William Munny (Clint Eastwood) is a retired gunslinger that lives on a farm with his two children. Things are not going good for William. Upon hearing that there is a $500 reward for two cowboys who sliced up a whore, he reluctantly decides to go after the money, because he really needs it.
Along the way he hooks up with his friend Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), and the kid who told him about the reward for the two cowboys, Elroy Tate, who is nicknamed "The Schofield Kid."
William and company embark on a crusade to find the ones responsable for hurting the whore, and to collect the reward. While they do meet up with the men resposible, only one is killed; the other is injured.
Ned, not wanting to participate anymore, decides to go back home. Along the way, Ned is captured by the corrupt Sheriff and is interrogated about the whereabouts of William. He is eventually whipped and beaten to death. His body is put in a coffin on display along the main sidewalk of the town for all to see.
William learns of his friend's death and returns to the town to find the Sheriff and exact his brand of "Dirty Harry" justice on all responsable guilty parties.
Plot: 
In a way, Unforgiven is somewhat confusing towards the beginning of the movie, but it straightens itself out fairly well by the end.
Visual Effects:
Good. Up to par for a wester which usually doen't have many visual effects.
Sound:
Standard for a western.
Character Development:
Everyone is developed deeply in this western; most characters do go through big changes, like Ned and the Sheriff. (Death is a pretty big change I'd say.)
Atmosphere:
It's hard not to get involved in this flick; it's very moving right from the word go and by the end of it you just want to see that bastard Sheriff dead as the dodo.
It's one of those films where you are relived to say "Yes! He got that Son-of-a-bitch!"
Realism:
Unlike other westerns from the 1930's through the 1970's, Unforgiven tries to be, and succeeds remarkably well, to be realistic. It shows fairly well that most small western towns had Sheriffs who were not all Marshall Matt Dillon goody two-shoes save the day kinda guys. Yes, a lot of them were corrupt and could be bought off for the right price.
African Americans were indeed treated as slaves and were beaten and whipped to death. Prostitution was rampant as ever (moreso in the western states; every city and town had it's share of that problem), and men frequently died in gun-fights with the law. That was common place.
Where realism is concerned, Unforgiven hits the nail on the head.
Warren’s Rating:
Movies it beat out for Best Picture:
The Crying Game, (1992); A Few Good Men, (1992); Howards End, (1992); The Scent of a Woman, (1992)
8.00/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
17-04-03
Age at win: 63
Nominated for: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Sheriff Bill Dagget, Unforgiven
Nomination: 5/5 (acting), 5/5 (total); Win: 2nd
Gene Hackman is marvelous as the corrupt Sheriff Bill Dagget in Unforgiven. Throughout the film you see him for what he realy is: a bastard in a law man's clothing.
As with his other roles, Gene makes this one stand out; he is not the Mr. Nice I'll save you Sheriff; he's the worst kind of law scum there is, and he won't help out anyone but himself. Gene takes the character and makes him so that you just despise him every second he is on screen. You really, really hate him.
By the end of the film, during the final confrontation, you truely see the depth of Hacman's performance as it all comes out in the last finals scenes.
17-04-03
