As genius as it was disturbing. I read an interview with Clint where he said that, after years of action-thrillers and shoot-em-up westerns, he had a desire to artfully display the dangers of gun play and the finality of death. "It's a hell of a thing killing a man...you take all he's got and all he's ever gonna' have." The end was a strange combination of vintage Eastwood and a need for a Prozac I.V.

This was, of course, a brilliant film...chromatic in every way, shape and form. All I can do is add a little frosting to the two previous reviews from Sucks and Ed. I can't name another film that produced more memorable lines than this one (I think there's even a list on this site of lines from this film)...from, "If I did want a 'free one', I'd want a 'free one from you" to "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man.". to "I guess you think I'm kicking you, Bob", to my favorite line from Jaimz Woolvet as The Schofield Kid:  "I'm a damn killer, myself."

I was actually jealous that I never had a chance to play that part...

A brilliant film. I won't go so far as to say this is the best western ever filmed, because that's some damn tough competition, with Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, Peckinpah's Wild Bunch, Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre (which is a western in all but name), Zinnemann's High Noon, Curtiz' Virginia City, Hawks' Red River, Kasdan's Silverado, Altman's McCabe and Mrs Miller, and Sturges' Magnificent Seven to name some of several contenders.

What is not arguable is that this film belongs in the argument. It is literate, articulate, beautifully filmed and heavily nuanced in a way that transcends the genre, and shows Eastwood to be a truly gifted director.

Eastwood's best film, in my opinion, both as an actor and director. I always enjoyed his "Spaghetti Westerns"-- they were a refreshing change from the predictable Hollywood variety where the "cowboys", with neatly-trimmed Brylcreem haircuts and spotless attire, were virtuous all-American types, which was a mythological innovation totally at odds with the historical record (guys like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Clay Allison, etc., were killers for whom human life had very little value)-- but they were essentially violent comic books and Eastwood's "Man With No Name" (or "Blondie") a comic-book stick-figure that squinted menacingly and fired a gun with the accuracy of the Terminator rather than a flesh-and-blood character, with complexity and nuances. Undoubtedly, that was the way it was written, but even if a fully-formed character had been put into the script, it's not likely that Eastwood had the acting chops to convey that complexity. While I've always liked Eastwood, I never thought he was much of an actor, but he's obviously grown with the decades, and I thought "Unforgiven" was an extraordinary film. Eastwood was able to hold his own against the likes of Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris. Eastwood's gunman wasn't a "hero"; he was an ugly, flawed killer capable of astonishing, even psychopathic, brutality. This is generally the way most gunmen are described in any of the historical books on the West that I've read over the years, and it's to Eastwood's credit that he had the guts and determination to create this unflattering portrait rather than the syrupy (and inaccurate) paen that Hollywood typically puts forth when manufacturing a film about the Old or Wild West days.

"Pulp Fiction" was the most fearless and memorable 90's film, but "Unforgiven" was one of Eastwood's finest works and ranks as one of the best films of the 90's. I love its careful pace, it's patience. . .it has respect for the audience. It's a great film. I think it will be taught at film schools years from now.