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Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett ... see more see more... , Saul Rubinek , Frances Fisher , David Mucci , Rob Campbell , Anthony James , Beverley Elliott , Tara Dawn Frederick , Greg Goossen , Larry Joshua , Robert Koons , Henry Kope , Aline Levasseur , Anna Levine , Jefferson Mappin , Walter Marsh , Shane Meier , John Pyper-Ferguson , Jeremy Ratchford , Liisa Repo-Martell , Josie Smith , Ron White , Michael Maurer , George Orrison , Frank C. Turner , Ben Cardinal , Stuart Aikins , Phyllis Huffman , Chad Dowdell , Philip Maurice Hayes , Mina E. Mina , Lochlyn Munro

Dedicated to his mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar-winner examines the mythic violence of the Western, taking on the ghosts of his own star past. Disgusted by Sheriff "L... read more read more...ittle Bill" Daggett's decree that several ponies make up for a cowhand's slashing a whore's face, Big Whiskey prostitutes, led by fierce Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher), take justice into their own hands and put a $1000 bounty on the lives of the perpetrators. Notorious outlaw-turned-hog farmer William Munny (Eastwood) is sought out by neophyte gunslinger the Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett) to go with him to Big Whiskey and collect the bounty. While Munny insists, "I ain't like that no more," he needs the bounty money for his children, and the two men convince Munny's clean-living comrade Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) to join them in righting a wrong done to a woman. Little Bill (Oscar-winner Gene Hackman), however, has no intention of letting any bounty hunters impinge on his iron-clad authority. When pompous gunman English Bob (Richard Harris) arrives in Big Whiskey with pulp biographer W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) in tow, Little Bill beats Bob senseless and promises to tell Beauchamp the real story about violent frontier life and justice. But when Munny, the true unwritten legend, comes to town, everyone soon learns a harsh lesson about the price of vindictive bloodshed and the malleability of ideas like "justice." "I don't deserve this," pleads Little Bill. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it," growls Munny, simultaneously summing up the insanity of western violence and the legacy of Eastwood's Man With No Name. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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91% liked it

103,998 ratings

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97% liked it

58 critics

R, 2 hr. 11 min.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Release Date: August 3, 1992

Keywords: western

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DVD Release Date: March 26, 1997

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Stats: 6,845 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (6,845)

  • fb1664868775
    March 29, 2012
    fb1664868775
    One of the best westerns of all time. Hands down.
  • garyX
    December 29, 2011
    garyX
    An ex-gunslinger comes out of retirement to collect the bounty on a pair of cowpokes who disfigured a young prostitute. Clint Eastwood directs and stars in a deconstruction of the myth of the old west that examines the kind of man who would exist in a society which provides mean ... read moredrunks and arrogant, prideful boys with lethal weapons. Saul Rubinek's author of the romanticized versions of the stories provides the eyes through which the myths are dispelled as Gene Hackman reveals the truth behind them. But even Little Bill, himself little more than a brutal thug with delusions of grandeur, revels in his own exploits and it is only Eastwood's reformed killer who shows any shame or wish for redemption for his past actions. In the hostile environment of the American west it is not the most noble or even brave who thrive, but the most cold-blooded and the abilities of a gunslinger could be measured by something as arbitrary as the standard of his eyesight. Also containing comments on the gleeful pleasure the media glean from the violence of others and the consequences of murder, the intelligent, insightful script combines with masterful performances by some of the best actors of their generation to form one of the best westerns ever made and one of the high points of Eastwood's long career.
  • TheGame90
    September 18, 2011
    TheGame90
    Not that great. There was some good scenes...but overall it wasn't so good. The final scene was pretty fun (I think I've seen it before). Not Clint at his best. Didn't deserve the best picture oscar.
  • moonrivers
    August 13, 2011
    moonrivers
    Eastwood's rousing and resounding humble human answer to every other Western ever made: there are real consequences to violence of every kind. It"s not cool, not glorious. It's ... inhumane, violence. Inhuman. The debunking of longheld myth, movie myth, and even Eastwood's ow... read moren mythology, is a work of poetry.
  • jamers2011
    August 4, 2011
    jamers2011
    A classic Western! I really haven't seen too many Westerns, but this is the best one that I have ever seen. Nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, Unforgiven is a true example of a film that proved the Western could be legit again.

    The writing a... read morend cinematography are excellent here, both recieving Oscar nominations, but the thing that really sets Unforgiven apart from other Westerns I have seen is the acting. The cast is excellent here. Star and Director Clint Eastwood, again, gives a phenomenal performance as Bill Munny. Alongside Eastwood is Morgan Freeman; their chemistry was really nice, and Freeman also gives a great performance. The supporting cast was good too...Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, and Frances Fisher give extremely solid performances.

    The best performance of the entire film though is Gene Hackman as the Sheriff. I think the Sheriff is one of the best villains in cinema history, and Hackman completely owned the character perfectly. He won Best Supporting Actor for his performance and it was completely deserved!

    Another thing that I really liked was the pacing. A lot of westerns are boring, usually with an exciting shoot out or two, but this one was different. The story was full of excitement and executed to perfection!

    I completely recommend this classic!
  • DreamExtractor
    June 17, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Classic Western
  • cosmo313
    May 13, 2011
    cosmo313
    I'm a little undecided on the specific rating, being torn betweeen a 4 and a 4 1/2, so let's just call it around a B+ to an A-.

    When this film can out, it was fairly obvious that it was intended to be the western to end all westerns, the one to bring the genre to a close. That ... read moreobviously didn't happen, it did do a fantastic job at demythologizing things, and showing the consequences of violence, guilt, closure.

    It's a great film, but not without flaws. It's a bit too long, and drags in places, some of the material is a bit unnecessary, and the stuff with English Bob could have been trimmed and reworked. Also, the prologue and epilogue, I think, could have been tweaked a little.

    All that aside, this is a wonderful character study. The cast are really good, and they give some tremendous performances. Pretty much everyone shines. I really liked Frances Fisher, though. Eastwood and Hackman have a great confrontation, and Freeman just finds the right notes with his character.

    The film is violent, but not in a ridiculous, WIld Bunch kind of way. The cinematic way the violence and showdowns are handled subvert expectations, and are handled in a startingly (yet artful) way. There's a chilling aspect to the matter of fact callousness of things which really lend strength and credibility to the film's themes and thesis.

    This is some really great stuff, but not perfect. It's a little overrated, and seems dated now, but it's nevertheless a fantastic and entertaining work of art.
  • jennifxu
    April 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    It's spooky how good Unforgiven is, how masterful and subtle a director Eastwood can be with the right tools and right script. There is so much history and geography shimmering beneath its surface, of both nostalgia, memory, loss, redemption, authenticity. A fragile, perfectly re... read morendered coda to the death of the Western as we knew it.
  • fb100001048934982
    March 30, 2011
    fb100001048934982
    You have to respect Eastwood's style, but this western doesn't change the formula too much. Great performance by Hackman (obviously (Oscar win)), and some good cinematography. A brilliant Western, but is it unique? In my opinion, no. That's okay. That doesn't always mean it's a b... read moread movie, especially in this case. A good watch.
  • fb100001493964409
    March 1, 2011
    fb100001493964409
    One of Clint Eastwood's best, if not his best, and that's saying a lot. Fans of the western genre must watch this, and if you like your stories with moral ambiguity, than look no further. One of the last great western films and easily worth your time.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Corliss
October 26, 2008
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

Eastwood's meditation on age, repute, courage, heroism -- on all those burdens he has been carrying with such good grace for decades. Full Review

James Berardinelli
June 10, 2008
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

One of Unforgiven's assets is the way it overturns conventions, taking the man who is typically the hero and making him the villain, while transforming the traditional bad guy into a sympathetic prota... Full Review

Todd McCarthy
February 19, 2008
Todd McCarthy, Variety

A classic Western for the ages. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
February 5, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

There's not much dramatic urgency apart from the revisionist context. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Unforgiven is a most entertaining western that pays homage to the great tradition of movie westerns while surreptitiously expressing a certain amount of skepticism. Full Review

Roger Ebert
August 3, 2002
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

That implacable moral balance, in which good eventually silences evil, is at the heart of the Western, and Eastwood is not shy about saying so. Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

In three decades of climbing into the saddle, Eastwood has never ridden so tall.

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Jumps adroitly between the macho and anti-macho, the romantic and anti-romantic. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

By now ... Eastwood has little more than a paint-by-numbers approach to acting. As a result, we relate to Munny more as a compendium of Eastwood's earlier characters. Full Review

John Hartl
January 1, 2000
John Hartl, Film.com

This is the best work Eastwood has done as a director since The Outlaw Josey Wales 16 years ago.

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Facts

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    • Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett: Well sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch. You just shot an unarmed man.
    • Bill Munny: He should have armed himself....... if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend.
    • Bill Munny: Who's the fellow owns this shit hole?
    • Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett: I'll see you in hell.
    • Bill Munny: Yeah.
    • Bill Munny: It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away everything he's got and everything he's ever gonna have.
    • Bill Munny: All right, I'm coming out! Any man I see out there, I'm gonna kill him! Any sonofabitch takes a shot at me.. I'm not only gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill his wife, all his friends, and burn his damn house down!
    • Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett: Duck of death, I says.
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Unforgiven Trivia

  • Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" is dedicated to which two legendary directors?  Answer »
  • In what movie did Steven Seagal NOT play in.  Answer »
  • Which actor played retired cowboy William Munny in Oscar winning 1992 film Unforgiven?  Answer »
  • True or false: Clint Eastwood won an academy award for best picture for Unforgiven  Answer »
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