Unforgiven (1992) (Remastered)

[brian9229]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Yeah. It's wise to overlook the supposed message about gun control in order to fully enjoy Unforgiven.

(Apparently, people who want there to be no gun ownership and therefore significantly reduced risk of gun violence are just about as bad as people who want all the guns and want everybody to be shooting at each other all the time. And communists too.)

It helps that it makes absolutely no sense on those terms and therefore easy to disavow.

Clint and Morgan's characters are supposedly wise and responsible enough to own and use guns, but wind up killing men because the misogynist sheriff didn't give the girl that they disfigured any justice. And it winds up getting Morgan killed himself.

Hackman's character isn't a sadistic misogynist because he's pro gun control or vice versa.

There isn't any coherent suggestion that less gun control in Big Whiskey would have made things any better for the people that lived there.

It's a @$#&! Western dude!!

[Martoto]

Originally Posted by brian9229

It's a @$#&! Western dude!!

Tell that to Clint.

He has stated explicitly that he thought it was useful to remind people that gun control can be a kind of tyranny, by making the sheriff who hates gunmen a tyrannical sadist and all the rest.

He was annoyed at some state politician whose gun control policy got up his nose around that time.

Like I said. If you ignore that stated intent and some of the incongruities it throws up, the movie is wonderful.

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Most people on my sci-fi forums say these exact words about DVD. "They look great on my setup! Who cares about BD?" At the end of the day we all have our "good enough" point I guess. I'll tell ya though, I was saying much the same thing a year ago but after you see a lot of UHDs you become a true believer. Even for catalog movies like Ghostbusters it makes for a very nice upgrade.

People often like to enhance the situation of not having something (including intelligence) as some kind of virtue. Even on here you see people climbing over themselves to announce that they've immediately sold their extant copy of a film in anticipation of a better release announced for the near future. And even boasting that they got rid of the old one without any notification of an upgrade "I'm so glad I sold my etc, etc, etc....."

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Tell that to Clint.

He has stated explicitly that he thought it was useful to remind people that gun control can be a kind of tyranny, by making the sheriff who hates gunmen a tyrannical sadist and all the rest.

He was annoyed at some state politician whose gun control policy got up his nose around that time.

Like I said. If you ignore that stated intent and some of the incongruities it throws up, the movie is wonderful.

This is the first time EVER that I see Unforgiven absurdly reduced to being a pro-gun piece of propaganda, instead of being the sobering, melancholy re-assessment of the gunslinger mythos that has garnered enduring praise for over 20 years.

[The Prowler]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

This is the first time EVER that I see Unforgiven absurdly reduced to being a pro-gun piece of propaganda, instead of being the sobering, melancholy re-assessment of the gunslinger mythos that has garnered enduring praise for over 20 years.

"Kid's fulla shit"

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

This is the first time EVER that I see Unforgiven absurdly reduced to being a pro-gun piece of propaganda, instead of being the sobering, melancholy re-assessment of the gunslinger mythos that has garnered enduring praise for over 20 years.

Despite being a Republican who's played a lot of gun-toting characters, Clint has often spoke in favour of certain gun control measures. I think he's one of those guys who is okay with guns as long as they're not in the "wrong hands" - he's certainly no Ted Nugent. So it would seem odd that he would make a film with that sort of message.

[Trekkie313]

Lots of towns in the 'wild' west had no gun ordinances. I took more offense to the sheriff being overly uptight and displaying dead bodies than his lack of guns.

Clint hasn't been a Republican for decades BTW.

[HD Goofnut]

Struck out at Wal-Mart, but I did confirm that they are getting this next Tuesday.

[Pieter V]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Struck out at Wal-Mart, but I did confirm that they are getting this next Tuesday.

Shame. Was waiting on your screenshots. Hopefully the Blu-ray.com review is soon up.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

This is the first time EVER that I see Unforgiven absurdly reduced to being a pro-gun piece of propaganda, instead of being the sobering, melancholy re-assessment of the gunslinger mythos that has garnered enduring praise for over 20 years.

First of all, I love Unforgiven, it's a great movie. It might be my second favorite western ever after McCabe & Mrs. Miller. But you are in flat out denial if you don't think it has a pro gun message.

The whole character of Little Bill is the EPITOME of the flawed pro-gun argument constantly used about how Hitler, Mao and other dictators didn't allow the people to posses guns while owning plenty of guns themselves, and why therefore gun control is equivalent to a watered down dictatorship.

[David A.]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

First of all, I love Unforgiven, it's a great movie. It might be my second favorite western ever after McCabe & Mrs. Miller. But you are in flat out denial if you don't think it has a pro gun message.

The whole character of Little Bill is the EPITOME of the flawed pro-gun argument constantly used about how Hitler, Mao and other dictators didn't allow the people to posses guns while owning plenty of guns themselves, and why therefore gun control is equivalent to a watered down dictatorship.

I don't know. William Munny killed women, children and lawmen while in drunken haze when he was younger. Ned and English Bob were also felons and the Kid was half blind, firing in all directions, without a care for proper muzzle awareness. Even the NRA would say none of these people should be allowed to own a gun!

[Martoto]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

This is the first time EVER that I see Unforgiven absurdly reduced to being a pro-gun piece of propaganda, instead of being the sobering, melancholy re-assessment of the gunslinger mythos that has garnered enduring praise for over 20 years.

Blame Clint. Not me.

There's no need to defend the quality of the film to me in spite of this. The film is much bigger and better than this aspect.

Ask yourself though, if little Bill's prohibition of possession of firearms was not part of the film, and he was simply a sadistic Sheriff who despised amateurs, bounty-hunters etc, what difference would it make to the film?