Unforgiven
Movie, 1992, The '90s, Set in Big Whiskey, Wyoming
Unforgiven is #24 of 34 in release order and #21 of 34 in chronological order in the Westerns.
The story
William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.
Unforgiven recap
Unforgiven (1992) follows William Munny, a retired killer turned struggling pig farmer, who takes one more job for a bounty offered by prostitutes. Clint Eastwood directs and plays Munny. In 1880, in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, a cowboy slashes the face of Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson), and Sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman) only fines him in horses. Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher) and the other women pool $1,000 for whoever kills him and his partner. In Kansas, the widowed Munny, who quit drinking for his late wife, is recruited by the boastful young Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett) and brings his old partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman). Little Bill has already beaten and expelled English Bob (Richard Harris), a gunman who came for the bounty, in front of a dime novelist. Feverish, Munny is beaten too. The three kill the first cowboy, and Ned, unable to fire, heads home. The film stands alone; a Japanese remake followed in 2013.
Unforgiven ending explained
Unforgiven ends with Munny killing Little Bill and his deputies in the saloon after learning Ned was whipped to death and displayed outside. The Kid, shaken after killing the second cowboy in an outhouse, gives up the gun. Munny takes up whiskey again and shoots the saloon owner and Little Bill, who protests that he does not deserve to die. A closing title says Munny moved with his children to San Francisco. Eastwood dedicated the film to Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Unforgiven
Unforgiven is streaming on fuboTV, Philo, and YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 96%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Dances with Wolves, before Tombstone.
- Chronological order: after Dances with Wolves, before Tombstone.
Cast
- Clint Eastwood as William Munny
- Gene Hackman as 'Little' Bill Daggett
- Morgan Freeman as Ned Logan
- Jaimz Woolvett as The Schofield Kid
- Richard Harris as English Bob
- Saul Rubinek as W.W. Beauchamp
- Frances Fisher as Strawberry Alice
- Anna Thomson as Delilah Fitzgerald
- David Mucci as Quick Mike
- Rob Campbell as Davey Bunting
- Anthony James as Skinny Dubois
- Tara Frederick as Little Sue
Directed by Clint Eastwood.