Customer Reviews
Final perfection - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 16 Apr 2008 
The last western that can ever come to life on the silver screen. After it there will only be placebo westerns. The ultimate episode of the western wilderness just before it turned so sour that your blood would curdle in your veins & your brain would either calcify into a heartless stone or liquify into a tasteless brew. The solitary cowboy is the real judge & executioner, in one word that last fatal justice maker that represents the final fate of alll crooked minds that meet with their destiny in front of the barrels of his guns just before he shoots them dead with no remission, no suspension, no parole, ever & never. Fatal lethal fateful fate of a big bang death of a few trashy men who thought their violence was god's law to alll others. And God came down from his heaven in the shape of Clint Eastwood & he struck them dead with the flashes of lightning of his anger. Just before these hooligans learned that women had to be respected, that plain justice, fairness & humanity require strength, righteousness & forwardness. With only one star in sight guiding their steps, the star that leads to Bethlehem & the birth of a reallly humane world founded on the salvation of the innocent & the damnation of the guilty, & not the reverse. Probably the acme of western films, the final touch to be able to close a long line of inspiration that has to come to its end since the audience has now lost their innocence. When justified violence is the angry redeeming tool of gratuitous & pleasurable cruelty. But that's also the end of a myth, the myth that there is a salvation of the innocent & the weak in this savage world that could not even think of existing if it were not brutal.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, University Paris Dauphine, Université Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Simply awe inspiring - By: Mr. J. Young, 26 Feb 2008 
Few films come along that manage to convey a story in that 'special' way.
'Unforgiven' is such a film. So why do I rate it 4 rather than 5 stars?
Well, a plot outline is pretty superfluous for this review as it's been so well described previously. Of course, I must comment on the superb acting alll-round - & use this to clarify my holding back on the fifth star...
This is simply due to the good acting, & in particular Gene Hackman.
Strangely, we know the background of alll the main players in the film, & we are explicitly made aware (for example) of the role of alcohol in the killings perpetrated by Munny (Eastwood) - & as the film reaches it's climax, alcohol is seen to be a part, reinforcing the point that things are 'about to happen'.
But Little Bill, either through design or omission on the part of the film-makers, remains something of an enigma.
Hackman portrays perfectly a man who is seemingly content with his lot, but also one who is apparently respected through fear in the town he polices.
We see Little Bill avoid violence, levying fines rather than whippings.
On the other hand, we are led to believe he may have been either a gunfighter or law officer elsewhere - but we are not given much historical evidence for this. We hear plenty about where Little Bill was on occassion, but not why he was there.
We also see a man fighting to contain a savage streak of brutality within, & we notice this 'personal warning' to himself crop up after he savagely attacks 'English Bob' (Richard Harris).
The story continues with Little Bill enjoying the attention of W W Beauchamp, who is avidly listening & penning information from Little Bill - yet again, we are party to only smalll parts of this, & Little Bill's opinions & apparent expertise - no actual solid facts.
Little Bill mentions he is a 'dangerous man' - but again, there is an abscence of background to this, & aside from the assumed reference to being quick in the draw, there is no other information.
Little Bill is also seen to be very cautious. While brutal at times in the extreme, he is never seen approaching anyone without his deputies with guns aimed at the person in question, almost guaranteeing his safety. Only when his opponents are disarmed or restrained does Little Bill become savage. We even see him strike a woman - perhaps not so uncommon in those times, but it is of note that excepting the lead scenes, Little Bill is the only character seen forcefully hitting a woman.
At the other end of the spectrum, Little Bill faces down a loaded shotgun with apparent courage, perhaps inflated by his audience.
So, on reflection, we know the history of the main players except Little Bill when the film ends. Because of Hackman's superb acting, we do not notice the enigma developing at the time.
Yet undoubtedly, although we see two sides to Little Bill, we are not party to the man himself & how he bacame who he is in the film.
Most intriguingly (or frustrating depending on how one feels) - along with the fact that we know where Little Bill was on occassion historicallly, (not why) - we hear from a deputy that 'Little Bill worked them tough towns' - & we know that English Bob (and Beauchamp through Bob) knows Little Bill from the past & English Bob in particular obviously is wary of Bill - yet, we are not informed how this came about - it could be an inference to the Bluebottle saloon, but that does not explain why the gunfight happened as Bill described - assuming he was a lawman at the time.
It is also very interesting to see Little Bill's deputies react with apparent surprise & shock (and repulse from his whipping of Ned) - despite seemingly being aware of his reputation - from this, we deduce that his deputies must not have seen this side of Bill before, or, they perhaps did not believe him to be prone to such actions - either way, it is obvious from the reactions portrayed that they cannot have witnessed such actions from Bill previously, otherwise they would not be surprised.
This fits with part of Bill's character - that who seemingly does not actuallly want trouble around town.
So, we are left with a man who apparently polices his town through reputation (justified or otherwise) - & we know that at least some of the characters are most certainly aware of what Bill is capable of. Will Munny, possibly through the attack by Bill, or from the past, or merely by having 'been around' knows perfectly well that Little Bill is not a man who would be frightened - not surprising as we know Munny's 'experience' of 'life' in the story - yet those who work with him (his deputies) do seem less aware of Bill in this light.
Perhaps a smalll & trifling reason to hold back a star, but, aside from witnessing some of his recent actions, we are unable to formulate a true impression of the films second main character.
Aside from the above, I cannot praise the film highly enough. For me, a little expose of Hackman's character throughout the movie would be the icing on the cake.
A profound, thought-provoking and epic film - By: B. W. Jenner, 25 Feb 2008 This film tells a story in a rather indirect way. From the prologue, which tells us about a comely & virtuous woman who marries a violent & angry man, we don't quite know where we are.
Then we see a gruesome attack of a prostitute & some rather unexpected summary justice from Little Bill (Gene Hackman). From this point onwards, the story, & the characters, tilt one way & the other. You like Little Bill, but he takes things too far. You like the Eastwood character, but you can't entirely forgive him, & you can see him sliding downwards.
The action has lingered with me for several days. What does this film have to say about hellraisers? What am I to make of the amazing denouement? Is there any justice in the ending?
Looking back there are scenes that you remember, like the mythical gunslinger missing a simple target over & over again, or Little Bill & his hopeless roof-building. The details ornament the story in delightful ways.
It's an absorbing film which confronts you with much complexity. Should law enforcers make examples of people? Do light punishments cause greater troubles? How do mythologies influence our actions? This is a very special film.
Eastwood's classic - By: S J Buck, 17 Jan 2008 Clint Eastwoods last ever western is one of the best ever made. Its not a typical Eastwood western as its take on violence & the results of violence is markedly different from the many previous westerns that Eastwood has been involved in.
Early in the film you quickly realise that this is something completly different. Eastwood's character William Munny can't even get on a horse. This scene is the first of many with a running black comedy element. Even without that element the film has other differences, such as the fact that a lot of the characters are very simple folk & as a result use simple language.
In 1992 this film was nominated for 9 oscars & won 4 of them. Gene Hackman who plays Little Bill Daggett (the town Sheriff) deservedly won the best supporting actor role for his performance. Like most films he appeared in in the late 1980's (Mississipi Burning being perhaps his best of the late 80's) Hackman's performance is memerisingly good & as I mentioned earlier in places there are some lovely black comedy moments.
With Morgan Freeman & Richard Harris, as well as Eastwood himself, alll giving excellent performances this is a film thats worth seeing over & over. Without doubt a western masterpiece & currently ranked 117 in the IMDB top 250 films.
Everything on show !! - By: J. Pickering, 04 Oct 2007 I loved this film - before I saw it on Blu-Ray. So, when it was Blu-Rayed I HAD to buy it. And what a joy.
Brilliant direction, wonderful acting, fabulous story - & in HD perfection.
I get to see the hairs on the hogs, the pores in Clints face & the grass waving in the wind....sigh.
Felt I was reallly there - a drunk murderer.
