Anyone else think that it's Eastwoods' best?

No.  It's dark and highly derivative.

Eastwood's Western finest is in the spaghetti three.  I am particularly fond of the wry and semi-comical performance in "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

Eastwood's best tough guy is, of course, Dirty Harry.

Go ahead. Make my day.

RAWHIDE

nothing more to say

I think it was his best, yes. Followed by Pale Rider.

Nothin' says a western can't be dark.

I thought Peoples' script was very good, a fine meditation on violence, fame, and the role of the media in framing how we think about ourselves. It was an interesting take on the troubled-gunfighter-with-a-past genre that managed to break new ground. You might feel happy that Shane finally gives the evil cattle baron what he's got coming, but you don't feel that in the aftermath of "Unforgiven". Little Bill wasn't really an evil man, and Eastwood's character wasn't really a good one. You don't feel a sense of justice being vindicated when Eastwood kills those men in the saloon. (One of the great shootouts ever, btw. Watch it once, then go through it again frame-by-frame to see what's happening. Keep in mind Little Bill's earlier advice on gunfights.)

I loved the way Little Bill had his ego inflated by the dime novel writer. Little Bill eventually buys into the very myths he was debunking when the writer first came into town. "You just shot an unarmed man!" "Guess he should have armed himself."

I not a big Western fan, but I really liked Unforgiven. Clint did a great job of directing and acting on this one. I first saw this movie in the theater when it first came out. The cinematography was incredible. Some of the scenes just leap out at you. Watching it on TV just doesn't do it justice. I think it is  definitely  Clint's best work.

The Outlaw Josey Wales followed by High Plains Drifter.

don't really have a favorite but my favorite line is clints from good the bad and the ugly

"theres two kinds of men in this world, a man with a gun and a man who digs"

You feel lucky punk? Go ahead make my day.


Bob [8D]

Unforgiven is not only one of the best western movies ever, it is one of the best MOVIES ever.
Just an incredibly powerful movie...kicks you in the gut and just when you think you've recovered it kicks you even lower.
Just a great movie full of great performances...Gene Hackman is awesome, Eastwood is awesome.

I have to echo the sentiments of those who consider this a very moving and powerful film.

The last act (if that's the correct term) of the movie, starting with when Clint and the kid learn of Ned's death is the most moving in my opinion.  Watching the way in which Clint portrays his/William's old rageful nature surge to the surface while being informed of the details of Ned's demise, the cold efficiency with how he dispacthes the owner (can't remember the name) of Greely's, and how the viewer is finally treated to a glimpse at his gunfighting past during the gunfight are all spectacular.

My favorite scene, though, has to be when he's riding out of town after killing Little Bill and company.  The way the expression on the faces of the group of prostitutes communicate the shock of people already accustomed to dealing with ugly and vicious men yet who've someone far more extreme than who they've been dealing with is truly masterful.

The cinematography is great, as is the music score.  The emotions and thoughts evoked by the way the main characters wrestle with the internal moral battle concerning what they've set out to do, and the overall ambiguity of all the characters (as mcgredo mentioned) lend this movie far more ....gravitas (hehe)... than most other westerns.  

A very excellent film, worthy of all the oscars it won.  I own it on DVD, yet it is such a "heavy" movie to watch that I only get around to it when it happens spontaneously, such as saturday night on tv with nothing else worth watching on.

I thought Unforgiven kinda sucked as far as westerns go.  Not that much gunplay really.

The Outlaw Josey Whales is BY FAR his best western, followed by Pale Rider IMO.

"Paint Your Wagon" is one of his best
Along with Honkey Tonk Man and Outlaw Josey Whales. Also Heartbreak Ridge. His Italian westerns are good also. Damn really when I think about it he hasn't done any bad movies. Pink Cadillac was probably his worst flick and its tolerable.


Ben

I'm kinda partial to "A Fistful of Dollars" but "Unforgiven" is a very good movie.

Gotta go with "The Outlaw Josey Wales".  One of the best westerns ever made.  Also, shows people using percussion pistols that don't shoot 100 times without running out of ammo.