Unforgiven

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Lennie Niehaus scores. Joel Cox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Grossed $159M — a 11.1× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Some legends will never be forgotten. Some wrongs can never be forgiven.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0105695 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 15 themes, including "prostitute", "sheriff", "right and justice", "regret".
• 10Released under 20 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Jack N. Green

Original score

Lennie Niehaus

Editing

Joel Cox

Production design

Henry Bumstead

Makeup / hair

Iloe Flewelling

Sound

Rick Alexander

Runtime

130 min · 2h 10m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$14,400,000

Box office

$159,157,447

Return

1105% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Unforgiven (1992) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

96% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

85/100

IMDB rating

8.2/10 · 465,109 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Clint Eastwood

• 
  Gran Torino

  2008 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Million Dollar Baby

  2004 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Mystic River

  2003 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Bridges of Madison County

  1995 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Changeling

  2008 · ★ 7.6
• 
  A Perfect World

  1993 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Little Bill Beats English Bob

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  I'm Here to Kill You, Little Bill

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Clint Eastwood Wins Best Directing: 1993 Oscars

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Unforgiven Wins Film Editing: 1993 Oscars

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Ain't No Time To Quit

  Clip · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• redTed2015-01-21
  ★ 10/10

  Quite easily the finest western ever made and very close to the greatest film ever made. It won loads of Oscars and other film awards in 1993, but it still should have won more. Talk about a man at his peak ? This has Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, Morgan Freeman and virtual rookie, Jaimz Woolvett as The Schofield Kid, all putting in magnificent, career defining performances. Not to mention the bit players who all add to this stunningly captivating film. Weak points ? There are none. Every frame is a gem. It has plenty of dark humour. A few touching moments where you would think it wasn't possible. Sadistic and brutal fight scenes and then it has Clint Eastwood riding into town for the final terrifying, yet totally satisfying, showdown. How Al Pacino (The Scent of a Woman) beat Clint to Best Actor in 1993 is a mystery of modern times. Right up there with how The Shawshank Redemption didn't win anything of note in '95 but is now regarded as possibly the greatest film of all time by many people.

  Read full review ↓
• John Chard2019-02-07
  ★ 10/10

  That's right. I'm just a fella now. I ain't no different than anyone else no more. William Munny (Clint Eastwood taking the lead and directing the piece) is an old and retired gunman whose past misdemeanours would make the devil himself seem tame. Widowed and struggling to raise his two children on a paltry farm, he's tempted out of retirement for one last pay dirt job, the consequence of which provides violence - both physically and of the soul. Clint Eastwood signed off from the Western genre with this magnificent 1992 picture, the appropriation and irony of which is in itself a majestic point of reference. After the script had been knocking around for nigh on twenty years (written by Blade Runner scribe David Webb Peoples), Eastwood seized the opportunity to play William Munney and lay bare the mythologies of the Wild West. What is most amazing about Unforgiven's screenplay is how we the audience are firmly on Munney's side, we are, incredibly, influenced by Eastwood's part in the history of the Western. In spite of Munney's obvious murky past (despicable crimes they be), we wait (and hope) for Munney to make a quip and way-lay the bad guys - actually, salivating at the prospect is probably closer to the truth. So it's with enormous credit that Eastwood, and his magnificent cast and crew, manage to fuddle all our respective perceptions of the West and the characters we ourselves have aged with. It's not for nothing that W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) is the critical character that nobody expected. Beauchamp is a writer of penny pulpy novels that tell of derring-do heroics, gunslingers with a glint in their eye and death dealt like an heroic encore, this gives Unforgiven an excellent sleight of hand, for this West is grim and a destroyer of all illusions. Eastwood is greatly served by the actors around him, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman (winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for a script he turned down many years before!), Rubinek, Frances Fisher, Anna Thomson, Jaimz Woolvett and an incredible cameo from Richard Harris. Along with Hackman's win for his brutally tough portrayal of Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett, Unforgiven also won Oscars for Eastwood for his clinically tight direction, Best Picture, Best Editing and it was nominated for in another five categories. One of those nominations was for Jack Green's cinematography, which now, in this age of High Definition enhanced cinema, can be seen in all its wonderful glory. The Alberta location is magically transformed into the Western frontier, with the orange and brown hues a real treat for the eyes. Ultimately, though, Unforgiven is a lesson in brilliant film making, across the board it works so well, why? Well because the man at the helm knows this genre so well, having been its sole flag bearer for practically 25 years, and learning from his peers, Eastwood has crafted a thematically complex piece that for all its violence, debunking and melancholy pulse beats, is a film that is as beautiful as it is most assuredly stark, an incredible and true highlight of modern day cinema. 10/10

  Read full review ↓
• John Chard2019-02-09
  ★ 10/10

  That's right. I'm just a fella now. I ain't no different than anyone else no more. William Munny (Clint Eastwood taking the lead and directing the piece) is an old and retired gunman whose past misdemeanours would make the devil himself seem tame. Widowed and struggling to raise his two children on a paltry farm, he's tempted out of retirement for one last pay dirt job, the consequence of which provides violence - both physically and of the soul. Clint Eastwood signed off from the Western genre with this magnificent 1992 picture, the appropriation and irony of which is in itself a majestic point of reference. After the script had been knocking around for nigh on twenty years (written by Blade Runner scribe David Webb Peoples), Eastwood seized the opportunity to play William Munney and lay bare the mythologies of the Wild West. It's striking that the makers here have lured us in to being firmly on Munney's side, we are, incredibly, influenced by Eastwood's part in the history of the Western. In spite of Munney's obvious murky past (despicable crimes they be), we wait (and hope) for Munney to make a quip and way lay the bad guys - in fact salivating at the prospect is probably closer to the truth. So it's with enormous credit that Eastwood, and his magnificent cast and crew, manage to fuddle all our respective perceptions of the West and the characters we ourselves have aged with. It's not for nothing that W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) is one of the critical characters on show, this even though we didn't expect that to be the case. Beauchamp is a writer of penny pulpy novels that tell of derring-do heroics, gunslingers with a glint in their eye who deal death as some sort of heroic encore. This gives Unforgiven an excellent sleight of hand, for this West is grim and a destroyer of all illusions and it's not controversial to say that this is indeed a good thing. Eastwood is greatly served by the actors around him, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman (winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for a script he turned down many years before!), Rubinek, Frances Fisher, Anna Thomson, Jaimz Woolvett and an incredible cameo from Richard Harris. Along with Hackman's win for his brutally tough portrayal of Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett, Unforgiven also won Oscars for Eastwood for his clinically tight direction, Best Picture, Best Editing and it was nominated in another five categories. One of those nominations was for Jack Green's cinematography, which now, in this age of High Definition enhanced cinema, can be seen in all its wonderful glory. The Alberta location is magically transformed into the Western frontier, with the orange and brown hues a real treat for the eyes. Ultimately though, Unforgiven is a lesson in adroit film making, where across the board it works so well. Why? Well because the man at the helm knows this genre inside out, he was after all the sole flag bearer for practically 25 years. He learnt from his peers, and thus Eastwood has crafted a thematically complex piece that for all its violence, debunking and melancholy pulse beats, is a film that is as beautiful as it is most assuredly stark. An incredible and true highlight of modern day cinema, regardless of being a genre fan or not. 10/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

• 

  Malpaso Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerClint Eastwood
• Executive ProducerDavid Valdes
• Production DesignHenry Bumstead
• Art DirectionAdrian Gorton
• Set DecorationJanice Blackie-Goodine
• EditorJoel Cox
• CastingPhyllis Huffman
• Art DirectionRick Roberts
• Production AccountantMichael Maurer
• StuntsGeorge Orrison
• Hair Department HeadIloe Flewelling
• Makeup Department HeadMichael Hancock
• HairstylistCarol Pershing
• Makeup ArtistStan Edmonds
• Unit ManagerLynne Bespflug
• Production ManagerBob Gray
• Production ManagerDavid Valdes
• Special Effects CoordinatorJohn Frazier
• Special EffectsMaurice Routly
• Special EffectsPaul Healy
• StuntsAlex Green
• CastingStuart Aikins
• CastingLorelei Kuchera
• Assistant EditorMichael Cipriano

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• prostitute
• sheriff
• right and justice
• regret
• wyoming, usa
• kansas, usa
• revenge
• mutilation
• one last job
• reputation
• 19th century
• englishman
• somber
• pig farmer
• excited

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1992-08-03· Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical1992-08-07R
• Physical2017-05-16R· 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Also known as

International titles

• 殺無赦HK
• The Cut Whore KillingsUS
• The William Munny KillingsUS
• Los imperdonablesAR
• НепростимоBG
• ImpitoyableCH
• NesmiritelníCZ
• De nådesløseDK
• ArmutuEE
• Sin perdónES
• Οι ασυγχώρητοιGR
• NepomirljiviHR
• Nincs bocsánatHU
• 용서받지 못한 자KR
• НепрощенийUA