Better than Unforgiven. A true classic (spoiler free movie review)

Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2011)

I watched this movie on the suggestion of a friend before reading the vile and vitriol filled comments about it here on IMDb. And boy , did I like it. It was an amazing movie to say the least. Completely actioned packed and amazingly emotional. More than you can ask from a western.
In fact I think this is the best western I've ever seen, and I rate it ahead of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Unforgiven. Don't get me wrong... the above two movies were beautiful. but the former one was a bit too long for my taste and I couldn't connect to the characters in it as much as I did here while the later didn't have much action to make it a real classic. While 3:10 to Yuma has all the ingredients to make it a classic. The haters mainly contend that this movie has too many corny and unbelievable elements. Well, yeah, you might die after taking that first gunshot in real life, but in movies there's always that chance that you survive and live to walk the next day. That's what makes it a movie. I mean, Isn't the number one ranked movie Shawshank redemption (also one of my favourites) based on impossible events too?. So are almost all other movies. So haters, get real, we're talking about movies here. Also many of the points they address are pretty lame, but I am not going to speak of it here, as I want to keep this review, spoiler free.
Movies are made to be enjoyed not to reflect real life. If you want that, then go and watch some documentaries for heaven's sake. Also I think as much as this movie is concerned, because of the initial pre and post release hype it was getting, some people just have taken it as a personal crusade to bad-mouth this movie and are waging a personal vendetta against it. Maybe this movie is just too good for them. So, please don't let the haters spoil this movie for you. This movie succeeds in every level that a movie should succeed in: acting although not brilliant is certainly not slacky and is praise worthy (although Russel Crowe didn't reach gladiator level's of perfection in my eye, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman and Ben Foster where more than amazing), the action sequences were incredible throughout and the imagery was excellent, overall the direction was pretty good, but more than anything I felt this movie was able to connect with me, the audience. And despite what the naysayers tell, I absolutely loved the ending. I thought it was what the movie deserved, as it shows that we can all be heroes, no matter what.
So, all said and done, go and watch it. This might indeed be the best western you will ever see.