Unforgiven

Told you I'd be eating my words.

Now obviously to compare Tombstone and Unforgiven is difficult and unfair, they are two very different movies with very different qualities to appreciate. And it's not really the film you would expect when reading a synopsis of the plot, with an aging gunslinger teaming up with his old partner and a young man to essentially kill two cowboys who cut up a woman of the oldest profession in the world. It sounds like a revenge plot, and well you all know how I feel about revenge. You'd expect a good deal of action, some chases, typical actiony kind of stuff with a big climax and a happy resolution. That is far, far from what you get. Unforgiven is a western movie that takes it's time, has discussions, and actually severely looks down on any gunplay. Hell I have to give a lot of respect and have a lot of admiration for the film to have that kind of message. Every one of our main characters has a solid moment where they fully emotionally express their desire not to kill anyone. And for those people who didn't like the movie because of the deglorifying opinion on guns, and the lack of action well then you missed the point entirely of the story. All the acting here is very good, you could almost say it's understated. With Clint being an outlaw who has been out of the saddle for years and can't even shoot that well or wants no part of any bad deeds is not only appreciated for the uniqueness but just how he plays this part, very reserved and you can see a lot of the history and pain of the character on his face. Gene Hackman has one of the most morally grey characters in cinema, because he's a lawman who's trying to keep order in a town and you see kind of a retirement angle with him building a house and being up there in age, and yet he really abuses his power and beats the shit out of people. But he's not a ruthless guy, it's such a hard character to pin but he plays it wonderfully. Morgan Freeman, spoiler alert, is great and honestly has the second best bit of acting in this movie, again in correlation with how he feels about guns and killing. The movie is a bit slow until you meet his character then you get more invested and engaged. Jaimz Woolvett has the best piece of acting in the film near the end, and again he doesn't play this bastard shooter, he talks a big game and could be seen as bloodthirsty but how the events of the film play out it doesn't show a single character in a positive light. It's not a morbid, highly depressing, or even just a bit of a downer film, it makes you think. I mean really think about the choices and fallout if you ever pull a trigger, and I'm not honestly surprised that the same person who wrote this film also wrote Blade Runner, introspective and thoughtful writing is something he is damn good at. Now I said awhiles back that Once Upon A Time In The West is my favorite western ever, and Unforgiven is mighty close to that. The writing is spot on, the shots in this movie regarding scenery is unbelievable, the cast is excellent, it's so worth the time to watch. 4 stars, 8.5/10, see you later on down the road this Friday.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Yeah, this isn't actually the original Superman II, this is the Richard Donner cut, who was the director of the first movie, so this is how the movie should have been. I think it's the better version.



Almost every aspect of Superman The Movie has been upgraded significantly for the sequel. It seems like this movie is even bolder and more impactful than the first. The stakes are higher this time round, because now Superman has to fight three other Kryptonians with the same powers as he does and has to stop them from taking over the world. But there is a bit more than that going on in this movie, a lot of which I can't talk about because I don't want to spoil the movie. I honestly think all the actors are better in this movie than the first, Christopher Reeve gives us so much more depth and complexity as Superman, Margot Kidder is even better than she was in the first movie making Lois have sheer moments of genius in this movie, Gene Hackman still does great as Lex Luthor but he's mostly just in the background and used for comedy, but they make up for that with Terence Stamp as General Zod! This is seriously one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in a superhero movie, Terence Stamp's interpretation of Zod is the stuff of legend, and when people talk about General Zod they mean this guy. His performance is both very subdued and quiet and also over the top and absolutely insane, but the insane bits don't happen much but when they do, oh man is it great! He portrays Zod as this sort of bored aristocrat, who doesn't even question his superpowers, and is so full of himself it's beautiful. I could quote him all day. Best part of the movie hands down for me. I seriously recommend you buy this version of Superman II and not the original. There's not much wrong with the original, it's just that this version is superior and I think just better holds up because it's made by the same director as the first movie. If you can find this version of Superman II by all means buy it, I do not think you will be disappointed with it and you can judge for yourself if you consider this to be better than the first movie.



So that's it for this review, tomorrow we talk about the Superman reboot that divided the world.

Superman The Movie

You will believe that a man can fly...


Superman The Movie is one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. When you think of Superman, this is probably the Superman you think of. This movie is just fantastic, everything is done just right. The special effects are amazing and still quite groundbreaking even though the movie is almost 40 years old. Yeah this movie came out in 1978, and honestly you can't really tell. The movie is mostly timeless, and I say mostly because...the fashion just screams 1970's and there is a bit of 70's terminology used in it, but if you can look past that then, yeah this movie is timeless. Everyone is perfectly cast in this movie, Christopher Reeve IS Superman he's not even acting he is just really Superman, Margot Kidder is a fantastic Lois Lane in this movie and is very true to the comics of that time, Gene Hackman is brilliant as Lex Luthor to the point where the only other competition for best Lex Luthor is either Clancy Brown who does the voice of Lex Luthor in various cartoons and video games or Michael Rosenbaum who plays Lex in Smallville, then we got Marlon Brando as Superman's father Jor-El who is very memorable in this movie and gives a lot of wisdom to Superman to help him become better, and finally we have Terence Stamp...as General Zod. I am going to have a field day tomorrow when I review Superman 2 because General Zod is unbelievably awesome in that movie! But one movie at a time. This movie is surprisingly funny a lot, almost every major and minor character has a good laugh in this movie, which really just shows that superhero movies back then were not so dark and serious as they are today. I mean yes, there is some serious and heavy moments in this movie, so it's not really a comedy but it's just very funny at times. I'm being serious, it is because of this movie that I incorporated the word 'swell' into my vocabulary. But getting back on track, the music, what can I say? It's unbelievably great! Do I even have to mention the Superman theme? John Williams gives one of his best scores in this movie. Like, probably the most well remembered scene in the movie where Superman flies with Lois over New York City, the music is absolutely beautiful and I love it to death. Listen to this soundtrack! This film is amazing, if you have not seen the Superman movie go see it now. If you have seen it, it's time to see it again. You owe it to yourself to see one of the best superhero movies of all time! I am not lying, I had no respect for the Man Of Tomorrow until I heard about the new Superman movie and I played Lego Batman 2 because that had Superman in it and I gained so much love and respect for the character, I immediately went out and bought the first two Superman movies. I regret nothing.

So that is my review of the first Superman movie. Check in tomorrow for my review of the second film.