"I don't deserve this. To die like this." "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." That exchange alone pretty neatly sums up the sentiment behind the movie, and what makes it different from other Westerns.
I was going to make this exact comment. Sums up the whole movie. The girl didn't deserve what happened to her, Ned didn't deserve what happened to him, and the young boy that they gut-shot didn't deserve what happened to him.
@@blueeyedcowboy8291 Ned participated in a murder, and had murdered in the past. By court of law, Ned stopping the victim from moving counts as part of the murder. If not tortured he was going to go to court and be found guilty and hanged for a murder he actually participated in.
That's one of my all-time favorite quotes, and something people largely don't want to believe. Everyone likes to think life will somehow give us what we think we have coming to us, when the fact is that it simply doesn't work that way.
@@maxgunther4983 Ned didn't kill anyone and was the only one who decided to abandon the mission due to morality. He deserved to die a hell of a lot less than Little Bill, a so called officer of the law... your arbitrary laws be damned.
i remember reading that when Clint Eastwood offered Gene Hackman the part of Little Bill he at first wasn't interested because he'd done a lot of violent films in recent years and he was tired of it. Clint told him if we do this one right it will actually be an anti-violence film. That's why the violence is totally deglamorized in this film - it's meant to convey how difficult and brutal it really is to kill someone.
I love that it also shows how people tell stories about violence to try and make it less sordid, or more justified. The way the stories of the original crime inflate the harm done to make vengeance more and more justified - and in Schofield's little speech at the start he actually comes across as if listing the mutilations done to Delilah get him excited, talking up the righteousness of his personal ambition, to kill a man.
- The film accurately portrays how most of the tales of the "wild west" that we've all heard, were greatly exaggerated by writers and/or by inaccurate retelling via word of mouth. The "wild west" actually had a lower murder rate than today. Because most people were armed, criminals were a lot less likely to attempt armed robberies and such. - “Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City, and Caldwell, for the years from 1870 to 1885, there were only 45 total homicides. This equates to a rate of approximately 1 murder per 100,000 residents per year”. - Frontier Violence: Another Look - by W. Eugene Hollon (Author) This shows that most cities in America today are at least 20 or 30 times more dangerous than the "wild west".
Saw this in the theater when it came out. The whole place was silent when .. it starts .. except for one idiot who started cheering loudly. It didn't last long, and the place was silent after. Never experienced anything like that during a movie.
Killing a person, just like that, is very difficult. Humans have a built-in resistance to it. One really has to persuade people to kill, and engage in some sneaky psychology. Having killed is also a major part of PTSD. I like how Unforgiven touches on that, in Munny's character.
The biggest competition for that year's supporting actor award should have been Richard Harris, for the same movie, but he didn't even get the nomination.
I live in Knightstown, Indiana, where "Hoosiers" was filmed (I'm 30 seconds away from the Hickory home gym). The seniors who run it said Hackman and Dennis Hopper were both 100% class acts and extremely kind to e1. They also said Barbara Hershey was a "101% Grade A B*tch" to everyone🤣🤣🤣
@@clevelandbci9562 That's cool, Hoosiers is easily top 3 best sports movies for me and I don't even like basketball. LOL, people like Barbara who were raised rich and grew up in CA are most likely snobs. I've come across some celebrities and most are cool but there's a few real a@@@@@es in my experience.
damn straight. One of the best. for the young'ns I would highly recommend " The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" black and white, 1962. Really set up the "anti hero" in westerns. Legend of a movie.
He did learn from the best , Sergio Leone , who did several westerns , when Hollywood considered them a dead genre . He was also second unit director in My name is Nobody , that ties him to Terence Hill and Bud Spencer westerns . One of those is Bud Spencer and Jack Palance , it can be done Amigo , that was filmed partly on same sets than Sergio Leone's , Once Upon A Time In The West.
Which is why they should've watched this AFTER having watched at least the Dollar Trilogy. Makes it easier to appreciate the deconstruction of genre when you know about the genre. Honestly, why did people vote for Tombstone instead of The Good The Bad and The Ugly? Weirdos...
When you said that they was all bad shots in the saloon. That goes back to what Little Bill was telling the Author about how if someone gets in too big of a hurry while shooting, they will miss.
that also just the fear of death will make 99% of people just want to get the hell away , and in that scene you can see people shooting as they scurry away not even looking where they're shooting
It's not the hurry, it's the adrenaline. Something you never done before and your brain is going crazy with drugs. More likely to shoot yourself or the wrong person.
It also goes back to English Bob talking about not being able to shoot royalty. When Munny stands in that tavern, his reputation precedes him. In that tavern, he's royalty.
Keep in mind that Little Bill was going to take a bullwhip to the two cowboys to punish them. It was when Skinny made it a “property” crime that Little Bill decided on the fine instead. What makes him a bad person was that he valued the hardworking cowboys more than he did the women making a living through “wickedness”. Little Bill is very self-righteous and considers himself a good person. He felt that his methods were to prevent further evil from being done. He and William Munny are such complex characters, and I love it. My favorite western.
Good points. Another thing is those cowboys are part of the community. English Bob, Ned & Will are not. Hence why he’ll beat and kill them much quicker than he ever would the cowboys (the prostitutes are probably viewed as second class citizens - hence why the townspeople blame them for the problems that have happened).
Little Bill is basically the closest thing you have to your stereotypical western movie hero in this film, he is basically just trying to keep up the peace in his town, which is what the job of a sheriff was, it is just because this story is told from the point of view of the outlaws is why is the antagonist of the film. It's basically like turning the whole tough sheriff trope of westerns completely around and showing it from a less romanticized and more realistic angle.
@@thomasknash exactly. The purpose of lawmen is to protect land owners not to uphold right and wrong. The Cowboys are part of the community. They perform work that provides income for the town. And while the women do also, they're women. They don't count. They're nothing but "horses" who's only worth is as a man's property.
@@russellward4624 i would disagree. The purpose of the lawmen was to maintain peace and order. Now originally he was gonna whip em for their crime. But when the saloon owner agreed to an alternate form of compensation bill had the right as a representative of the law to accept and enforce it. Was he biased towards the women due to his own believes of their profession? Yes. But at the same time, there can be no law and order if evertime someone wrongs someone else you allow them to hire assassins to kill people. Personally, I think this was a very realistic and clear example of how sometimes keeping peace can result in nothing but loses all around.
That saloon scene is flawless. From the moment Munny walks in with the thunder behind him to the very end when he threatens the entire town before disappearing in the night, it was masterfully executed, with incredible acting, close to no music and pure apocalyptic atmosphere. They just do not make these films anymore. I like the way the last shootout went exactly the way the sheriff describes a shootout to the writer. Also, what a colossal cast... I mean Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman and Richard Harris! You can't go wrong really. A real Masterpiece, up there with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once upon a time in the West, Rio Bravo and Magnificent Seven. God, I miss these films... 😔
Old Henry, True Grit (2010), and The Missing are also really good western movies post Unforgiven. Then there’s Power of the Dog, which one an Oscar for its direction, but it’s a divisive one.
Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Picture. This was third film in the western genre to win, and 15 years later, No Country For Old Men would win, as its a neo western thriller film.
did 'True Grit' with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon win anything? another great western that came out more in recent times but not sure if they were nominated or won any oscars
People immediately miss the reason for the exaggerated story about the mutilation of the woman. We're are talking about a time where word of mouth spread the story, each time potentially evolving. Even the newspapers or bulletins back then could be rather tabloid and sensationalised. Then there's the fact that the prostitutes may have exaggerated the story in the first place to entice shooters, to enrage the average man and get them on side.
In grade school some teachers had us play a game called telephone to demonstrate this phenomenon. Everyone would line up and the teacher would whisper something to the first in line, then the message would get passed down the line in whispers until the last person announced what (s)he was told, and it was invariably way different than the original.
@@Orange-Jumpsuit-Time that's right, there are similar tales and reputations of bushrangers here in Australia. This can lead to the detriment of the individual/s involved.
This was filmed and released in 1992 but could be applied today. These "stories" and conspiracy theories that grow and fester, and take on a life of their own, can lead to violence, mayhem and death. A brilliant retelling of the Wild West, and actually closer to the truth than not.
This is, arguably, the End of Westerns (coda, maybe?). It's "real" and death is horrible and full of pain instead of wacky fun shootouts. Y'all said, "it's not exactly redemption." *Very* right on; it's Unforgiven.
I also like that a couple of times during the movie Bill Munny says, "I ain't that kind of man, anymore." But even as he says it, you get the feeling that he doesn't quite believe it, like he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else. And then at the end of the movie, he realizes that's exactly the kind of man he STILL is. Part of the reason why he's so angry is because of what they did to Ned. But I think he's mostly angry with himself, because he knows he's irredeemable . . . . he knows he'll never be a decent man.
Further: the writer is *our* mistaken, romantic version of the Wild West. It's a lie, written by a fool, to make money because no one will pay for the truth. Hell, we all have Truth each and every day and it ain't fun. The Writer is Hollywood (and Italy, tbc) making movies about noble heros and becloaked, brilliant villains. Reality is ugly and disappointing and unjust and regretful. With an occasional badass shootout at the end, I guess.
"Pale Rider" is a must. In an interview, Clint was saying that Hackman didn't want to do any more violent movies but Eastwood convinced him that this movie would (though violent) say a lot about violence. Not glorify it. So Hackman agreed. Glad he did. ALSO: Not everybody that owns a gun can shoot them straight. Most don't practice and it's harder hit something than you may think.
The entire feel of this movie gets kicked up from the moment Will touched that whiskey and took his first drink. Then you get the shoot out in the bar but the speech Will gives when he comes out of the bar is just amazing!
I'd argue it's the moment he hears that they put a sign on his murdered friend. THAT lit the fuse. Then he grabbed the whiskey to fuel the fire. It's never the booze/gun that kills, it's the anger within.
"It's a hell of a thing to kill a man. . . . ." - This is a hell of a line that gets me every time. "I was building a house." - This line hits me hard every time, too.
I love this movie, it seems so much more real to me without the movie sensationalism you usually see in westerns and action films. Please consider watching more Clint Eastwood films, this movie has a funny little parallel in the beginning to "The Outlaw Josie Wales" a 1970's classic western with Clint.
I always hope that somebody will notice how English Bob's high-class veneer is all an act. His natural Cockney accent comes out during the scene where he gets led away. It wasn't in the original script, but actor Richard Harris - originally from Ireland - figured it would be an interesting choice.
It is very interesting to me that no firearms are allowed in Big Whiskey…but Skinny apparently was an exception, since he had a pistol to put to the face-cutting cowboy’s head, at the start. There’s a story there, that’s for sure.
I thought it was really interesting that Little Bill described how the best shot was not necessary the fastest, but the one who didn’t panic during a shootout. And at final shootout in the bar you see Will cut down five dudes who were all freaking out and missing their shots.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a must watch as far as Clint Eastwood and westerns go. It set the precedent for so many western tropes especially from a music perspective
Actually it started with 'Fistful of Dollars' and 'For a Few Dollars More', Clint's 2 previous Euro Westerns. I like Good Bad and the Ugly but I actually like the other 2 better including the soundtracks. Fistful is the film that completely changed not only Westerns but other films as well. If you get a chance, watch a dvd of Fistful with the commentary. I have a few hundred Spaghetti Westerns (Italian directors, filmed in Spain with mostly Italian and Spaniards but a few Americans and other Euros) and a lot of music is really great which is why Tarantino used a few songs in his films and you hear some of the music in commercials.
@@sca88 Thanks for correcting my admittedly fuzzy memory! I agree, all of the "Fistful" Eastwood films are fantastic but The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has always been a personal favorite. of mine. I'll have to try to track down a version of Fistful with the commentary so I can learn a bit more!
If you had seen this film after having seen Clint's early work, seeing this incarnation in light of his history gives this one a lot of insight and significance.
Absolutely. Though it isn't a Western, Gran Torino is about another retired, widowed gunman (of a kind) and in a lot of ways it feels to me like a good coda to Unforgiven.
@@isabelsilva62023 Oh no, you're absolutely right. What I meant was that the running themes that culminate so brilliantly in Unforgiven manages to cover a little more ground in Gran Torino, which again seems to be about an old man who is being called back to a life of violence. Just as Unforgiven works best when you know Clint as the guy from all those Westerns, Gran Torino works best when you've seen Unforgiven and the many earlier films in which he played the guy who solves problems by shooting bad guys.
the final shootout showed the application of all the stuff Little Bill had discussed with the writer before. All the other guys were panicking and trying to shoot fast (and missing) whereas Will was calm and took his time and aimed with each shot.
Clint Eastwood is great at taking the glamour out of his westerns, also his characters are never all bad even though there always a killer, see "Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Pale Rider" among others, always enjoy your reactions thanks.
yea PALE rider may not get the full attention, but after seein it 2 x its really good after knowing what the LEAD Clint character portrays and that last shoot out pretty much shows what he was
You have to add Hang 'Em High to that list. Awesome story and well acted. Dennis Hopper in a bit part and the first movie he did with Pat Hingle who was always good in a supporting role in Clint's films.
Complex, morally ambiguous, switching from fairly lighthearted scenes to a very peculiar, heavy and dramatic tone in an instant. I love this movie so much. It was filmed where I live, in southern Alberta, mainly between Calgary and Drumheller. The place that Sam finds so beautiful (around 7:47) is the Red Deer River Valley, right around where I pulled an Into the Wild one summer and camped in a teepee in the middle of nowhere. The badlands where the first cowboy gets shot in the gut is right across the river from where I got married. The local movie theatre in Drumheller now has a mural of Eastwood on its front, and a few of the locals they hired to work on set are still around. Beautiful area you should check out if you're ever nearby.
I love Unforgiven. It's such a perfect cap on Clint Eastwood's Western movies. The characters are so well acted and fleshed out. Other Eastwood Westerns worth checking out are, of course, the three he made with Sergio Leone: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Also, High Plains Drifter, Two Mules for Sister Sara and Pale Rider.
Most westerns glorified killing this movie went the complete opposite, more about how it’s not shoot outs it’s shooting a man in the back or when they didn’t see it coming and how killing fucks you up internally
I loved the fact that every character was an island of their own prejudiced morality. They all viewed the world through their own lenses and saw right and wrong from that vantage point. As such, there was no truly good character in the story.
Inside the western cinema, there's also three sub-categories: -Classical Western: Many of John Wayne's or John Ford's movies will be inside this category. -Spaghetti Western: The 70's Eastwood's and Sergio Leone's movies are a good example. -Crepuscular (or twilight) Western: This is a special case, because this sub-category takes away all the glory and mitification of the "Legendary Far West" and show that period in a raw more gruesome way (Like Unforgiven does)
People can have a weapon but that doesn't mean they are effective with it, this movie has that realistic perspective. You guys need to see The Outlaw Jossey Wales a Clint Eastwood Classic. Really enjoy your reactions and after conversations.
That's right, and there's the particular handgun, how functional it is and its accuracy. Also, like getting in an altercation (this is probably as bad as it gets), afterwards you may be like, I wish I did this or that or this instead. No second chances here, the adrenaline would be running wild too.
It's a fascinating movie, because it's an honest western instead of the glorified "western" genre, and it's also highly metaphoric, where it breaks down the western genre with the writer acting as the western glorifier, then suddenly encountering the harsh reality of it. Clint also stayed 100% true to the harsh reality of it. The story writer cried when he saw it because it was exactly what he envisioned.
The Schofield Kid is still one of my favorite western side characters, his growth from a big talking young gun with a chip on his shoulder, into a man with true scars now and is disillusioned with the lifestyle he long for since he was a boy, is so good and such a subversion of the common Young Gun type characters.
Best western ever made!!! Soundtrack written by Eastwood himself. Love this movie. Clint waited at least 10 years with the script in a drawer until he was ready to make it right. The perfect western movie!
Guns of that time were typically carried with one empty bore. The cylinder bore directly under the hammer would usually be empty because the hammer spur was made on the hammer. If the gun was dropped or bumped and there was a round in that bore, the gun could fire that round. It was a safety measure used before modern firearms.
My 3x great grandfather died from a self-inflicted but accidental gunshot wound that would have been avoided had his gun had that one empty bore. He was a young immigrant German farmer who was on stable duty in the Civil War (Union side, Missouri) and fell after slipping in the mud while running after an escaped horse. His holstered revolver went off and shot him in the side. Took him two weeks to die.
Josey Wales, Unforgiven, the main character are from Missouri. Is there some weird correlation? Or does Eastwood just like having crazy characters being from Missouri?
@@mmayer4409 I think it has to do with the fact that Missouri was end junction of the railroad lines during that era. Thus if you were coming from the "east" then the "west" was Missouri and you started off in horse or wagon for your future. (ya, i know transcontinental was being built at that time but didn't become reliable until the 1880s)
Now if you'd like to lighten up the Western genre, I highly recommend "Silverado" with Scott Glenn, Kevin Kline, Kevin Kostner and Brian Dennehy. It's a typical classic western with a difference: a lot of lighthearted humor. It's just fun.
Three things really stand out to me in Unforgiven. Number one, I love how the end of the movie calls back to English Bob when the last deputy refuses to shoot Munny. Will was awe-inspiring, just like the Queen. Number two, I love the intimacy of the killing. They shoot the first cowboy and talk with his buddies. The kid shoots the second cowboy while he's taking a dump. And Munny kills them all with words exchanged and a lot of people watching. Number three, I'm usually not a fan of dark movies. But it really works in Unforgiven. It adds to the intimacy, especially during the final shootout.
What I love best was his speech at the end. Will has returned to his old self, the man he tried so hard to escape. That closing threat sends chills down my spine every time I hear it.
This is the opposite of a typical western. Instead of glorifying the violence of the west, like what the author was doing, but showing the difficulties in killing a man for most people. As a director, Clint Eastwood is notorious for having very little film on the cutting room floor. He gets the shot he wants and moves on.
Academy Awards 1993 wins: Best Picture (Unforgiven), Best Director (Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman: Unforgiven), Best Film Editing (Joel Cox: Unforgiven) Best leading actor for Clint Eastwood - nominated - 50 wins and 47 nominations Fun Fact: This film was pitched to Clint Eastwood in the 1970's but he intentionally shelved it for when he was an older-gentlemen, to add the weight of all of the killing he had done in the countless westerns from his career. He wanted this to be his final western which to this point it is his finale as a western. - This is one of my all-time favorite films. - The story rides tension the entire time and you get that AMAZING pay-off in the end. - I get chills each time I watch the film when you see Will enter the saloon, you just see a shotgun in the frame and the lightning strikes before it shows Eastwoods face.
I think the most interesting character is Claudia. The writing is masterful, leaving the person with the biggest influence totally offscreen. David Webb Peoples.
I still recommend The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, if you haven't watched it. It's not as serious, dark and dramatic as The Unforgiven. It's more on the fun action side of the Eastwood westerns. Even though it's considered the 3rd out of "The Man with No Name" trilogy, the trilogy isn't actually a trilogy, meaning it's not the same character or story, so it's not necessary to watch in order.
This is a very atypical western movie, but tried to portray what the west was really like, with messy killing and non-glamorized gun fights unlike what we see in most western movies. Real life in the west was probably very brutal and people didn't just die from one shot, but from many shots and shooters were probably inaccurate because of not only the gun technology but because they were not skilled. The real cowboy was not an expert with a gun, but probably an amateur and had guns that probably jammed a lot or misfired or were poorly constructed.
English Bob, is portrayed by the late Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies. He also played in a movie , A Man Called Horse. And, since your watching westerns, might I recommend, Little Big Man, No Country For Old Men, and Dead Man.
Why is nobody talking about "Outlaw Josey Wales"? A SUPERB Eastwood Western (which he also directed). And as for "The Good, the bad & the Ugly?"? If you haven't seen it, you're not a movie fan.
Its worth to mention that English Bob is played by Richard Harris, a great irish actor, who also played Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator. Hackman won an oscar for his role, Eastwood was nominated and Freeman is always good. The casting was on point.
This is a great movie. It’s about reputation, and also misinterpretation of reputation, how a person’s reputation is exaggerated grater or lesser than how it happened in reality. Great Clint Eastwood, I recommend the man without a name trilogy...
Yeah the twist of the movie, kinda, is while everybody else keeps pumping their reputation, and Bill Munny is repeatedly talked about like some kind of boogeyman, and everyone is shown repeatedly to be less than legend implies, their stories exaggerated, and Munny is played so sympathetically and kind of pathetically that the viewer assumes that he wasnt as bad as his reputation implies. Then after Ned dies, and he starts drinking, its revealed he was probably actually worse. And even the Sheriff, who up to this point was pretty spot on with regards to everything, is completely surprised by how vicious Munny is.
You could also say it talks about the glory of killing, or rather the lack there of... Seemingly, there’s no glory in the act of killing, killing weighs on the conscience. Yet once word spreads like a game of telephone, someone else glorifies your actions, even though those actions are now a heavy burden on your soul...
You just saw probably the best Western ever made- especially since it's sort Clint Eastwood's direct and more realistic reinterpretation of the genre HE had already popularized as just an actor.
You should watch IN THE LINE OF FIRE, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, where Eastwood plays a Secret Service Agent on the verge of retiring, plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a former CIA assassin, whom plans to kill the President of the United States. It was the first Clint Eastwood movie I saw growing up.
It's about the duality of man. The influences that can change your character for a moment whether for good or bad, but nothing can change your true nature, especially under extreme circumstances. Will was a cold blooded killer, who found love and it changed him, until there was a reason to change back.
My God...You couldn't believe Eastwood Directed this film? What a journey you have with him....Westerns, Cop Dramas, Comedies.....The man is a living legend....Go for it xxxxx
Excellent film…. The shot of Clint slowly riding off into the darkness after the shoot out is so atmospheric. Love how the shootout shows how you don’t need to be fast…. Just calm.
I always thought Eastwood made this to bookend his career of western movies. Making a film that shows a more realistic depiction of killing and the consequences, rather than the usual "Hollywood" action based gunfights/stories. Maybe both of you would have enjoyed this movie more if you had already watched Eastwood's Dollars Trilogy.
To fully understand the Will Munny character, you should watch these three films in order: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", "A Fistful of Dollars", and "For a Few Dollars More". Eastwood plays the same character, "the man with no name", in each. "Unforgiven" can be considered an epilogue to that trilogy.
"Oh he directed that, holy sh*t!" Clint Eastwood is such a phenomenal director and actor! Gran Torino, Invictus, The Mule, American Sniper, 15:17 to Paris, Million Dollar Baby, Perfect World, Bridges of Madison County.. he directed so many good movies! In my opinion Eastwood has a great talent to immerse the viewer in the story and get them invested into the characters. Especially Gran Torino. That movie is in my Top 3 favorite movies of all time! I would love to see more reactions to his work from the best reaction channel on youtube (spoiler: thats you =P )!
Unfortunately Crying Macho wasn't good - poor writing that wasn't good enough for Eastwood, but he thought from his directing he could create an emotion spike in the final act like he has masterfully done for the last 3 decades. I will be sad if that is his last film, but he's too old I think.
@@dansiegel995 I didn't have the chance to see Crying Macho so far, but I'm sad to hear that you didn't like it. I do agree though that I always have the bad feeling because of his age, but on the other hand: the man had a good run and is still doing what he loves at that age, so I don't care if every movie he does with age 91 is a masterpiece. I don't mean to be a downer, but my Grandma is 82 and suffers from dementia, can't even eat by herself anymore. Seeing how well Clint Eastwood did/does at his age is very wholesome.
Other great westerns to to add to your watch list are, Silverado, The Wild Bunch, Magnificent Seven, Butch Cassidy and The Sun Dance Kid, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Once Upon a Time in The Old West and Clint Eastwood's three spaghetti westerns.
This movie turns that classic western trope on its head and paints a much darker, grittier setting. And the story is more in line with Shakespeare's tragedies. The movie also is made to make you question who is really evil. Little Bill, William. One was a 'lawman', the other a 'reformed' thief and killer. You look at how little bill's cruelty in meting out his 'justice' their history isn't that different.
Great movie. First time I saw this movie I did not like seeing Client Eastwood as an old cowboy after seeing and loving his old classic westerns (like The Dollar trilogy you should see that also ) but now I love it. You should see other great Clint Eastwood movie like Dirty Harry , Absolute Power, Escape from Alcatraz, In the Line of Fire. Also a great Gene Hackman western is the Quick and the dead. If you really want to watch Westerns you have to watch Clint Eastwood Dollar Trilogy. Also another great almost unknown comedic western is My Name is Nobody 1973 with Terence Hill and Henry Fonda. It is a really funny western.
I truly love all of Clint Eastwoods westerns..they are so much better than most westerns. Both of you are right, Clints westerns are story driven and pulls you in..not just a bunch of random shooting scenes
I don’t know, but I suspect that the townspeople being upset at the working girls for the death of the cowboy was because they see those women as lower class, even the men that use their services. It’s a complex issue (certainly too big for a RUclips comment thread), but I think that the lust that the men act on causes them shame, but instead of owning their urges and actions they play the victim and blame the prostitutes. It’s a similar thing in my view as the common religious trait of making women dress in certain ways, especially where as much femininity is removed as possible. It’s painted as temptation for the men by the wicked women; rather than the guys dealing with their sexuality they cast blame on women.
Little Bill reminds me in some ways of the sheriff in Rambo First Blood. A violent man yes, close minded perhaps. But they both thought they were acting in the name of protecting their town.
After this movie, I know many people will recommend you to react to Gran Torino (and you definitely should, is a masterpiece), but since you get in the western genre, I'd like to make a different suggestion that I'm sure nobody is gonna: "The Quick and the Dead", a 1995 western directed by Sam Raimi itself (And honestly, that's enough reasons to watch it) and with a estelar cast that I don't want to spoil it for you...... Perhaps isn't the deepest most meaningful western, but it is a fun ride indeed.....
Such an amazing film, and easily one of my favorite Westerns of all time. Clint is one of the greatest directors, and he deserved the Oscar, for him and Best Picture. As Little Bill said it isn't about being the fastest shot, it's about who keeps calm, hence why Will walked out of the bar at the end, he never got emotional.
@@jamesjoseph1249 That's almost certainly the answer. Tombstone is a great movie as well, and one of my favorites. But man, Unforgiven is just on another level altogether.
put True Grit on your next western poll ,, Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon is in it but the actual lead in the movie was a 14yr girl played by Hailee Steinfeld ,, amazing movie
absolutely wild clint is still making movies 30 years after this (which might be his best), they're certainly not all winners but it's hard to imagine anything but death forcing him to retire
Well, you just opened yourselves to more then 100 movies between Eastwood, Hackman and of course Richard Harris who played English Bob, not including of course Morgan Freeman, as you know him the best. The best kind of back story to the story of William Money would be Eastwood's High Plains Drifter he directed and starred in 1973. His Spaghetti weserns also, but he's a lot nicer in those compared to High Plains Drifter. Now, Gene Hackman, a bunch of movies, The French Connection 1 and 2 and countless other ones. Richard Harris for Mutiny On The Bounty (1962), with Marlon Brando to Man In The Wilderness (1971), which was remade in 2015 as The Revenant starring Leonardo Dicaprio. Oh, did I mention all of Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies. Have fun!!
I'd disagree with saying William Munny's backstory would be High Plains Drifter. Drifter is one of my favorite Eastwood films, but it's definitely got a supernatural vibe to it. I'd say the Outlaw Josie Wales would work better as a backstory.
"Hell of a thing killing a man. You take away everything he's got, and everything he's ever gonna have."
One of the best movie quotes of all time. Because it is true.
Best quote in the movie and one of the best in any movie ever.
@@jeffgaboury3157 there are plenty of better ones.
@@athos1974 most movies quotes tend to be true in some way. Also shows lesser form of entertainment movies are if that is one of the best quotes.
Truth be told.....it's a fact
"I don't deserve this. To die like this."
"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."
That exchange alone pretty neatly sums up the sentiment behind the movie, and what makes it different from other Westerns.
"I'll see you in hell, William Munney"
staring Little Bill straight in the eyes: "Yeah"
- bang -
The way Eastwood delivers that line is chilling.
I was going to make this exact comment. Sums up the whole movie. The girl didn't deserve what happened to her, Ned didn't deserve what happened to him, and the young boy that they gut-shot didn't deserve what happened to him.
@@blueeyedcowboy8291 Ned participated in a murder, and had murdered in the past. By court of law, Ned stopping the victim from moving counts as part of the murder.
If not tortured he was going to go to court and be found guilty and hanged for a murder he actually participated in.
That's one of my all-time favorite quotes, and something people largely don't want to believe. Everyone likes to think life will somehow give us what we think we have coming to us, when the fact is that it simply doesn't work that way.
@@maxgunther4983 Ned didn't kill anyone and was the only one who decided to abandon the mission due to morality. He deserved to die a hell of a lot less than Little Bill, a so called officer of the law... your arbitrary laws be damned.
i remember reading that when Clint Eastwood offered Gene Hackman the part of Little Bill he at first wasn't interested because he'd done a lot of violent films in recent years and he was tired of it. Clint told him if we do this one right it will actually be an anti-violence film. That's why the violence is totally deglamorized in this film - it's meant to convey how difficult and brutal it really is to kill someone.
I love that it also shows how people tell stories about violence to try and make it less sordid, or more justified. The way the stories of the original crime inflate the harm done to make vengeance more and more justified - and in Schofield's little speech at the start he actually comes across as if listing the mutilations done to Delilah get him excited, talking up the righteousness of his personal ambition, to kill a man.
- The film accurately portrays how most of the tales of the "wild west" that we've all heard, were greatly exaggerated by writers and/or by inaccurate retelling via word of mouth. The "wild west" actually had a lower murder rate than today. Because most people were armed, criminals were a lot less likely to attempt armed robberies and such.
- “Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City, and Caldwell, for the years from 1870 to 1885, there were only 45 total homicides. This equates to a rate of approximately 1 murder per 100,000 residents per year”. - Frontier Violence: Another Look - by W. Eugene Hollon (Author)
This shows that most cities in America today are at least 20 or 30 times more dangerous than the "wild west".
Saw this in the theater when it came out. The whole place was silent when .. it starts .. except for one idiot who started cheering loudly. It didn't last long, and the place was silent after. Never experienced anything like that during a movie.
Damn, I just wrote that then saw your comment.
Killing a person, just like that, is very difficult. Humans have a built-in resistance to it. One really has to persuade people to kill, and engage in some sneaky psychology.
Having killed is also a major part of PTSD. I like how Unforgiven touches on that, in Munny's character.
This is Clint's masterpiece and Gene Hackman won a well deserved Oscar for this role.
Yes I agree 👍💯
The biggest competition for that year's supporting actor award should have been Richard Harris, for the same movie, but he didn't even get the nomination.
I live in Knightstown, Indiana, where "Hoosiers" was filmed (I'm 30 seconds away from the Hickory home gym). The seniors who run it said Hackman and Dennis Hopper were both 100% class acts and extremely kind to e1. They also said Barbara Hershey was a "101% Grade A B*tch" to everyone🤣🤣🤣
@@clevelandbci9562 That's cool, Hoosiers is easily top 3 best sports movies for me and I don't even like basketball. LOL, people like Barbara who were raised rich and grew up in CA are most likely snobs. I've come across some celebrities and most are cool but there's a few real a@@@@@es in my experience.
damn straight.
One of the best.
for the young'ns I would highly recommend
" The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"
black and white, 1962. Really set up the "anti hero" in westerns.
Legend of a movie.
What makes this one of the BEST WESTERNS EVER is the fact that it destroys the tropes of the badass gunslinging cowboy 🤠
Eastwood bought the script in the early 80s and waited on it for a decade until he was old enough to play William Munny.
@@jackd.ripper9216 ANOTHER Great "Classic" that tries reversing certain Western archetypes
He did learn from the best , Sergio Leone , who did several westerns , when Hollywood considered them a dead genre .
He was also second unit director in My name is Nobody , that ties him to Terence Hill and Bud Spencer westerns .
One of those is Bud Spencer and Jack Palance , it can be done Amigo , that was filmed partly on same sets than Sergio Leone's , Once Upon A Time In The West.
Which is why they should've watched this AFTER having watched at least the Dollar Trilogy. Makes it easier to appreciate the deconstruction of genre when you know about the genre. Honestly, why did people vote for Tombstone instead of The Good The Bad and The Ugly? Weirdos...
@@jcaique Shorter film and no defying the Val Squad (they'll overload anything with him)
When you said that they was all bad shots in the saloon. That goes back to what Little Bill was telling the Author about how if someone gets in too big of a hurry while shooting, they will miss.
44:57
@@m0cker184 My bad. I missed that part. lol
that also just the fear of death will make 99% of people just want to get the hell away , and in that scene you can see people shooting as they scurry away not even looking where they're shooting
It's not the hurry, it's the adrenaline. Something you never done before and your brain is going crazy with drugs. More likely to shoot yourself or the wrong person.
It also goes back to English Bob talking about not being able to shoot royalty. When Munny stands in that tavern, his reputation precedes him. In that tavern, he's royalty.
Keep in mind that Little Bill was going to take a bullwhip to the two cowboys to punish them. It was when Skinny made it a “property” crime that Little Bill decided on the fine instead. What makes him a bad person was that he valued the hardworking cowboys more than he did the women making a living through “wickedness”. Little Bill is very self-righteous and considers himself a good person. He felt that his methods were to prevent further evil from being done. He and William Munny are such complex characters, and I love it. My favorite western.
Good points. Another thing is those cowboys are part of the community. English Bob, Ned & Will are not. Hence why he’ll beat and kill them much quicker than he ever would the cowboys (the prostitutes are probably viewed as second class citizens - hence why the townspeople blame them for the problems that have happened).
Little Bill is basically the closest thing you have to your stereotypical western movie hero in this film, he is basically just trying to keep up the peace in his town, which is what the job of a sheriff was, it is just because this story is told from the point of view of the outlaws is why is the antagonist of the film. It's basically like turning the whole tough sheriff trope of westerns completely around and showing it from a less romanticized and more realistic angle.
@@thomasknash exactly. The purpose of lawmen is to protect land owners not to uphold right and wrong. The Cowboys are part of the community. They perform work that provides income for the town. And while the women do also, they're women. They don't count. They're nothing but "horses" who's only worth is as a man's property.
@@Klaital1 little bill is a complete cowardly bastard though, he beats Ned to death, and nearly beats English Bob to death
@@russellward4624 i would disagree. The purpose of the lawmen was to maintain peace and order. Now originally he was gonna whip em for their crime. But when the saloon owner agreed to an alternate form of compensation bill had the right as a representative of the law to accept and enforce it. Was he biased towards the women due to his own believes of their profession? Yes. But at the same time, there can be no law and order if evertime someone wrongs someone else you allow them to hire assassins to kill people. Personally, I think this was a very realistic and clear example of how sometimes keeping peace can result in nothing but loses all around.
That saloon scene is flawless.
From the moment Munny walks in with the thunder behind him to the very end when he threatens the entire town before disappearing in the night, it was masterfully executed, with incredible acting, close to no music and pure apocalyptic atmosphere. They just do not make these films anymore.
I like the way the last shootout went exactly the way the sheriff describes a shootout to the writer.
Also, what a colossal cast... I mean Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman and Richard Harris! You can't go wrong really.
A real Masterpiece, up there with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once upon a time in the West, Rio Bravo and Magnificent Seven.
God, I miss these films... 😔
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", if you haven't seen it, is awesome too.
Saw it in the cinema. Great film indeed, with one if the best photography ever. 👍
Old Henry, True Grit (2010), and The Missing are also really good western movies post Unforgiven. Then there’s Power of the Dog, which one an Oscar for its direction, but it’s a divisive one.
don't leave out Saul Rubinek
Man, this is a great western. Clint Eastwood never disappoints. Gran Torino is another great of his.
Yep, love that one.
Eastwood, Hackman and Freeman. Three absolute gods of American cinema. Such a fantastic cast and film.
O Yeah for sure 😊
It's difficult to chose between this movie and Open range, so similar, phenomenal films indeed.
Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Picture.
This was third film in the western genre to win, and 15 years later, No Country For Old Men would win, as its a neo western thriller film.
I always loved the music in this film, really beautiful score.
Coppola was going to make this script but he didn’t have the time so Clint took it over.
So well written
@@SuperWhofan1 really? that's the first I've that, wow. Wonder what a Coppola version would have been like.
did 'True Grit' with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon win anything? another great western that came out more in recent times but not sure if they were nominated or won any oscars
You people always obsessed with a shitty, pretentious Oscar. 🙄
Should definitely watch " The Outlaw Josey Wales", my favorite Eastwood western.
Mine too!
“ shut up Clyde “
People immediately miss the reason for the exaggerated story about the mutilation of the woman. We're are talking about a time where word of mouth spread the story, each time potentially evolving. Even the newspapers or bulletins back then could be rather tabloid and sensationalised. Then there's the fact that the prostitutes may have exaggerated the story in the first place to entice shooters, to enrage the average man and get them on side.
In grade school some teachers had us play a game called telephone to demonstrate this phenomenon. Everyone would line up and the teacher would whisper something to the first in line, then the message would get passed down the line in whispers until the last person announced what (s)he was told, and it was invariably way different than the original.
@@meminustherandomgooglenumbers yes, it's amazing how different the message can be at the end.
@@Orange-Jumpsuit-Time that's right, there are similar tales and reputations of bushrangers here in Australia. This can lead to the detriment of the individual/s involved.
@Pariah yeah, I suppose I am basing this on watching several reactions to this film.
This was filmed and released in 1992 but could be applied today. These "stories" and conspiracy theories that grow and fester, and take on a life of their own, can lead to violence, mayhem and death. A brilliant retelling of the Wild West, and actually closer to the truth than not.
This is, arguably, the End of Westerns (coda, maybe?). It's "real" and death is horrible and full of pain instead of wacky fun shootouts. Y'all said, "it's not exactly redemption." *Very* right on; it's Unforgiven.
I also like that a couple of times during the movie Bill Munny says, "I ain't that kind of man, anymore." But even as he says it, you get the feeling that he doesn't quite believe it, like he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else. And then at the end of the movie, he realizes that's exactly the kind of man he STILL is. Part of the reason why he's so angry is because of what they did to Ned. But I think he's mostly angry with himself, because he knows he's irredeemable . . . . he knows he'll never be a decent man.
@@KneelB4Bacon Whatever Munny truly deserves: "Deserve's got nothing to do with it."
Further: the writer is *our* mistaken, romantic version of the Wild West. It's a lie, written by a fool, to make money because no one will pay for the truth. Hell, we all have Truth each and every day and it ain't fun. The Writer is Hollywood (and Italy, tbc) making movies about noble heros and becloaked, brilliant villains. Reality is ugly and disappointing and unjust and regretful.
With an occasional badass shootout at the end, I guess.
"Pale Rider" is a must.
In an interview, Clint was saying that Hackman didn't want to do any more violent movies but Eastwood convinced him that this movie would (though violent) say a lot about violence. Not glorify it. So Hackman agreed. Glad he did.
ALSO: Not everybody that owns a gun can shoot them straight. Most don't practice and it's harder hit something than you may think.
The entire feel of this movie gets kicked up from the moment Will touched that whiskey and took his first drink. Then you get the shoot out in the bar but the speech Will gives when he comes out of the bar is just amazing!
That's where you see the demon from his past unleashed and he is scary!
i'll be sad when clint dies his movies are the best he has a good sense of humor too see 'every which way but loose movies sooooooo funny
I'd argue it's the moment he hears that they put a sign on his murdered friend. THAT lit the fuse. Then he grabbed the whiskey to fuel the fire. It's never the booze/gun that kills, it's the anger within.
"It's a hell of a thing to kill a man. . . . ." - This is a hell of a line that gets me every time.
"I was building a house." - This line hits me hard every time, too.
I love this movie, it seems so much more real to me without the movie sensationalism you usually see in westerns and action films. Please consider watching more Clint Eastwood films, this movie has a funny little parallel in the beginning to "The Outlaw Josie Wales" a 1970's classic western with Clint.
💪 Agreed. Josie Wales was his best pre-Unforgiven western.
In addition, William Munny and Josey Wales were also Missouri farmers. ;D
Josey Wales is in my top 5 westerns, along with Unforgiven
I always hope that somebody will notice how English Bob's high-class veneer is all an act. His natural Cockney accent comes out during the scene where he gets led away. It wasn't in the original script, but actor Richard Harris - originally from Ireland - figured it would be an interesting choice.
It is very interesting to me that no firearms are allowed in Big Whiskey…but Skinny apparently was an exception, since he had a pistol to put to the face-cutting cowboy’s head, at the start.
There’s a story there, that’s for sure.
I thought it was really interesting that Little Bill described how the best shot was not necessary the fastest, but the one who didn’t panic during a shootout. And at final shootout in the bar you see Will cut down five dudes who were all freaking out and missing their shots.
This is probably the best revisionist/new Western made. Dirty, poorly lit, brutal, with no heroes, just men who flinch against men who dont.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a must watch as far as Clint Eastwood and westerns go. It set the precedent for so many western tropes especially from a music perspective
Actually it started with 'Fistful of Dollars' and 'For a Few Dollars More', Clint's 2 previous Euro Westerns. I like Good Bad and the Ugly but I actually like the other 2 better including the soundtracks. Fistful is the film that completely changed not only Westerns but other films as well. If you get a chance, watch a dvd of Fistful with the commentary. I have a few hundred Spaghetti Westerns (Italian directors, filmed in Spain with mostly Italian and Spaniards but a few Americans and other Euros) and a lot of music is really great which is why Tarantino used a few songs in his films and you hear some of the music in commercials.
@@sca88 Thanks for correcting my admittedly fuzzy memory! I agree, all of the "Fistful" Eastwood films are fantastic but The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has always been a personal favorite. of mine. I'll have to try to track down a version of Fistful with the commentary so I can learn a bit more!
The Good the Bad and the Ugly is one of the best movie of all time. Everybody must watch it at least once in his lifetime.
If you had seen this film after having seen Clint's early work, seeing this incarnation in light of his history gives this one a lot of insight and significance.
Absolutely. Though it isn't a Western, Gran Torino is about another retired, widowed gunman (of a kind) and in a lot of ways it feels to me like a good coda to Unforgiven.
@@petersvillage7447 I think Tom meant Clint's work before "Unforgiven" the Sergio Leone ones, etc.
@@isabelsilva62023 Oh no, you're absolutely right. What I meant was that the running themes that culminate so brilliantly in Unforgiven manages to cover a little more ground in Gran Torino, which again seems to be about an old man who is being called back to a life of violence. Just as Unforgiven works best when you know Clint as the guy from all those Westerns, Gran Torino works best when you've seen Unforgiven and the many earlier films in which he played the guy who solves problems by shooting bad guys.
Gene Hackman is one of my favorite actors. He plays a great role in Mississippi Burning.
Gene Hackman was always great playing villainous authority figures, shame he hasn’t acted since 2004.
@@andrewburgemeister6684 He purposely retired
@@dansiegel995 oh yeah, he had a decent run, but I think like all of us out of selfishness would like to see him on screen again. Great actor!
Along with Willem Dafoe, great movie 😀
The late Richard Harris also deserves some credit for his part in the film. He brought out what Little Bill was all about. 👍🏼
Do you mean Gene Hackman? Richard Harris played English Bob. I’m unsure if I’m misunderstanding your statement.
the final shootout showed the application of all the stuff Little Bill had discussed with the writer before. All the other guys were panicking and trying to shoot fast (and missing) whereas Will was calm and took his time and aimed with each shot.
yep, even little bill panicked facing off with a brutal killer, he shot first and missed.
Arizona Anime-Fan Will also ducks and Bill misses because of this. At the end, Will was the true Duck of Death.
Richard Harris “English Bob” played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, he’s been in lots of Great films
Jared Harris is his son (Legasov in Chernobyl). Great actors both of them.
Really thats crazy i never knew
He also played the original emperor in Gladiator. That might of been his last role.
Cromwell. that is all.
Clint Eastwood is great at taking the glamour out of his westerns, also his characters are never all bad even though there always a killer, see "Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Pale Rider" among others, always enjoy your reactions thanks.
yea PALE rider may not get the full attention, but after seein it 2 x its really good after knowing what the LEAD Clint character portrays and that last shoot out pretty much shows what he was
High Plains Drifter
You have to add Hang 'Em High to that list. Awesome story and well acted. Dennis Hopper in a bit part and the first movie he did with Pat Hingle who was always good in a supporting role in Clint's films.
Complex, morally ambiguous, switching from fairly lighthearted scenes to a very peculiar, heavy and dramatic tone in an instant. I love this movie so much.
It was filmed where I live, in southern Alberta, mainly between Calgary and Drumheller. The place that Sam finds so beautiful (around 7:47) is the Red Deer River Valley, right around where I pulled an Into the Wild one summer and camped in a teepee in the middle of nowhere. The badlands where the first cowboy gets shot in the gut is right across the river from where I got married.
The local movie theatre in Drumheller now has a mural of Eastwood on its front, and a few of the locals they hired to work on set are still around. Beautiful area you should check out if you're ever nearby.
Sounds like heaven.
I love Unforgiven. It's such a perfect cap on Clint Eastwood's Western movies. The characters are so well acted and fleshed out.
Other Eastwood Westerns worth checking out are, of course, the three he made with Sergio Leone: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Also, High Plains Drifter, Two Mules for Sister Sara and Pale Rider.
Most westerns glorified killing this movie went the complete opposite, more about how it’s not shoot outs it’s shooting a man in the back or when they didn’t see it coming and how killing fucks you up internally
I loved the fact that every character was an island of their own prejudiced morality. They all viewed the world through their own lenses and saw right and wrong from that vantage point. As such, there was no truly good character in the story.
And no definitively evil character either. Except maybe for English Bob.
Sally Two Trees
@@novanights2chevy597 We don't know enough about Sally Two Trees other than she looked like a handful.
Inside the western cinema, there's also three sub-categories:
-Classical Western: Many of John Wayne's or John Ford's movies will be inside this category.
-Spaghetti Western: The 70's Eastwood's and Sergio Leone's movies are a good example.
-Crepuscular (or twilight) Western: This is a special case, because this sub-category takes away all the glory and mitification of the "Legendary Far West" and show that period in a raw more gruesome way (Like Unforgiven does)
Not sure where you came up with that as the "Dollars Trilogy" with Eastwood was in the 60's, as were a lot of "Spaghetti Western" movies.
@@The-Underbaker They got a lot more popular later on TV than in their original theatrical runs.
@@The-Underbaker My bad, didn't check them out.....
People can have a weapon but that doesn't mean they are effective with it, this movie has that realistic perspective. You guys need to see The Outlaw Jossey Wales a Clint Eastwood Classic. Really enjoy your reactions and after conversations.
Didn't help that they were terrified of Will, and panicked when the shooting started.
That's right, and there's the particular handgun, how functional it is and its accuracy. Also, like getting in an altercation (this is probably as bad as it gets), afterwards you may be like, I wish I did this or that or this instead. No second chances here, the adrenaline would be running wild too.
@@arconeagain He also ducked, which made hitting him harder.
@@TimedRevolver yes, instinct.
@@TimedRevolver right, much smaller target.
It's a fascinating movie, because it's an honest western instead of the glorified "western" genre, and it's also highly metaphoric, where it breaks down the western genre with the writer acting as the western glorifier, then suddenly encountering the harsh reality of it. Clint also stayed 100% true to the harsh reality of it. The story writer cried when he saw it because it was exactly what he envisioned.
The Schofield Kid is still one of my favorite western side characters, his growth from a big talking young gun with a chip on his shoulder, into a man with true scars now and is disillusioned with the lifestyle he long for since he was a boy, is so good and such a subversion of the common Young Gun type characters.
30:18 “…but that didn’t *scare* Little Bill, did it?”
Oh yeah, at this moment, shit gets REAL!
Best western ever made!!! Soundtrack written by Eastwood himself. Love this movie. Clint waited at least 10 years with the script in a drawer until he was ready to make it right. The perfect western movie!
Guns of that time were typically carried with one empty bore. The cylinder bore directly under the hammer would usually be empty because the hammer spur was made on the hammer. If the gun was dropped or bumped and there was a round in that bore, the gun could fire that round. It was a safety measure used before modern firearms.
My 3x great grandfather died from a self-inflicted but accidental gunshot wound that would have been avoided had his gun had that one empty bore. He was a young immigrant German farmer who was on stable duty in the Civil War (Union side, Missouri) and fell after slipping in the mud while running after an escaped horse. His holstered revolver went off and shot him in the side. Took him two weeks to die.
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, those types of incidents were somewhat common during that time.
Interesting pick and good reaction. Although "Outlaw Josey Wales" is my fav Eastwood western, this movie is a close second place.
This, so much this. Josey Wales might be the greatest Eastwood western not named The Good the Bad and the Ugly
@@macheesmo3 Outlaw is his best IMO, and he should've won the Oscar for that first....but I won't argue about The Good being the best either...lol
Josie Wales much better than this movie, even The Good the Bad and the Ugly was much better.
Josey Wales, Unforgiven, the main character are from Missouri. Is there some weird correlation? Or does Eastwood just like having crazy characters being from Missouri?
@@mmayer4409 I think it has to do with the fact that Missouri was end junction of the railroad lines during that era. Thus if you were coming from the "east" then the "west" was Missouri and you started off in horse or wagon for your future. (ya, i know transcontinental was being built at that time but didn't become reliable until the 1880s)
Most westerns tend to glamorize life in the west. Unforgiven feels more real, and nobody is completely a hero or villain.
Now if you'd like to lighten up the Western genre, I highly recommend "Silverado" with Scott Glenn, Kevin Kline, Kevin Kostner and Brian Dennehy. It's a typical classic western with a difference: a lot of lighthearted humor. It's just fun.
Three things really stand out to me in Unforgiven. Number one, I love how the end of the movie calls back to English Bob when the last deputy refuses to shoot Munny. Will was awe-inspiring, just like the Queen. Number two, I love the intimacy of the killing. They shoot the first cowboy and talk with his buddies. The kid shoots the second cowboy while he's taking a dump. And Munny kills them all with words exchanged and a lot of people watching. Number three, I'm usually not a fan of dark movies. But it really works in Unforgiven. It adds to the intimacy, especially during the final shootout.
What I love best was his speech at the end. Will has returned to his old self, the man he tried so hard to escape. That closing threat sends chills down my spine every time I hear it.
this was a deconstruction of the western, incredible movie.
Most thought provoking line from this film:
"We all got it coming, kid."
Gene Hackman is immense in this. The scene in the jail with "Duck I says" and offering English Bob the gun is magical film making.
This is the opposite of a typical western. Instead of glorifying the violence of the west, like what the author was doing, but showing the difficulties in killing a man for most people.
As a director, Clint Eastwood is notorious for having very little film on the cutting room floor. He gets the shot he wants and moves on.
Clint Eastwood is a fantastic director. You guys should check out a lot of his work.
Academy Awards 1993 wins: Best Picture (Unforgiven), Best Director (Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman: Unforgiven), Best Film Editing (Joel Cox: Unforgiven) Best leading actor for Clint Eastwood - nominated -
50 wins and 47 nominations
Fun Fact: This film was pitched to Clint Eastwood in the 1970's but he intentionally shelved it for when he was an older-gentlemen, to add the weight of all of the killing he had done in the countless westerns from his career. He wanted this to be his final western which to this point it is his finale as a western.
- This is one of my all-time favorite films.
- The story rides tension the entire time and you get that AMAZING pay-off in the end.
- I get chills each time I watch the film when you see Will enter the saloon, you just see a shotgun in the frame and the lightning strikes before it shows Eastwoods face.
I think the most interesting character is Claudia. The writing is masterful, leaving the person with the biggest influence totally offscreen. David Webb Peoples.
What I love about this movie is that everybody is wrong, but everybody is right.
My favorite lines: The Kid: “I guess he had it coming”. William Money: “We all got it coming kid”.
Eastwood also composed the music. This is one of the great ones, but Once Upon A Time In The West is the best western ever made.
44:17, Frances Fisher, she played Rose's mom in TITANIC.
There's a theory that William Munny was actually "the man with no name" , 20 years later, from the earlier Eastwood spaghetti westerns.
I still recommend The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, if you haven't watched it. It's not as serious, dark and dramatic as The Unforgiven. It's more on the fun action side of the Eastwood westerns. Even though it's considered the 3rd out of "The Man with No Name" trilogy, the trilogy isn't actually a trilogy, meaning it's not the same character or story, so it's not necessary to watch in order.
"Well I guess they had it comin."
"We all have it comin kid."
I must correct myself, Clint Eastwood has directed 37 films, this was his 16th.
This is a very atypical western movie, but tried to portray what the west was really like, with messy killing and non-glamorized gun fights unlike what we see in most western movies. Real life in the west was probably very brutal and people didn't just die from one shot, but from many shots and shooters were probably inaccurate because of not only the gun technology but because they were not skilled. The real cowboy was not an expert with a gun, but probably an amateur and had guns that probably jammed a lot or misfired or were poorly constructed.
English Bob, is portrayed by the late Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies. He also played in a movie , A Man Called Horse.
And, since your watching westerns, might I recommend, Little Big Man, No Country For Old Men, and Dead Man.
Why is nobody talking about "Outlaw Josey Wales"? A SUPERB Eastwood Western (which he also directed). And as for "The Good, the bad & the Ugly?"? If you haven't seen it, you're not a movie fan.
this film and 'the outlaw josey wales' are my two favorite westerns. sooooo good
'Well I guess they had it coming.'
'We all have it coming, kid.'
Such a quotable film.
Its worth to mention that English Bob is played by Richard Harris, a great irish actor, who also played Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator. Hackman won an oscar for his role, Eastwood was nominated and Freeman is always good. The casting was on point.
This was Clint Eastwood’s deconstruction of the character he played through most of his career
This is a great movie.
It’s about reputation, and also misinterpretation of reputation, how a person’s reputation is exaggerated grater or lesser than how it happened in reality.
Great Clint Eastwood,
I recommend the man without a name trilogy...
Yeah the twist of the movie, kinda, is while everybody else keeps pumping their reputation, and Bill Munny is repeatedly talked about like some kind of boogeyman, and everyone is shown repeatedly to be less than legend implies, their stories exaggerated, and Munny is played so sympathetically and kind of pathetically that the viewer assumes that he wasnt as bad as his reputation implies.
Then after Ned dies, and he starts drinking, its revealed he was probably actually worse.
And even the Sheriff, who up to this point was pretty spot on with regards to everything, is completely surprised by how vicious Munny is.
You could also say it talks about the glory of killing, or rather the lack there of...
Seemingly, there’s no glory in the act of killing, killing weighs on the conscience.
Yet once word spreads like a game of telephone, someone else glorifies your actions, even though those actions are now a heavy burden on your soul...
You just saw probably the best Western ever made- especially since it's sort Clint Eastwood's direct and more realistic reinterpretation of the genre HE had already popularized as just an actor.
It felt like the 60's again
You should watch IN THE LINE OF FIRE, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, where Eastwood plays a Secret Service Agent on the verge of retiring, plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a former CIA assassin, whom plans to kill the President of the United States.
It was the first Clint Eastwood movie I saw growing up.
"Silverado" (1985) is a must you guys.
It's about the duality of man. The influences that can change your character for a moment whether for good or bad, but nothing can change your true nature, especially under extreme circumstances. Will was a cold blooded killer, who found love and it changed him, until there was a reason to change back.
One of my favorite westerns, this film won best picture.
My God...You couldn't believe Eastwood Directed this film? What a journey you have with him....Westerns, Cop Dramas, Comedies.....The man is a living legend....Go for it xxxxx
Excellent film…. The shot of Clint slowly riding off into the darkness after the shoot out is so atmospheric. Love how the shootout shows how you don’t need to be fast…. Just calm.
"I guess he had it comin'."
"We all have it comin' kid."
I always thought Eastwood made this to bookend his career of western movies. Making a film that shows a more realistic depiction of killing and the consequences, rather than the usual "Hollywood" action based gunfights/stories. Maybe both of you would have enjoyed this movie more if you had already watched Eastwood's Dollars Trilogy.
I always saw this as the unofficial end story to The Man With No Name.
This is the Best roll Gean Hackman has ever done.....
Easily one of the greatest westerns ever made .
To fully understand the Will Munny character, you should watch these three films in order: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", "A Fistful of Dollars", and "For a Few Dollars More". Eastwood plays the same character, "the man with no name", in each. "Unforgiven" can be considered an epilogue to that trilogy.
"Oh he directed that, holy sh*t!"
Clint Eastwood is such a phenomenal director and actor!
Gran Torino, Invictus, The Mule, American Sniper, 15:17 to Paris, Million Dollar Baby, Perfect World, Bridges of Madison County.. he directed so many good movies!
In my opinion Eastwood has a great talent to immerse the viewer in the story and get them invested into the characters.
Especially Gran Torino. That movie is in my Top 3 favorite movies of all time!
I would love to see more reactions to his work from the best reaction channel on youtube (spoiler: thats you =P )!
Unfortunately Crying Macho wasn't good - poor writing that wasn't good enough for Eastwood, but he thought from his directing he could create an emotion spike in the final act like he has masterfully done for the last 3 decades. I will be sad if that is his last film, but he's too old I think.
And he is also a very good music composer.
Mystic River is my favorite by him
How can you forget Space Cowboys 🤠
@@dansiegel995 I didn't have the chance to see Crying Macho so far, but I'm sad to hear that you didn't like it.
I do agree though that I always have the bad feeling because of his age, but on the other hand: the man had a good run and is still doing what he loves at that age, so I don't care if every movie he does with age 91 is a masterpiece.
I don't mean to be a downer, but my Grandma is 82 and suffers from dementia, can't even eat by herself anymore. Seeing how well Clint Eastwood did/does at his age is very wholesome.
Side note: English Bob is Albus Dumbldore from the first two Harry Potter movies
Gene Hackman is a legendary actor. One of my top 10 favorites.
You gotta remember horses were incredibly important back then so giving five away was a big deal
49:24 Ooh, a western trilogy?!? I wonder what it could be. :-) Looking forward to it.
Other great westerns to to add to your watch list are, Silverado, The Wild Bunch, Magnificent Seven, Butch Cassidy and The Sun Dance Kid, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Once Upon a Time in The Old West and Clint Eastwood's three spaghetti westerns.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is also an excellent western.
This movie turns that classic western trope on its head and paints a much darker, grittier setting. And the story is more in line with Shakespeare's tragedies. The movie also is made to make you question who is really evil. Little Bill, William. One was a 'lawman', the other a 'reformed' thief and killer. You look at how little bill's cruelty in meting out his 'justice' their history isn't that different.
Great movie. First time I saw this movie I did not like seeing Client Eastwood as an old cowboy after seeing and loving his old classic westerns (like The Dollar trilogy you should see that also ) but now I love it. You should see other great Clint Eastwood movie like Dirty Harry , Absolute Power, Escape from Alcatraz, In the Line of Fire. Also a great Gene Hackman western is the Quick and the dead. If you really want to watch Westerns you have to watch Clint Eastwood Dollar Trilogy. Also another great almost unknown comedic western is My Name is Nobody 1973 with Terence Hill and Henry Fonda. It is a really funny western.
Joe Kidd.
*Gene Hackman short for Eugene. Jean is a woman's name.
Another good film by Eastwood is Play Misty for me. The first film he directed.
@@richcheckmaker Fixed it :) thanks
@@stsolomon618 I remember seeing the previews for Play Misty For Me at the theater when it came out. Drive-In or Walk-In I can't remember.
I truly love all of Clint Eastwoods westerns..they are so much better than most westerns. Both of you are right, Clints westerns are story driven and pulls you in..not just a bunch of random shooting scenes
I don’t know, but I suspect that the townspeople being upset at the working girls for the death of the cowboy was because they see those women as lower class, even the men that use their services.
It’s a complex issue (certainly too big for a RUclips comment thread), but I think that the lust that the men act on causes them shame, but instead of owning their urges and actions they play the victim and blame the prostitutes.
It’s a similar thing in my view as the common religious trait of making women dress in certain ways, especially where as much femininity is removed as possible. It’s painted as temptation for the men by the wicked women; rather than the guys dealing with their sexuality they cast blame on women.
Little Bill reminds me in some ways of the sheriff in Rambo First Blood. A violent man yes, close minded perhaps. But they both thought they were acting in the name of protecting their town.
After this movie, I know many people will recommend you to react to Gran Torino (and you definitely should, is a masterpiece), but since you get in the western genre, I'd like to make a different suggestion that I'm sure nobody is gonna: "The Quick and the Dead", a 1995 western directed by Sam Raimi itself (And honestly, that's enough reasons to watch it) and with a estelar cast that I don't want to spoil it for you...... Perhaps isn't the deepest most meaningful western, but it is a fun ride indeed.....
Such an amazing film, and easily one of my favorite Westerns of all time. Clint is one of the greatest directors, and he deserved the Oscar, for him and Best Picture. As Little Bill said it isn't about being the fastest shot, it's about who keeps calm, hence why Will walked out of the bar at the end, he never got emotional.
Weird that this came in second to Tombstone, considering it's probably one of the top 5 or 10 movies ever made. Crazy.
Tombstone is an easier movie to digest than Unforgiven.
Tombstone is a lot of fun. Unforgiven is more thought provoking.
@@jamesjoseph1249 That's almost certainly the answer. Tombstone is a great movie as well, and one of my favorites. But man, Unforgiven is just on another level altogether.
put True Grit on your next western poll ,, Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon is in it but the actual lead in the movie was a 14yr girl played by Hailee Steinfeld ,, amazing movie
absolutely wild clint is still making movies 30 years after this (which might be his best), they're certainly not all winners but it's hard to imagine anything but death forcing him to retire
For westerns. Watch "1883". It's recent new. The best western series hands down. And one of the best tv series ever as a whole. Amazing.
Well, you just opened yourselves to more then 100 movies between Eastwood, Hackman and of course Richard Harris who played English Bob, not including of course Morgan Freeman, as you know him the best.
The best kind of back story to the story of William Money would be Eastwood's High Plains Drifter he directed and starred in 1973. His Spaghetti weserns also, but he's a lot nicer in those compared to High Plains Drifter.
Now, Gene Hackman, a bunch of movies, The French Connection 1 and 2 and countless other ones. Richard Harris for Mutiny On The Bounty (1962), with Marlon Brando to Man In The Wilderness (1971), which was remade in 2015 as The Revenant starring Leonardo Dicaprio.
Oh, did I mention all of Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies. Have fun!!
I'd disagree with saying William Munny's backstory would be High Plains Drifter. Drifter is one of my favorite Eastwood films, but it's definitely got a supernatural vibe to it. I'd say the Outlaw Josie Wales would work better as a backstory.
Clint’s farewell to the western genre is also his masterpiece.
This is probably close to what it was really like back then