Unforgiven
on DVD
By Jim Bray
Finally, a version of Unforgiven that does justice to both the movie
and the DVD medium!
Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is rightfully lauded as one of the
best Westerns (no hotel chain plug intended) in recent years, but the
original DVD release was a terrible example of transferring a movie onto
the new digital format. The picture quality was, to be blunt, lousy compared
with the format’s potential; I don’t remember how the sound
was, so it was probably pretty ordinary too, else it would probably have
stuck out in my mind.
But now, Warner Brothers has re-released this classic movie on DVD and
given it the treatment it deserves. What we end up with is an excellent
package that will please Eastwood fans and movie collectors/aficionados
alike.
Unforgiven was a multiple Oscar-winner for 1992, copping among other
awards Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor - and that
ain’t bad!
Eastwood plays William Munny, who years ago was a vicious gunslinger
of the worst possible variety. But he fell in love with a good woman and
she changed his ways until, when we first see him in the movie, he’s
a loving father (a widower, alas) working his tush off on their homestead
to make ends meet - but he's clearly not very good at what he does.
Then along comes a gunfighter-wannabe, the Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett),
who’s heard about a thousand dollar bounty being offered for whoever
brings to frontier justice the men responsible for disfiguring a prostitute
in the town of Big Whiskey. Munny really needs the money, since he’s
such a lousy farmer, so he enlists the help of his old friend Ned Logan
(Morgan Freeman) to help him and they all head for Big Whiskey to do the
dastardly deed and then get back to their lives again.
Naturally, it isn’t as easy as they think when heading off for
the job. Eastwood’s and Freeman’s characters have aged and
matured, and are no longer the gunslingers they used to be - while the
Schofield Kid turns out to be a fraud. Eastwood's Munny, in fact, is so
out of it he has trouble merely mounting his horse.
Add to that the fact that Big Whiskey is ruled with an iron fist by vicious
sheriff “little Bill Daggett” (Gene Hackman, who won a well-deserved
Oscar for his incredible portrayal), and the trio’s work is cut
out for it.
How vicious is Daggett? We get to see that in a brutal sequence where
he shows famed gunfighter “English Bob” (Richard Harris) just
how gun toting visitors are dealt with in Big Whiskey. Daggett is vile,
violent, and ruthless - when his deputies are around, which seems to be
just about any time when he isn’t working on his house’s construction.
Shortly after English Bob is run out of town, Munny and his partners
arrive and the cycle of violence begins again. But this time it’s
different, and some life-changing - or attitude-changing - events happen.
Unforgiven may be argued as Eastwood’s masterpiece, a violent and
vicious western in which the viciousness and violence isn’t there
for its gratuitousness but for the larger points it makes about these
people and humanity in general. It’s a wonderful movie, though not
a pleasant one, and it deserves to be seen. Eastwood’s direction
of David Webb Peoples’ screenplay is inspired, as are the performances.
And we must self-indulgently mention how glorious and gorgeous the locations
are since, other than the train scenes, Unforgiven was shot within an
hour or so of where this publication is headquartered in the foothills
of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. Eastwood, his production designer
and cinematographer did this lovely area justice.
It’s a first rate DVD, too, with a new anamorphic widescreen digital
transfer that brings new life to this movie, with wonderfully rich colors
and sharp images. And the audio soundtrack, presented in Dolby Digital
5.1 surround, is also excellent. Not only is the fidelity very good, but
they’ve made wonderful use of the surround channels, especially
during the scenes where weather effects make their presence known with
thunder that rolls around the room and rain that envelops you and makes
you feel really closed in, cold and miserable.
The two disc set also contains an abundance of extras. Disc one, besides
the movie, contains a feature-length commentary by Time Magazine’s
movie guy Richard Schickel, who proves on disc two that he’s more
than just a typical pundit. There are also film highlights from Eastwood’s
career, a list of awards and the trailer.
Disc Two includes four documentaries, all of which are well worth enjoying.
The best is Schickel’s “Eastwood on Eastwood,” a 1997
career retrospective made with Eastwood playing host to his own career.
There’s also a very interesting “Making of Unforgiven”
feature as well as “On accounta pullin’ a trigger" and
1992’s “Eastwood… A star.”
It’s all meaty stuff and gives terrific insight not only into movie
making itself but Eastwood’s long and varied career as well.
And as if that isn’t enough, you also get a classic episode of
the old TV series Maverick (“Duel at Sundown”) in which Eastwood
was guest star.
If you were justifiably disappointed in the first DVD release of Unforgiven,
this one should leave a better taste in your mouth.
Unforgiven, the Special Edition, from Warner Home Video
131 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby
Digital 5.1 surround,
Starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Produced by Clint Eastwood
Written by David Webb Peoples, Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think
