I recently watched Unforgiven
The movie was great. Officers will be impressed with the story and themes of justice, camaraderie, and vengeance that are present throughout the film.
But many movies have those elements. What makes this one unique is Eastwood’s effort to educate the audience on the realities of gunfighting. Usually Hollywood films promote unrealistic scenarios and results that defy physics and the normal dynamics of gunfights. This one breaks that mold.
As I watched the movie, I wrote down lessons that every officer could learn from it and how they realistically apply to us.
Gunfighting Lessons
Marksmanship and speed are not as important as keeping your head
Movie: There is a great scene where Gene Hackman’s character, the Sheriff, is explaining to a biographer that the biographer’s belief about what makes a great gunfighter is wrong.
Hackman as Sheriff: Look son, being a good shot and quick with a pistol don’t do no harm but it don’t mean much next to being cool headed. A man who will keep his head, not get rattled under fire, like as not will kill you.
Biographer: But if the other person is quicker and fires first…
Hackman: Then, he’ll be hurrying and he will miss.
(Hackman draws his pistol not extremely fast but smoothly.) That’s as fast as I can draw and aim and hit anything more than 10 feet away, other than a barn door.
Officer Reality: Firearms training at the range generally focuses on basic skills and drills that emphasize speed out the holster and accurate first shots. If that training is not followed up with realistic scenario training that incorporates shooting within the dynamics of a call, then most officers will not perform in reality like they did on the range. There are many videos of officers on actual shootings that miss multiple shots at close distances even though they are masters of speed and marksmanship at the range.
Bottom Line: If you don’t practice shooting under the stress of realistic scenarios, your marksmanship will desert you.
Just because they go down doesn’t mean they are dead
Movie: Even this movie falls prey to one shot kills at times, but at least some that go down attempt to get back up.
Officer Reality: An FBI study explains, “Barring central nervous system hits, there is no physiological reason for an individual to be incapacitated by even a fatal wound, until blood loss is sufficient to drop blood pressure and/or the brain is deprived of oxygen.” If they go down, assume they are still alive. Take cover and don’t approach until you have a sufficient number of people and a plan to do so safely. When you do approach, ALWAYS handcuff them.
Conversely, if you get shot, you are still in the fight. Don’t mentally check out and give your opponent the opportunity to finish you.
Killing a person is much harder than it looks
Movie: Hackman as Sheriff: It ain’t so easy to shoot a man anyhow, especially one that is shooting back at you. That will just flat rattle some folks.
Officer Reality: Internal controls are a stronger barrier to killing someone than almost any other. Those controls include your personal belief system, your experiences, your conscience, and your psychological state. A lot of officers talk a good game on this one, but every officer I know that has killed someone (about 20) has been affected at least somewhat by it. The resource to learn more about this is Dave Grossman’s book, On Killing
Handguns are not as effective as shoulder weapons
Movie: Eastwood’s character realizes he can’t shoot a pistol like he used to so he switches to the shotgun as his primary weapon.
Officer Reality: Officer’s handguns are primarily defensive weapons for unexpected attacks. Shooting a person with one is much more complex and difficult than with a shoulder weapon. Therefore, any officer who can anticipate a probable lethal attack should be armed with a shoulder weapon.
Equipment fails
Movie: Eastwood’s shotgun misfires at a critical moment. Instead of dropping it he throws it at the person trying to shoot him. That interferes with his opponent’s OODA Loop and his opponent instinctively ducks rather than firing. Meanwhile Eastwood uses the time he gained to transition to his handgun and shoot his opponent.
Officer Reality: Equipment can always fail. Don’t get stuck in your OODA loop but transition to an another weapon or clear the malfunction. Here are some malfunction drill videos that show how fast you can be if you practice.
Don’t fight with fair odds
Movie: When a deputy initially asks English Bob about turning in his firearms, the deputy lets him go rather than confront him. Then he gets all the other deputies before confronting him again. He uses an overwhelming force and picks the time and place for the confrontation.
Officer Reality: Sometimes we can not pick our battlefield but the experienced officer knows he can often buy time with deception until he has better odds of winning. When you do have time, make sure you are prepared with enough manpower and resources to overwhelm you opponent.
Violence is brutal
Movie: Throughout the movie, both good guys and bad guys intend to win and neither pulls any punches or shots.
Officer reality: It doesn’t matter if the violence is utilized on behalf of justice or not, it is still brutal. That fact is not apparent in many popular movies but it is in this one. Grossman captures this truth in his Sheepdog story, which should be required reading for new officers.
Luck
Movie Reality: Eastwood: I got lucky in the order (that I shot them). I’ve always been lucky in killing.
Officer Reality: Shootings are so dynamic and complex, luck always plays a part. But that is beyond the officer’s control. Officers should concentrate on what is in their control and be prepared.
My Favorite Part
For those that haven’t seen Unforgiven
Near the end of the movie watch for Eastwood and the kid stand near a tree outside the town. A woman will ride up and set up the final act. What follows is my favorite part of the movie and an example of the lessons listed above.
Other Great Movies by Eastwood
- Gran Torino
- The Dirty Harry Series (Dirty Harry / Magnum Force / The Enforcer / Sudden Impact / The Dead Pool)
- The Man with No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)
- Heartbreak Ridge
- In the Line of Fire
- Kelly’s Heroes
- Flags of Our Fathers
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Great article and great movie with lessons learned we can all utilize expanded upon here. Great observations Scott.
Fred
You know, I’ve thought the same things about that movie but never thought to post an article like this about it…good job.
Tom
I’ve never been a fan of westerns, but I loved that movie, and the fact that they showed how brutal it was, and the cost to Eastwood to have lived that way was the main reason why. It was how I always suspected it really was back then. They didn’t make the violence pretty. But it is fascinating to see someone parallel those points to real life like this. Excellent post.
Jules
Kudos to both Scott and SpartanCops for the work and points presented, it is a “Keeper”.
As a student of gunfighting, (former PD Rangemaster and SWAT Trainer-Operator), I can also recommend the Unforgiven after previously viewing it a few times, (and still enjoyed it again as a re-run a few weeks ago). Certain clips from this flick could be a valuable audio/visual training aid support in reality based firearm training, (including AirSoft/Marking cartridge scenarios).
Regarding “Killing a person is much harder than it looks”, I am sure it is. No one really knows how they will act until actually presented with the scenario. One of the dirty little secrets that experienced and enlightened Simulation Scenario’s and FATS type training instructors should know, is that while officers are pretty quick at defending themselves, some are too slow at defending others from a deadly force threat. Too many hesitate until the innocent is shot or attacked before they finally shoot the threat.
When professionals are truly “involved” in a training scenario, our minds do not discriminate the difference between the scenario and reality. When we warn someone repeatedly when action, and not words are called for, this is a training CLUE for remediation of some sort. REALITY based training is a revealing probable cause PREVIEW and predictor of how we may act in reality.
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