Posted on 06/16/2008 7:31:04 AM PDT by Apollo 13
Hi everyone - being a relative newbie, I could yet not resist this one: yesterday I saw 'Unforgiven' by Clint Eastwood for the first time. To start: I found it a stunningly good movie. It's been labelled as 'the very last western', or if you will, a revisionist version of trad western fare. I'd agree with both comments; but at the same time it's not out of step with tradional storytelling. What makes it special for me is the deep humanity in it all. Women of low standing are heroines; Clint stays true to the one woman that once saved his life spiritually; yes, he's doomed to return to his old habits, but only because of his deep friendship for the murdered Ned Logan. And Gene Hackman is a superb Little Bill, the sheriff that goes to, ahem, great lengths to keep his small town clean of thugs (irony intended). So IMHO, one to watch again. I wonder: what is the consensus at FR on this one (if there is one?). Many, many comments are welcome! Cheers, A13.
Best western since Conager. Easily in the top 10 of all time, Unforgiven is ggod but not that good.
I like youir list, but I would replace “Butch cassidy” wit “Crossfire Trail”. I never liked the Butch movie and Tom Selleck does excellent westerns. Also, The Wild Bunch is an underrated western. It has extremely subtle undercurrents which strike a chord with those who have a sense of not fitting in with what their world has become.
I also think that Val Kilmer deserved an oscar for his performance in Tombstone, another underrated film (much better than Costner’s Wyatt Earp).
My favorite part of Josey Wales is when Eastwood spits tobacco juice on the dog’s head.
Just as Val Kilmer's performance in TOMBSTONE was Oscar-worthy and 'made the movie'...so did Robert Duvall's in OPEN RANGE.
one of my favorite too, if you ignore Danny Glover, although he did a good job on the film.
best of spaghetti westerns, Once Upon a Time in the West, Henry Fonda, fantastic bad guy.
IMO "Unforgiven" is Clints' second-best western.
First place goes to "The Outlaw Josey Wales".
Third place goes to "High Plains Drifter".
Of the Dukes' westerns, my favorite is "Big Jake". The screenplay was by Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink, who also wrote "Dirty Harry". This is why you have John Wayne uttering such great lines as:
"And now you understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all... your fault, my fault, nobody's fault... it won't matter - I'm gonna blow your head off.
No matter what else happens, no matter who gets killed, I'm gonna blow your head off."
A masterful performance by Kilmer, who once said he would rather do a good western than any other kind of Hollywood film.
My two favorites: Unforgiven and Open Range./Just Asking - soeul62.......
Clint Eastwood has made some great movies without question, however . . .
If you want to see the REAL DEAL on the big screen and not another make believe movie star, go pick up some old Audie Murphy westerns on Ebay.
America’s most decorated soldier in WWII moved like a cat on the prowl with deadly, cold confidence and precision. Even on the big screen, his eyes gave the audience chills and could make their blood run cold. Murphy had the experience to back up his big screen performances with the Medal of Honor, DSC, 2 SS, 2 BS, 2 PH, and 240 dead German & Italian soldiers by his hands.
He is IMHO, the greatest western actor of all time.
100% agree on your top 3. Reading this I was surprised how long it took for High Plains Drifter to be mentioned.
Val was a great Doc Holiday for sure. I still think Unforgiven may be my favorite of all time.
Toss up between it or The Shootist for me. Open Range
had a nice “love story” to it too though. It’s hard to
choose.
IMHO, all spaghetti westerns, filmed in Spain by Italians with ‘Godzilla like’ mismatched english words coming out of southern European mouths...
...are an ABOMINATION!
Unforgiven is the movie that convinced me that Clint Eastwood is the greatest director of our time.
I liked it better when he spit on the salesman after asking him if the stuff cleaned stains....
The theater where I watched Blazing Saddles was mostly filled with dark skinned folks who were probably descendent's of slaves brought over by the Spanish to help build forts.
The whole theater was non stop laughing especially when
Lili von Schtupp lured Bart back to her room.
Even though the movie was subtitled it was a real hoot to see so many people enjoy themselves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.