Is Unforgiven the best western ever?

[DaveCinzano]

there was a rather spiffing poll on the best western periods, and another on the best clint movies - both gone less than a year old

 

[marty21]

there was a rather spiffing poll on the best western periods, and another on the best clint movies - both gone less than a year old

i was expecting a bump of that poll

 

[DaveCinzano]

i'm going on strike now. can't be arsed to post threads if they're going to get wasted for no good reason

 

[pilchardman]

What about the Good the bad & the ugly? Or A Few Dollars More? they're much better

They're very dull.

 

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

I thought 'Unforgiven' was a fine film to be sure, but felt it was more of a homage; a tribute; a deliberate re-enactment; a 'return to' Eastwood's golden Westerns rather than an equal to them. Too knowing, derivative and self-referential for that. '70s Westerns such as 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' and 'High Plains Drifter' seemed to be made with an element of seat-of-pants, rough-edged spontanaeity; 'Unforgiven' was too glossy and early-'90s-zeitgeisty for that. Less part of the fight than sitting out on the back porch in a rocking chair reliving battles past. What Go4's 'Return The Gift' is to 'Entertainment'.

I think the factor that separated the classic Westerns from 'Unforgiven' was Eastwood's '80s simultaneous descent into movie middle-age and ascent to Hollywood royalty, coupled with rather cannon-fodderish films such as 'Firefox' and 'Pink Cadillac'. He wasn't hungry anymore.

 

[spartacus mills]

Hang on, what about 'Once Upon a Time in the West'? It's a beaut'.