Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘Unforgiven’?
Unforgiven

Unforgiven (1992)

tomatometer

97

Average Rating: 8.5/10
Reviews Counted: 58
Fresh: 56 | Rotten: 2

As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

82

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 2

As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

audience

91

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 103,998

My Rating

Movie Info

Dedicated to his mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar-winner examines the mythic violence of the Western, taking on the ghosts of his own star past. Disgusted by Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett's decree that several ponies make up for a cowhand's slashing a whore's face, Big Whiskey prostitutes, led by fierce Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher), take justice into their own hands and put a $1000 bounty on the lives of the perpetrators. Notorious outlaw-turned-hog farmer

R, 2 hr. 11 min.

Western, Drama

David Peoples

Mar 26, 1997

Warner Bros. Pictures

Unforgiven Trailer & Photos

More Trailers and Videos (3)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Unforgiven

All Critics (58) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (2) | DVD (34)

Eastwood's meditation on age, repute, courage, heroism -- on all those burdens he has been carrying with such good grace for decades.

October 26, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of Unforgiven's assets is the way it overturns conventions, taking the man who is typically the hero and making him the villain, while transforming the traditional bad guy into a sympathetic protagonist.

June 10, 2008 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A classic Western for the ages.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's not much dramatic urgency apart from the revisionist context.

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (23)
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Unforgiven is a most entertaining western that pays homage to the great tradition of movie westerns while surreptitiously expressing a certain amount of skepticism.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

That implacable moral balance, in which good eventually silences evil, is at the heart of the Western, and Eastwood is not shy about saying so.

August 3, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comments (6)
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The great Orson Welles once stated that Clint Eastwood was the most underrated filmmaker in America, and the sobering footnote is that he passed away in 1985, well before Eastwood began to be taken seriously as an artist by most critics and moviegoers.

April 25, 2012 Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | Comment
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

The film at its heart is the first in a line of revisionist superhero movies.

April 18, 2012 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Eastwood's best film -- a compelling study of the shame and guilt that attends violence, of the rule of the mighty over the weak and of courage and cowardice.

September 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | Comment
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer

Violent Oscar winner shatters myths of the Old West.

July 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Renee Schonfeld
Common Sense Media

Unforgiven began Clint Eastwood's current apology tour for his cinematic violence.

May 1, 2009 Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | Comment
Christian Toto
What Would Toto Watch?

Arguably the greatest western since Sam Peckinpah hung up his stirrups.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment
Film4 Source: Film4

Ironically, the ultimate Western of all was made decades after its hayday. This is captivating for all, not just fans of the genre.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine

A rigorous deconstruction of both fictitious violence and Eastwood's own career as a trigger-happy 'hero.'

July 25, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Unforgiven feels authentic, and for a Western there's no greater compliment.

April 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
James Plath
Movie Metropolis

Dark and somber in thematics and visuals, this Western is a personal work for Eastwood, in which he desconstructs his own mythic violent image, one that made him a star in the 1960s.

December 19, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

In this dark, timeless terrain, the film achieves a magnificent intensity.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
Geoff Andrew
Time Out Source: Time Out

...a delicate yet brutal balance of real West versus reel West. (20th Anniversary Blu-ray Book edition)

May 15, 2006 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

A complex and haunting Old-West morality tale...Thanks Clint, for once again making my day.

March 3, 2006 Comment
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Unforgiven

View All

One of the best westerns of all time. Hands down.

March 29, 2012
Graham Jones
Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

An ex-gunslinger comes out of retirement to collect the bounty on a pair of cowpokes who disfigured a young prostitute. Clint Eastwood directs and stars in a deconstruction of the myth of the old west that examines the kind of man who would exist in a society which provides mean drunks and arrogant, prideful boys with

October 29, 2006
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

Unforgiven Quotes

View All

    1. Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett: Well sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch. You just shot an unarmed man.
    2. Bill Munny: He should have armed himself....... if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend.
    – Submitted by Alex M (44 days ago)
    1. Bill Munny: Who's the fellow owns this shit hole?
    – Submitted by Alex M (44 days ago)
    1. Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett: I'll see you in hell.
    2. Bill Munny: Yeah.
    – Submitted by Scott G (3 months ago)
    1. Bill Munny: It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away everything he's got and everything he's ever gonna have.
    – Submitted by Todd C (3 months ago)
    1. Bill Munny: All right, I'm coming out! Any man I see out there, I'm gonna kill him! Any sonofabitch takes a shot at me.. I'm not only gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill his wife, all his friends, and burn his damn house down!
    – Submitted by Robert M (4 months ago)

DVD

Top Rentals

93% Mission: Impossible Ghost Protoc...
29% The Vow
87% The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
29% Underworld Awakening
85% Chronicle
More…

New On DVD This Week

85% Chronicle
78% The Grey
7% The Devil Inside
2% One for the Money
76% Rampart
More…

Movies Like Unforgiven

3:10 to Yuma
True Grit
The Outlaw Josey Wales
View All

Latest News for Unforgiven

June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was...

May 23, 2005:
Time Magazine Names the Top 100 Movies Ever Made
Time Magazine film critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel have put together a list of the...

View All

What's Hot On RT

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

The Grey, Chronicle, Albert Nobbs

Summer Movie Guide
Summer Movie Guide

One hub, one place for reviews, list, pics!

Gangster Squad
Gangster Squad

Check out the trailer for this L.A. noir!

Argo
Argo

See the trailer for Affleck's latest.

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 21,734 taken
created 15 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 52,774 taken
created 18 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 32,027 taken
created 18 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 32,639 taken
created 18 months ago

Movie News

View All

Featured on RT

Comments

Top Headlines

Fresh Links

Summer Movie Predictions
Summer Movie Predictions External Link
 HitFix goes over who will rule the multiplex this Summer.
Catch Up with <em>The Avengers</em>
Catch Up with The Avengers External Link
 Take a look back at how we've arrived at this weekend's release.
9 Ridiculous Hollywood Bans
9 Ridiculous Hollywood Bans External Link
 Moviefone explores the now laughable Dos and Dont's prescribed by the MPAA circa 1927.
Superhero Movies on Netflix
Superhero Movies on Netflix External Link
 Need to get into a heroic mood for The Avengers? Here are 10 superhero flicks you can find on Instant Watching!
Wicked Smart Actors
Wicked Smart Actors External Link
 In observance of Spring Break, TIME looks back at a class of actors who showed real star power in the classroom.
Follow RT on Twitter!
Follow RT on Twitter! External Link
 Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!

Foreign Titles

  • Erbarmungslos (DE)
  • Impitoyable (FR)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile
Copyright © Flixster, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service | Ad Choices
In partnership with TMZ.com