogue, he's liable to trample all over the reality of the moment. But give him a chance to stare at you with those steely eyes, or answer a threat from an enemy with a simple "Yeah", and he'll knock you out of your boots. He gives himself ample opportunities to work to those strengths here.

Gene Hackman, on the other hand, can put the fear of God in you with a twinkle of his eye. I don't think this man has it in him to deliver a bad performance. And here he gets to play the Gene Hackman role that defines all Gene Hackman roles. His Little Bill is authoritative, fearless, feared, and especially charismatic. Also good here are Morgan Freeman, although a tad underused in what amounts to a sidekick role, and Richard Harris as an English gunfighter whose legend may be purely mythical. Unimpressive in the face of these acting giants is Jaimz Woolvett as the Schofield Kid. I suppose his youthful bluster is expected, he being the new generation and all. But his delivery felt a little too over-the-top, especially in a movie striving for realism.

I hesitate in praising this movie too much, for it didn't stick to its guns, so to speak. I'm speaking of the ending, and I promise here not to reveal any spoilers. Let's just say that if the object was to turn the Western on its head, then I don't believe that they chose the appropriate way to tie up the narrative. That being said, what we have here is a highly suspenseful and rousing Western, albeit one where the good guys and the bad guys aren't so clearly delineated.

Rating:
Summary: Not Clint Eastwood's best effort
Review: The real star of this movie is Gene Hackman, who is in most of the scenes. I was disappointed in this movie, in that I had hoped it would have been the types of Clint Eastwood western I've always liked. Instead, it is too preachy, and listening to Eastwood's character moralize about killing and violence was a bit too much. What little action there was, however, was excellent. If one is viewing "Unforgiven" and expecting to see another "High Plains Drifter" or "The Outlaw Josey Wales," they will be sadly disappointed. Eastwood could have done better and made a western more true to his form.

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Summary: Classic Western Character Study.
Review: Overall Unforgiven takes a back seat to the Lorne Spaghetti westerns - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In the West - but it does something that those didn't. It brings in consequence. The "Kid" realizing that there are consequences to taking a person's life. So many movies today present violence with a "fire & forget" attitude. It's shocking to see it so raw and to see the characters reacting to the violence: Freeman's character not being able to finish someone off and the "kid" deciding that he was finished with guns. Eastwood's performance, particularly the last sequence, is startling. It contrasts with his actions in most the movie. We only hear that he was once a ruthless killer. This makes it all the more potient. Yes, he could kill anybody that got in his way. His cold stare at Hackman just before he pulls the trigger will never leave my mind. Now...as for the DVD presentation. The sound is perfect. Rain, horses, jingling spirs, gunshots, wind thru the grass, it's all there. As for the picture it's a mixed bag. The color occationally doesn't seem right. People's faces are unnaturally pinkish and even purple. At times there seems to be a double image or outline. I was unable to watch it in the dark (perferred) because many scenes have areas that come off too bright and hurt my eyes. Finally, the extras. Or lack thereof. Movie is a 4.5. The DVD is a 3.5. For those who said this movie isn't violent enough, I suggest you visit the Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Swartznegger section of your video store.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This movie had only one real negative that I can think of. Personally, I found the profanity a bit much in some scenes. That is really only a minor quibble. I think I would have enjoyed it more on television.

On to the positives. Eastwood's best film. Clint gives a powerful preformance. The running gag about Will Munny not being the man he used to be is turned heart-wrenchingly tragic in the film's most powerful scene. Not to give away to much but it involves the prostitute under the tree. The best scene in the whole film.

The Schofield Kid is also extremely well acted. He manages to make his character at once humorous and infuriating. His confontration with Morgan Freeman over shooting a hawk is on of the film's great plot twists.

Especially moving is the scene where Eastwood and Freeman snipe at their prey. The effects of violence are well realized in this movie. No glorification to be found here.

Gene Hackman gives a stunning protrayal of Little Bill Daggett. How he manages to make him by turns hysterically funny and yet menacing I'll never know. He earned his Oscar.

Extremely touching is the simple truth that for once a man changed. William Munny was changed by a woman and her love. I never found the explanation for her choice to love a man so given to violent distemper. I could only marvel at it. As I did with most of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Western ever!
Review: What a perfect end to Eastwoods western career. Playing a gunman who is already a legend and drawn back into the cruel, heartless world of gunslinging. Eastwood delivers a masterfull performance with outstanding support from Hackman and Freeman. They is no good guy in this movie. Every character has his flaws and dark moments. Eastwood makes a perfect western reminding me more of The Wild Bunch than any of the other old westerns. This a definete buy if you like westerns at all

Rating:
Summary: Not the best Western...maybe the best Clint...
Review: I enjoy some aspects of this movie. I especially enjoy the evident craft that Eastwood endowed it with. I enjoy Richard Harris's performance very much. I like the symbolism (ie: William Munny's dead wife's name was "Feathers" and she is definitely Munny's "good angel"), and I like the mystery of the ending...Mrs. Ansonia Feathers finds no more answers to her questions about her daughter's choice of man than the audience does. We are left, with her, to ponder the nature on good and evil in human character. I do not, however, agree that this is the best western ever made. The movie that honor belongs to never appeared on the big screen and belongs to LONESOME DOVE. Even if the object of the story is to present the American West in a coldly realistic fashion, richness in writing and characterization are not crimes as UNFORGIVEN seems to imply by the sterility of the writing. LONESOME DOVE portrayed realistically the aspects of the American West, the cowboy, the gunfighter, prostitutes, etc; but filled the viewer with such empathy that it was a full, if bitter, experience as opposed to UNFORGIVEN'S unfortunate sense of emptiness and bewilderment. I recommend UNFORGIVEN but not as highly as I would like to.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Brilliant
Review: For any fan of Eastwoods Spaghetti westerns, or anyone who simply enjoys a good movie, this is nothing short of a masterpiece. Eastwood's character, a washed up aging gunfighter, could be any of his earlier characters from Josey Wales, High Plains Drifter, A Fistful of Dollars. Heck, it could even be Dirty Harry. Seeking redemption, this anti-hero returns to the only thing he knows: whiskey and violence. But the message comes through loud and clear that this answer leads nowhere fast.

This movie includes one of the great lines of Eastwood's career: "It's a hell of a thing killing a man- you take away everything he's got- and everything he's ever gonna have."

It also has outstanding performances from Gene Hackman and others. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: It's a hell of a thing killing a man.....
Review: Now this is a film. Eastwood's seminal Western should really have marked the end of the genre - 'Unforgiven' says all there is to say about a time that has been eulogised as some kind of mythical golden age throughout the history of Hollywood. The fact that he hasn't made a film fit to wipe the shoes of this 1992 classic since emphasises it's power: when 'Unforgiven' ends it feels as though something in the air has changed - as though an era has ended. This is moviemaking at it's darkest, starkest and most brutally honest. The resonance of Unforgiven carries greater weight because Eastwood's name is attached to it - the most famous cowboy of the silver screen, bar John Wayne, spends the first ten minutes of the film rolling around on his backside in a pigsty, and the last 30 minutes ranting deliriously while in a fever. William Munny is no hero - he is the kind of ruthless killer that Eastwood would have blown away in a stylised hail of lightning-fast bullets in earlier films. Munny is an aged, poverty-stricken widower who is utterly ashamed of his violent past and briefly found redemption through love. However, his wife is now dead, and the only way he can see to support his children is to take on one last bounty hunting job. The fact that the wanted men are responsible for mutilating a prostitute seems to lend justice to the quest, and Munny succeeds in drumming up the support of his old partner, played by Morgan Freeman. Together with a young would-be gunslinger who is full of the bravado of youth, the three head for the hills and straight into the hands of Little Bill, the corrupt and sinister sherriff (played by Gene Hackman in Oscar-winning form), another killer from the old days. From their first meeting, a sense of impending doom casts its shadow over the film. We learn that the most effective killers are the ones who shoot their opponents in the back, or unarmed - the ones who keep a straight head, not the best looking ones who are fastest on the draw. Eastwood, aided with a brilliant script by David Webb Peoples, constantly undermines the traditional values of the old Westerns. There is no clear cut sense of good versus evil or justice prevailing over malice. When the kid, clearly feeling greater remorse than he had anticipated after shooting one of the wanted men, and in an attempt to justify his act, says to Munny "he had it coming" , Munny replies "we all have it coming kid". And later Munny, describing what it is like to destroy another human being, however much they "deserved" it, says "it's a hell of a thing killing a man, taking away all he's got - and all he's ever gonna have". This is the crux of 'Unforgiven' - death is final, irreversible, and comes to us all whether we deserve it or not.

Unforgiven is a beautifully shot movie. The gorgeously evocative cinematography displays the colours of autumn at their most poignant and the descent into winter clearly mirrors the coldness at the heart of the film: vengeance must be bought, but at a high price - their can be no redemption for the avengers, no satisfaction for the avenged. In fact nobody benefits from the terrible denouement, and all we are left with is the knowledge that, even when men do evil things for good reasons, the things they do are still evil.