I've always enjoyed Clint Eastwood movies and finally got around to watching Gran Torino last night. IMHO it's his best work ever. Agree? Disagree? If you disagree, which film would you rank as Clint's best?

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"Shall not be infringed"

I also just saw it on DVD, I don't know if I'd rank it as his best, I liked Million Dollar Baby & Unforgiven, but it's right up there. He's awesome as a director & actor, and this one had some of his best one liners since Hearbreak Ridge I thought.

Take care...

Agree very good movie. I think I still like Unforgiven better.... maybe.....no..... yes.....uhhhhh........OK ........I refuse to choose But Gran Torino is great

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SC Army National Guard

I liked it a lot, and got it from Netflix to watch again in Blu-Ray, but I don't consider its his best. I think he backed off a bit by not having his character use explicit trigger words for the black characters, and I saw the ending coming a mile away. Still, it was good to see Clint at the top of his game at nearly 80. I can't see him topping "Unforgiven", though.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I think its a 5 star movie! Clint Eastwood did a great job!

I still don't think he'll ever top "Dirty Harry" for pure entertainment value - I can almost recall every scene and line. What a masterpiece!

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

It was so good! His best? Man that's tough... he's had some good ones!

Back before I went off the BMT, I worked in a video store. I got 5 free rentals a week... not like I had the time for 5 a week, but still. It was pretty nice catching up on years of movies without having to pay for them... AND get the new DVDs a few weeks before their release.

My girlfriend's sister is looking for her first job, I'm trying to convince her to get a job at the same place... for my own selfish reasons!

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- The Federalist #46 -

You, sir, have your priorities in order!

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

Hahahaha! yes indeed...

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- The Federalist #46 -

After reading this thread I went and pulled it off the net. Thought it was excellent. One reason being that Clint is the force he is, he's able to green light a project, hold sway over the screenplay, hire exactly who he wants in the film, direct it without studio interference, and use his own veteran production people (Malpaso) to pull the whole thing together. In the hands of corporate weasels this movie could easily have degenerated into Death Wish VI.

"The outlaw Josey Wales"

That is a good one indeed.

I also like Kelly's Heros.

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SC Army National Guard

I haven't seen it yet, just the trailers.

While "Get off my lawn" may be good, its no "Do ya feel lucky punk? Well? Do ya?"

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Don't need no stinkin' sigline

Burn me if you want but I didn't like it at all. Actors were wooden, cliche'd and lifeless, including old Clint. Plot was very predictable. I liked most of Clint's work except this one.

Gran Torino is pretty darn good but I think "Unforgiven" is Clint's best.

I've seen it twice once in the theatre and last night on dvd. I think it is a beautifully crafted film. Some of the scenes seemed like carefully designed exquisite works of art. Eastwood's films over the years have had a running theme of the impact of psychological trauma on peoples lives and this one continues the theme . For a long time I thought he had to be a combat vet to portray these issues with the understanding and sensitivity he clearly has. After I saw it the first time I would be driving down the road and some of the lines from the film would pop into my head. I'm with the posters who think this is his best film.

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I like Ike.

Ah, just picked that movie up as a birthday gift... That was a super movie... sad at the end though. PS: Turning 30 stinks!!

Although I thought Gran Torino was a good movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales is my personal favorite.

I thought it was good. But, I didn't like the ending. Still an excellent flick though. I did come to realize how aged ole Clint has gotten. Man, it's gonna hurt bad when we lose him.

"Kelly's Heroes" with Clint and Telly Savales and Don Rickles.

It was the pinnacle of motion pictures.

Even though there haven't been any real "spoilers" posted here, if it doesn't end well, I ain't watching - I like movies with happy endings. Life itself can be sad/depressing enough. If I'm going to invest time and money in a movie, it darn well better make me feel better, not worse.

Speaking of, daughter brought home Valkyrie the other night ... geeze, there's about an hour and a half of my life wasted that I'll never get back!

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Don't need no stinkin' sigline

I like Clint's movies, and IMHO Unforgiven was his best. A couple of things about GranTorino that I found kind of disturbing were the suicide by gangsta ending, and also his self-denigration for getting the Silver Star in Korea. I dunno, I'm sure I'm reading more into it than what's needed, but the implied/subliminal message of heroic euthanasia for geezers rubs me the wrong way a bit. Also, I gotta believe that Dirty Harry woulda made sure that none of those gangstas ever got off on a judicial technicality. Guess I just like my celluloid fantasies that way. -S2

I thought it was OK but not great

Just finished watching Gran Torino. I don't know if it was Eastwood's best, but it was absolutely first class.

I immediately started identifying with the character. One of my dearest friends and role models when I was a teenager was a WWII and Korean War Marine vet that to me, "was" this character in the movie. The looks, the attitude, the values were all the same. My friend was a Marine fighter-bomber pilot. Like the character in the movie, he shared some of his moments of terror while in mortal combat.

Last Saturday I had a chance meeting with this old friend and he was very much in his declining days. I made a posting on the vet's thread that described this meeting.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/showthread.php?t=39857

These guys, like the character in this movie are leaving fast. They probably did more to enable the life that we have enjoyed, post 1945, than anyone and we owe them gratitude beyond measure.

I truly thank Clint Eastwood for directing and acting in this movie that may just show some people today what these guys were all about. We don't have another generation following them that are cut from the same cloth.

Bless'm all.

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G.P. Charlie

I thought the ending was good. I hate to give away endings but thnk back to his relationship to the church and then try to see how the ending ties in with Catholic forgiveness of sins, salvation and sacrifice.

I liked it also. Certainly one of his best and a lot of interesting parallels to the plot in John Wayne's The Shootist IMHO.

Bob

I just saw Gran Torino expecting more of an action flick based on the ads, but it turned out to be a drama. Gran Torino was a good movie, but my favorites would be The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider.

In a sense Walt's death can be seen as a suicide but I prefer to see it as dying an honorable death protecting his people. He was in a moral dilemna because after killing in Korea he was repulsed by the idea of killing again. His code of honor required him to stop the attacks on the Hmong's he had come to love so he had to come up with a strategy that would in all aspects respect his personal code of honor and still save his friends. I believe that on the battle field warriors are willing to die not for some abstract concept like democracy but for their friends. It is true that he could see the vultures ( his dysfunctional family ) circling and knew what he faced with lung cancer and while he may have welcomed an honorable death in combat he in fact did not pull the trigger himself. I have spent my entire life with men like Walt and agree with Gutpile Charlie about the gratitude we owe the WWII and Korean war veterans but I also have seen men and now women cut from the same cloth who have served since those wars.

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I like Ike.

XXXXXX

I highly diasgree. The only name in the movie was Clint, but that wasn't the movie.

It was very predictable and just plain boring. I've always like Clint's movies and was in a hurry to see this one. Very disappointed, buthen he is 105 years old now.

SC

A very good one indeed
How do you pick a "BEST ONE" from Mr. Eastwood
I like them all
CHUCK

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On The Santa Fe Trail

Exactly - very derivative. The shave, the suit, giving away a prized possession - straight out of "The Shootist."

The death scene has the most obvious crucifixion imagery since Willem Dafoe being shot in "Platoon."

I would not call it his best, or even one of his best. Not bad, but not great.

Gran Torino is a good movie but IMHO not his best. The first thing I said after I watched it was "That was different". The best way to describe it is 'different'. To me , Eastwood will always be Josey Wales. You can't improve on that.

My 2 cents.

Dan

Josey Wales is my favorite, followed by Kelly's Heroes, there are so many great ones.

But, I agree with G. Charlie. He portrayed a generation of our finest.

Walt reminded me of my dad, and I can give no more greater compliment. I don't have the education or the words to explain it, but G. Charlie understands.

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PC, censorship
with a smile.

A special 'thanks' to those who gave away the ending before I got to see the film.
.

Howdy,
It was OK. If I had to pick I'd take Bronco Billy over it. Maybe even the monkey movies.
It just wasn't my cup of tea.
Thanks
Mike

great movie,i was not expecting the ending
for me his best movie was "the outlaw josey wales"

I wish I hadn't read the entire thread.
I'll be watching it next week sometime.

Josey Wales and Pale Rider were great but I lean towards Heartbreak Ridge as the favorite.

Never saw the ape movies and am happy not to. I did like "Bronco Billy," though. A very under-rated film.

My wife liked GT more than I did.

I thought it was a great role for Eastwood as he is probably the only guy who could have pulled it off. I really likes the story and conflict between the old America vs. the New America.

Probably his best performance since Unforgiven. Eastwod still has it even at 78 years old.

Try "Dyin' aint much of a living boy."

I like just about all of Clint's films. Two that stand out and have not been mentioned here are Play Misty For Me and In the Line Of Fire. The man has such tremendous range and skill as an actor. Some of his lesser known work is also some of his best. Ever hear the story of the guy who wrote the screen play for In the Line of Fire? He gets a call one day from Eastwood, who wants to do the movie. The guy thinks his buddies are yanking him and doesn't believe it is really Eastwood on the phone. After a long conversation Clint finally convinces him him he is genuine and the rest, as they say is history. I would have liked to been on the line for that call.

Just finished watching it. Just.... Wow.

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Certified AR-15 / SIG Armorer.

It was OK...but definitely not his best, at least for my taste in Eastwood movies.

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'Merica!

GT doesn't even begin to hold a candle to Unforgiven unless you happen to be hopelessly sentimental about the state of things in the US today VS 50 years ago.

As always Clint was impeccable. But the Hmong characters were stiff and certainly not up to Clints subtle directing. You simply couldn't identify with the characters. So my guess was Clint had a poorcasting director. Beautiful, typical Eastwood ending.

Believe it or not this was the first Clint movie I ever saw in the theater. That plus the fact that I worked with many Asians over the years made it more interesting than usual to me. I really liked it but did not see that ending coming.

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Stan

"Get off my lawn."

I agree, and like the Shootist for John Wayne, this could be Clint's swansong movie.

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I won't ruin it for people who didn't see it...but I didn't like the ending...although I should have seen it coming.

This is not a movie that I could watch numerous times over the years....like, let's say...."Dirty Harry" or "Heartbreak Ridge".

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'Merica!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc8fjFfnJ9E

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SC Army National Guard

Kelly's Hero's . . . absolutely a cult classic and one of the best movies ever made.

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