Jack Methews of the Los Angeles Times described Unforgiven as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 The Searchers." Richard Corliss in Time wrote that the film was "Eastwood's meditation on age, repute, courage, heroism—on all those burdens he has been carrying with such grace for decades." Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert criticized the work, though the latter gave it a positive vote, for being too long and having too many superfluous characters (such as Harris' English Bob, who enters and leaves without meeting the protagonists). Despite his initial reservations, Ebert eventually included the film in his "The Great Movies" list.
jack methews of the los angeles times described unforgiven as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps john ford's 1956 the searchers" richard corliss in time wrote that the film was "eastwood's meditation on age repute courage heroism—on all those burdens he has been carrying with such grace for decades" gene siskel and roger ebert criticized the work though the latter gave it a positive vote for being too long and having too many superfluous characters (such as harris' english bob who enters and leaves without meeting the protagonists) despite his initial reservations ebert eventually included the film in his "the great movies" list