Unforgiven

[Bob Sacamano]

how come all the "great" Western movies to come out now are compared to this picture? they said it about "3:10 to Yuma", and now are bestowing the "a great movie in the tradition of Unforgiven" title, on "Appaloosa", which is coming out, and looks really good btw

I didn't think the movie was that great, in fact I turned it to watch something else as I was beginning to feel quite bored of it

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Unforgiven was a pretty good movie, but I didn't think it was great.

3:10 to Yuma was better imo.

But regardless, Clint Eastwood is just a very good director and his string of success started with Unforgiven imo.

 

[MapleLeaf]

It was in my mind a revisionist western in which the good guys were a bit bad and the bad guys weren't as bad as they were made out to be.

It wasn't the traditional Gene Autry White Hats versus the Black Hats.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Unforgiven was a pretty good movie, but I didn't think it was great.

3:10 to Yuma was better imo.

But regardless, Clint Eastwood is just a very good director and his string of success started with Unforgiven imo.

I hated the end

 

[tomson75]

Unforgiven is very good imo, but also fairly overrated.

3:10 to Yuma....the last 30 minutes were absolutely garbage.

Best recent western IMO was Open Range. That'll be my first Blu-ray purchase. The movies cinematography was as outstanding as its' other aspects.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Unforgiven is very good imo, but also fairly overrated.

3:10 to Yuma....the last 30 minutes were absolutely garbage.

Best recent western IMO was Open Range. That'll be my first Blu-ray purchase. The movies cinematography was as outstanding as its' other aspects.

top-notch movie, kinda long-winded at the beginning, but the shoot-out was AMAZING

blowing dude away through the wall...whew

 

[ZeroClub]

For whatever it is worth, Ebert has Unforgiven on his list of the 100 greatest movies ever made.

 

[Hostile]

There are several reasons why Unforgiven is the western movie mentioned in all those comparisons.

First of all there was a period where no westerns were really being made and along comes "Unforgiven" and it is a good one. So for a younger generation it is a point of comparison. If they compared the current movies to "The Searchers," how many people would have a point of reference?

One of the things critics liked about "Unforgiven" was that it broke stereotypes. There isn't the classic good guy with no faults. Even the townspeople who hire the assassins are flawed. In other words it shows that all people have faults and foibles. Even the gunfighter they hired is so rusty that he isn't lethal with a gun any more.

They also show the human side of the characters. Like how Will Muny won't drink and won't sleep with the ****** even though his wife is dead. Little Bill can't build a proper house that doesn't leak like a sieve. Scoffield Kid can't see and when he finally gets to kill a man he finds he has no taste for it and that's all he's dreamed about, being a bad man.

 

[Chief]

There are several reasons why Unforgiven is the western movie mentioned in all those comparisons.

First of all there was a period where no westerns were really being made and along comes "Unforgiven" and it is a good one. So for a younger generation it is a point of comparison. If they compared the current movies to "The Searchers," how many people would have a point of reference?

One of the things critics liked about "Unforgiven" was that it broke stereotypes. There isn't the classic good guy with no faults. Even the townspeople who hire the assassins are flawed. In other words it shows that all people have faults and foibles. Even the gunfighter they hired is so rusty that he isn't lethal with a gun any more.

They also show the human side of the characters. Like how Will Muny won't drink and won't sleep with the ****** even though his wife is dead. Little Bill can't build a proper house that doesn't leak like a sieve. Scoffield Kid can't see and when he finally gets to kill a man he finds he has no taste for it and that's all he's dreamed about, being a bad man.

Excellent analysis.

I wasn't a big fan of Unforgiven, but I know it was a pretty good movie. It was a tad too dark for me.

I liked Open Range and 3:10 to Yuma better.

The Western Writers of America recently released their Top 100 Westerns of all time. Max Evans, one of the writers, mailed me a copy of it because two of his books, which were made into films, made the list -- The Rounders and Hi-Lo Country. There were some films on the list that I wouldn't consider Westerns. Anyway, Open Range was ranked 10th, Unforgiven was 16th and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) was 23rd.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

You make a good point about it being a western where there were just not many being made at that time.

Off the top of my head I can only think of the Young Guns movies around that time frame.

Funny considering at one time it seemed like the majority of movies and TV shows were westerns of some sort than it kind of disappeared for a long time.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Excellent analysis.

I wasn't a big fan of Unforgiven, but I know it was a pretty good movie. It was a tad too dark for me.

I liked Open Range and 3:10 to Yuma better.

The Western Writers of America recently released their Top 100 Westerns of all time. Max Evans, one of the writers, mailed me a copy of it because two of his books, which were made into films, made the list -- The Rounders and Hi-Lo Country. There were some films on the list that I wouldn't consider Westerns. Anyway, Open Range was ranked 10th, Unforgiven was 16th and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) was 23rd.

I liked unforgiven but thought it was a tad overrated.

Now I confess I am not the biggest western fan in the world. There are many I like (of course a fan of John Wayne and Clint eastwood movies) but all and all I think I got a tad burnt out on them as a youth when there were so many western themed tv shows and movies that it was overkill.

Now I agree with you on Open Range. Liked it a great deal more than unforgiven but at the same time the one scene in unforgiven when Clint starts drinking and you can see the devil in his eyes and him yelling in the street tops any one scene in Open Range IMO.

Another thing concerning Unforgiven and Open Range. They just seemed more realistic in how the characters and landscapes looked.

I always got a laugh at some western movies and esp some western shows like Gene Autry where these guys would be out riding for hours or days and have pressed shirts on without a speck of dirt on them.

 

[Hostile]

Excellent analysis.

I wasn't a big fan of Unforgiven, but I know it was a pretty good movie. It was a tad too dark for me.

I liked Open Range and 3:10 to Yuma better.

The Western Writers of America recently released their Top 100 Westerns of all time. Max Evans, one of the writers, mailed me a copy of it because two of his books, which were made into films, made the list -- The Rounders and Hi-Lo Country. There were some films on the list that I wouldn't consider Westerns. Anyway, Open Range was ranked 10th, Unforgiven was 16th and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) was 23rd.

I wrote a paper at the UA about a scene from "Unforgiven" and a scene from "The Searchers." I called it a posture of dominance.

In "Unforgiven" it is the scene where Will Muny kills Little Bill. For a brief moment you are looking up at Will and the shotgun barrel from the eyes of Little Bill. In "The Searchers" you are looking up at Ethan as he draws his knife to scalp Scar.

My teacher loved it.

I miss when Westerns were great movies. It's hard to argue that some of them have the best lines ever.

 

[Danny White]

Keep in mind as well that Unforgiven pretty much swept the Oscars that year, including Best Picture. So if you're a "genre film" that's in the same genre as Unforgiven, why not compare yourself to the last movie of it's kind that won the Academy Award?

Any time you have a psychological thriller that supposed to be really good... what do they compare themselves to? Silence of the Lambs.

Mob/crime movies compare themselves to Godfather, or more recently Goodfellas.


BTW, I agree with those who said that the end of 3:10 to Yuma made an otherwise good movie absurd.

 

[Kangaroo]

Unforgiven is very good imo, but also fairly overrated.

3:10 to Yuma....the last 30 minutes were absolutely garbage.

Best recent western IMO was Open Range. That'll be my first Blu-ray purchase. The movies cinematography was as outstanding as its' other aspects.

Man there are so many better old Western Movies

I liked Open Range but man growing up I seen some that I think are better

John Wayne

The Cowboys
True Grit
Ruster Cogburn
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (talk about star power John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart)

I also like the
The Long Riders
Outlaw Josey Wells (yea yea have always liked that movie)
Hang em High

I wonder if most here realize that 3:10 to Yuma is a remake of a 1957 Movie with Glen Ford

Heck as a kid one of my favorite TV shows was Chuck Conner's in The Rifleman (yes it was in syndication at that time)

 

[Chief]

Man there are so many better old Western Movies

I liked Open Range but man growing up I seen some that I think are better

John Wayne

The Cowboys
True Grit
Ruster Cogburn
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (talk about star power John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart)

I also like the
The Long Riders
Outlaw Josey Wells (yea yea have always liked that movie)
Hang em High

I wonder if most here realize that 3:10 to Yuma is a remake of a 1957 Movie with Glen Ford

Great movies.


I always thought Glenn Ford was one of the most underrated actors ever. He played the part of Tom Sunday in the Louis L'Amour miniseries "The Sackets," and his performance was outstanding. He is amazingly good in that miniseries.

 

[kristie]

"unforgiven" is one of my husband's favorite movies, & i like it as well.

 

[Kevinicus]

I still haven't seen a Western that I'd consider great. There may be 1 or 2 I would say were good, but for the most part they're all crap IMO.