Unforgiven (1992) - MOVIE REACTION - First Time Watching 

I like how this film shows us how tales of bravery are usually embellished and people are often nervous and inaccurate when confronted with a gunfight situation.

The scene in the jail with English Bob explains why they all missed him in the end. As Lil Bill explains to Beauchamp - The guy who keeps his head and doesn’t panic will most likely win the gunfight.

It makes sense that you guys are the only reactors to this movie who detected a change in English Bob's accent. I had no idea until you mentioned it. Good reaction as usual!

Remember, the kid mentions his uncle Pete, who was a member that ran with Will and Ned back in the day. He represents those who hear the romanticized stories of the west and wish to be a part of it, but sees the harsh realities of that world not being like the tales.

I love this film, because it is a story _about stories._ The Schofield Kid and English Bob told stories about themselves. Beauchamp was collecting stories about the Old West. Everybody told stories about William Munny. But at the very end, we got to see the _real_ bloodthirsty gunfighter of the Old West: unprincipled, cold, and off the leash.

One of the best westerns hands down. Clint cut his teeth in “Rawhide” & then learned/refined while under the direction of Sergio Leone in the Spaghetti Westerns. His performance in “The Outlaw Josey Wales” is one of my favorites. If y’all do some more westerns, give that one a look & add “Once Upon a Time in the West “ which I think is the best of western themed films. Great reaction guys, really enjoyed your commentary.

The finale wasn't so much the other people being bad at shooting. It was what Little Bill told the author; it isn't easy to kill someone, especially in a hurry. The most important thing isn't speed, it is keeping a cool head and doing it right.

The kid was trying to build a reputation, like most teens want street cred. That's why he was making up stories about himself. Everybody was making up stories except William Munny who was the real Angel of Death.

The gag where Beauchamp says he’s a writer and the first thing people assume is that he writes letters, never stops being funny 😂 My favorite western. Check out The Outlaw Josey Wales and High Plains Drifter for more great Eastwood westerns beyond the Dollars Trilogy

The deputies didn't have terrible aim per se. They were all "rattled" because they realized who Will really was and Will was shooting back, just like how Little Bill explained to the Duck's biographer how it ain't so easy to just kill a man.

I've seen 50 reactions to this movie, you're the first to comment when he takes his first drink of whiskey and know there's a butt kicking on its way.

This character is the finish of the arc of the gunslinger that Clint Eastwood envisioned. It's where the lifestyle of Josey Wales, Blondie and the man with no name leads too. remorse, regret and trauma. A victim of his choices as much as the people he brutalized and killed. If I were to suggest and order to watch Clint Eastwood's movies, this and Pale Rider would be the last two.

To me this film is always been about what it takes to kill a man - and there are only a few who really can. Mr. Beauchamp is us as the audience idolizing these killers without really understanding them (I mean the traditional Western films gunslingers)

Note: Eastwood produced & directed UNFORGIVEN. Eastwood won the Oscar for Best Picture & Best Director for UNFORGIVEN. Additionally, Gene Hackman (Little Bill) was awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Great reaction guys! This is one of my favorite Eastwood movies! Clint has made an amazing amount of westerns throughout his career where the characters he plays are sensationized. As most westerns were. Even in this movie the writer was making over the top stories. These novels were actually written this way back in the old west to glorify gun fighting. That's probably why the kid acted the way he did! In this movie Clint gives a glimpse of what it was probably actually like in that time! Really enjoyed watching you both react to this!

Sheriffs often "were" like the heads of gangs, like the Earp brothers. Revisionists would say that men like Beauchamp created the romanticized version of the sheriffs/gunslingers, whereas this is the way they really were. For counterpoint you should watch something like High Noon.

Now you need to watch "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Grand Torino", Both are great Eastwood staring films that he also directed. His "spaghetti western" trilogy was classic and his character of a 70s cop, Dirty Harry, is epic. Good reaction.

The characters were more believable in this movie than the average western in the way that very few were eager to be involved in firearm confrontations! Great job guys!

the best of the revisionist/realist Westerns. Little Bill and English Bob in the jail was among the best scenes on screen. Especially Bill talking about "Two Gun Corcoron."

What Will says over and over throughout the whole first part of the movie, how he’s not that evil bad guy anymore, how his wife changed him and he’s no longer like that…to me it’s as if he’s trying to convince himself of that just as much as others. In the end when he goes back to drinking you can see that he really is that evil bad person everyone told stories about. When he started drinking his true nature came back in a flash.

The Spencer rifle Ned has did load from the rear buttstock. It has a tube with a spring that pushed the next round forward. Other companies used other methods to load. The discussion between W.W. and little Bill about 2 fun Cochran, built says he carried a walker Colt. That is one of the earliest revolving pistols made. Colt patent firearms made a 31 caliber Patterson that sold fairly well. The Texas rangers bought every one they could find but it was severely flawed. They sent a ranger to find Samuel Colt and offer suggestions for a better pistol. The walker Colt was 6 shot 44 caliber. It used a charge of powder double what previous parts used and they requested that it be heavy. That seems counter intuitive but, once they fired all 6 rounds in a fight, they could grab it by the barrel and use it as a club. Until about the past 20 years, the walker Colt was arguably the most powerful handgun ever made. As for little Bill actions, you have to remember at that time there weren't always real courts in many areas. Some areas has a circuit judge that ride from town to town on a schedule. Those cases that were actually tried sometimes might require that you be in jail for months waiting. There was a serious concern that local town folks might attack the jail, remove the prisoner and hang them. So turn Marshalls on the frontier actually acted as judge and jury. Loved the reaction as usual. I read somewhere that Eastwood tried to loosely tie this movie to his movie "the outlaw Josey whales". I greatly encourage you both to please do more Westerns. True grit, stage coach, the searchers are just a few.

I think Clint Eastwood also wrote the music played at the end of the movie. A man of many talents.

Clint won Best Director for this Movie, His first Oscar. It was really a deep story and Complicated brings up a great conversation...Each character had a different morality and a very blurred line of Good Vs Bad..This was another great reaction.

"it's a wonderful life" Best Christmas movie of all time!

They aren't bad at shooting They are rushing like Bill describes to Beauchamp Munny is calm and takes his time

That's what a lot Eastwood films are where he plays an Anti-hero. It all started with Fistful of Dollars.

When Ned was killed, Will embraced his inner darkness. He had refused alcohol until he was informed of Ned's death. That's why the movie is named Unforgiven.

It’s not that they were all bad shots, it’s that they were panicked, like Little Bill had talked about earlier

When you’re ready for a REALLY good modern Western, Open Range.

The Schofield Kid was motivated to collect the reward so that he could buy “spectacles and fancy clothes,” as explained by Will Munny.

this movie is so under rated, such a great western

No, they weren't "all really bad shots." They were just panicked, and had nerves of mush, while Will had nerves of steel. So they were trying to be fastest, and missing, while he didn't care about being fastest, and slowly and methodically hit his targets. This was explained earlier in the movie, when Little Bill explained to Beauchamp how calmness matters more than speed.

In the scene where they're in the jailhouse and Little Bill hands W.W. Beauchamp the gun, the first round wasn't chambered. So it would have taken him 2 shots to let off the 1st round. Little Bill was confident he could draw fast enough to beat the 2nd shot.

Little Bill's house is an important metaphor for his character. He's a famous and experienced lawman with a history of working tough frontier towns. As those areas become "tame", he moves westward to the next area to impose law and order. He is trying to build civilization, and he has the skills but they are imperfect and so, like his house, it all ends up crooked and leaky. He's a fascinating antagonist because he's always *mostly* right. The whores want both of the cowboys lynched immediately, something that would have been illegal, and then insist on a whipping (also illegal). He resists the demand for frontier justice, but then rather than arrest the men and hold a trial he seeks a quick and "civilized" resolution which sets the next chain of events in motion. This is flipped on its head later in the film when Ned is captured. He has a murder suspect in custody and, in his zeal to bring the killers to justice, forgoes a civilized approach and flogs Ned for the information. It's easy to miss, but it's clear from Silky's description that Little Bill didn't mean to kill Ned. Again, ever the "imperfect carpenter", he loses his temper and makes the situation worse. The whores are sympathetic, but bear in mind they are hiring murderers to kill a man who is guilty of maiming, not murder or rape. They also want his friend (who did nothing) murdered. The people who respond to the bounty are all there purely for the money. English Bob is a professional killer, working for the railroads shooting Chinese workers. When Will and the Kid recount the exaggerated story about how Delilah was cut up, they're trying to justify taking the bounty as some moral thing but it rings hollow. It's really about the $1000. Will and Ned aren't just former run-of-the-mill villains. It's clear from their conversations that they were savage SOBs in the past and this is really brought home in the final act. Little Bill recognizes Will's name and notorious reputation and Will admits to killing women and children. Notice how calm and casual he is about killing everyone in the saloon, including shooting Fatty (who is running away) in the back and nonchalantly executing a wounded deputy. These are reminiscent of how Little Bill described English Bob at the Blue Bottle Saloon. Anyway, great reaction to one of my favorite movies and sorry to blather on!

36:10 This movie was preparing us for this scene in terms of realistic behavior in a group shooting, and Little Bill explained this to that writer, which is that you need to be calm and concentrated when you draw your gun to shoot accurately, William threw his rifle as a diversion and calmly drew his gun being sure of himself (and the alcohol probably helped him in his way), as other cowboys were in too much of a hurry to draw their guns because of fear of getting killed, and that's why a lot of them missed because they were caught off guard and too much in a hurry.

It is not as easy as you might think to hit something with a pistol. Most people just point them in the general direction of the target and start shooting, not really paying attention to where the short barrel is pointing. The guy who takes the extra second to aim each shot has a clear advantage. Rifles are different, it is harder to ignore where the longer barrel is pointing, and there is better accuracy.

This is such an amazing, sobering masterpiece, especially if you grew up on a diet of spaghetti westerns, like those that made Clint Eastwood a star, Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy. Clint has made A LOT of great films, it's hard to single one out. Here's my feeble try, though, in no particular order: "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (western) "In the Line of Fire" (thriller) "The Bridges of Madison County" (romantic drama) "Gran Torino" (drama) "Space Cowboys" (space adventure - not kidding; it's a fun ride) BTW, We all know the actress Frances Fisher, who plays the prostitute Strawberry Alice, as Holden's mother in "The Expanse". Ty tells a fun story about her in ep 009 of 'Ty and that Guy', and there's a short clip from it titled "Expanse BTS Frances Fisher Stories from the Set", in case you're interested. I don't dare putting the link in here, I've had RU-vid eat my comments alive for that in the past. Great reaction, guys!

So, the Western film genre falls into to categories. The Traditional Westerns date back to the early days of the industry -- the 1920s and 1930s -- and showed an idealized mythical version of the American West, filled with bloodthirsty savages, hardworking pioneer families, and the stern, brave gunmen who protected them (sometimes with a badge, and sometimes without). The greatest star of that type of Western films was, of course, John Wayne. For examples of his best, see the films, "Red River", "Stagecoach" (1939), and "Rio Bravo." By the 1960s, when the Baby Boomers had started to question everything, film-makers answered (in part) with the "Revisionist Westerns." Those took a less idealized (but equally mythical) look at the Old West. The characters frequently stood in the grayer areas of morality, and the violence was often terrifying and delivered with tremendous cruelty. The "Ideal" characters, in those films, were the ruthless and awesomely skilled bounty hunters and others who had a foot on either side of the line between good and bad. Clint Eastwood, here, is the greatest star of Revisionist Westerns, and the "Dollars Trilogy" directed by Sergio Leone, which you guys plan to see, made him into that icon. Other films he made himself, using directorial skills he learned from Leone, have kept him at the apex of that genre for 60 years. This film, on the other hand, masterfully deconstructs *both* Traditional Westerns and their darker, Revisionist cousins. Beauchamp, the writer, represents all the script-writers and film-makers who made the movies about the West into myths, instead of histories. Little Bill represents the grotesquely inadequate version of "law" supposedly enforced by the old sheriffs and marshals, sometimes in brutal ways. Little Bill's carpentry reflects his understanding of justice, and the "house" (society...) he wanted to build could never stand. The Schofield Kid, of course, represents all the fans who flocked to the theaters to see all those films, through all those years. They blinded themselves to the true nature of life in the frontier, and if confronted with the brutal reality, they'd just fall to pieces. The prostitutes represent all the stories of all the women those old Westerns *never ever* told. Most women in the Old West spent their entire lives as chattel to their husbands; pregnant almost continuously between the ages of 15 and 50 -- or just dead from the combination of privation and childbirth difficulties. Prostitution was one of the few ways women had, back then, to achieve some sort of financial independence -- but they had to make themselves vulnerable to the sometimes-violent excesses of stupid drunken men, while the distaste "honest folk" felt for such "fallen women" meant they had no legal protections against anything anybody wanted to do to them. The fact that this film so masterfully holds up such a clear, dark mirror to what was, at the time six decades of mythologizing and idealizing, makes it my favorite Western film of all time. As much as I like the Sergio Leone films (and even John Wayne skirted close to revisionist Westerns, with the outstanding film, "The Searchers" and the classic, "True Grit), they can't really compare to this masterpiece. It won four Academy Awards, and earned every one of them. Watch it again, on your own, after you see the Sergio Leone "Dollars Trilogy," and perhaps even some of the John Wayne Westerns I mentioned. You'll like "Unforgiven" even more.

This movie is made to be a response to generations of countless westerns.... the real weight of evil... and reckoning with your past.

Most people were so nervous in a gun fight, that aim, and timing went out the window. Few had the ability to throw caution to the wind, and focus.

It's not so much all the guys in the saloon were bad shots as they were scared, nervous and shakey. They weren't used to being in a situation like that especially against someone of William's reputation.

High Plains Drifter is my favorite Eastwood western. Unforgiven is a diamond of a western considering when it was made.

The fact that they miss is actually consistent with the rest of the film. Most people in a gun fight are going to be useless. They are not trained and they are panicking in a life and death situation. The movie is a subversion on the western because it’s playing on the bravado of these western characters when in reality they were mostly tall tales. Many of them were only in a scuffle or near someone else who got shot.

This great Western won the Oscar for Best Film of 1993.

Like that you guys picked up on the subtle drinking by Will, when he finds out Ned was killed. Sets a shift in tone and in Will.

Disney should come out with a sequel "Unforgiven 2: The Duck of Death"

I love how Will keeps saying he isn’t like that anymore but is like Popeye eating spinach when he drinks that whisky. Summon the angel of death? Just need a bottle of hootch

It's not unrealistic that all the men in the saloon missed will at close range -- shooting is harder than most people think, and handguns are the hardest guns to shoot accurately. And it's well documented from real world shootings that accuracy can drop by as much as half during an actual gunfight, as your body dumps a chemical cocktail in your bloodstream to cope with the fear and stress, and all your fine motor skills go away. And as noted in the movie by Little Bill, guys who are panicked and hurrying too much will tend to miss. As for the rifle that loaded through the butt stock.... That's a Spencer carbine. Introduced in 1860, it was one of the very first metallic cartridge repeating rifles, and it loaded seven rounds into a magazine tube located in the butt. During the American Civil War, these were issued to Union cavalry, and some were issued the Blakeslee cartridge box, which held up to six read-loaded tubes of seven cartridges each. This gave troopers so armed a huge advantage over Confederate soldiers armed with muzzle loaders that could only fire about three rounds per minute.

I always like to detect if a reactor notices when he starts drinking again

I like the very end. He took the money and (probably) went west to San Francisco with his kids and started a dry goods business, having buried his monster. We assume that Ned was a helluva good shot with his Spencer rifle, and that he had enough kills to his name, but being an assassin was difficult for him.

Little Bill was not nearly as bad as the movie portrays him. That's the interesting angle here. What do you think it took to keep a town peaceful in those parts back then? Everybody he dealt with was a criminal in this film, and they paid for it. In the end he was killed by a ruthless murderer while trying to organize a posse to go apprehend hired killers.

Imagine the love that he had for his wife to effect those changes. Wow! All men know that a woman wants nothing as much as the power to change a man.

Gene Hackman was also in the western "The Quick and the Dead."

My take on it was that Ned also couldn't shoot or kill when sober.

Thank you for the reaction to this great film!

The Outlaw Josey Wales is another good one by Clint

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Really great western, really long title, has a scene where two men empty their pistols when they're standing 6 ft away from each other. Supposed to be accurate, except in real life, they were standing on opposite ends of a kitchen table. It can happen. You should check it out, haven't seen a reaction to that one yet. Great reaction, thank you.

This is a totally realistic, authentic, grownup Western, unlike his earlier Spaghetti Westerns like the Dollar Trilogy. Don't compare the 2 genres. 👍

double Oscar for Eastwood, Director , Best Picture ; Hackman for supporting and Cox Editing. Eastwood lost ( robbed of) best actor to Pacino for his annoying ( overrated imo) performance in Scent of a Woman

The women received 0 compensation for what happened to her... So the guy who didn't do anything wrong. He tried to show kindness.

Neurons that wire together, fire together like chewing gum and kicking ass. Except, here it was alcohol and murder.

Gene Hackman was dirty on that movie straight up SOB . He was great on The French Connection . You guys are in for a treat. This movie is bad asf

It's an excellent movie. I think in so many violent movies, men kill other men easily. This one however, examines the question, what does it really take to kill a man.

Just because they carried a weapon didn’t mean they knew how to shoot properly.

masterpiece , top 10 movies all time including the classics

So let me get this straight: it was _just the tip_ of the iceberg?

All of them are really bad at shooting in the final scene because they are panicking and missing - like Little Bill was telling the biographer earlier in the movie, the man who takes their time and aims with reason will win, because the others are hurrying and miss, like little bill himself did against Will.

Those men never shot at a man before and they lost their Nerves. Police in shootouts can fire 30 Plus rounds and hit the person like 4 times.

This is a great western and I enjoyed your reaction. Another one you might like is Silverado.

The bald guy looks like claymation, and sounds like Kermit the frog. He can't control the volume of his voice either.🤣

One of the girls had $240. That's like $7,000 today. The $1,000 bounty woud be $30,000 today.

last scene...bad at shooting because they were scared shitless

the one young cowbow didnt cut the lady at all

For those of us that grew up watching (traditional) Westerns, Unforgiven was amazing. It broke the mold. It injected shades of grey into what was normally presented in black & white. The characters & situations were much more human & real. Example: Perfect shooting is pretty rare in real life, compared to in stories/movies, just like what Bill was telling WW. Then the movie ended with the Clint Eastwood that we were expecting when we bought our tickets. If you explore more Eastwood films from before this one, consider revisiting Unforgiven after. I think you two will have a different appreciation for it. Still, you did seem to be able to enjoy it more than most people who didn't grow up with Eastwood films & (stereotypical) Westerns. Aside: I've taken a little break from The Expanse reactions while I focus on a few other things (including the dirty dishes that come to visit too often). I plan to get back to The Expanse, especially looking forward to seeing you see more of Amos's story.

You would be surprised at how many people cannot shoot while under duress, even at short range. Hurried shots, poor firearm maintenance and alcohol is a bad combination for the untrained shooter.

Once upon time in the west staring Charles Bronson & Henry Fonda you won't regret it new sub btw

i'm doing a compilation for the end scene (shootout at greely's). do you still have that unedited footage?

Damn good western. Damn good reaction.

For me this movie is about moral ambiguity. There are no "good guys" in this film.

The movie is a critique of the American myth of the West and the "good" man who brings civilization through violence. (Think Murty, S4 Expanse...) The Kid didn't set out after the cowboys for money; he did it because he believed, like a lot (a looooot) of Americans that him killing people will be okay because he's the good guy. He deserves fame and fortune and of course he will emerge triumphant because the good guys always win. ...Welcome to why America _really_ has a gun problem.

$1000 back then is the equivalent to nearly $39,500 today....

If your looking for another great western to react to might I suggest Open Range starring Robert Duvall and Kevin Cosner.

Pale Rider. Or High Plains Drifter

On first watching I didn't catch the significance of the 3 days that Munny was "dead" - is it a play on the story of Christ's death and resurrection, where Ned is punished with a crucifixon and Munny is reborn, but instead of coming back to life to save humanity, he was coming back to bring revenge to sinners. Not be an angel but an angel of death?

A horse back then was a big deal. If you stole someone's horse you could be hung.

Well i guess they had it coming. We all have it coming kid.

Too Soon! ..if no Clint-films EWAR!?? On Topic' He was lucky in the end...happens...

tnks from brazil , im subscribe u welcome

Embellish the story..........Old party trick. Write down a story just 1 paragraph with detail. Have about 10 people or more in a line. Whisper the story to the first one. Then have them whisper it to the next and so on. Have the last on tell the story. See how different the start. Read he original back to them all. Be amazed how much the story will change.

Subbed, check out The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint.

You guys completely dismissed everything Little Bill said about a gunfight. They all missed because they were shitscared and in a hurry. "William Munny did it right."

No 1st chamber was missing Bob would of killed him only 5 rounds fell

You guys either edited out or talked over all the best parts of this movie.

You guys talk over all the good lines..Jess is more sometimes

This is not a comedy, guys. Try to give a little respect & attention to quality & art, yeah?

The gun that little bill offered to give english bob, that english bob tutned down. It only had 5 bullets in it. With one chamber empty. So it wouldnt have fired if english bob would have taken it and tried to shoot little bill.

I think the point was that when it comes down to a shoot out some men dont have it in them and shoot wildly or freeze up...will munny slowly pointed and killed with deadshots

"The kid" just wanted money to buy some glasses so he could see.

oooooohhhhyes

There all scared he’s not that’s all it was