An absolutely beautiful, moving and grim depiction of the human condition as it existed in the American West in the 1800's. The performances of the entire cast as some of the best I've seen from all of the actors. Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike put in some of the best performances of their respective careers. The always fantastic Wes Studi, though not given a whole lot of dialog in this movie, made the most of it. After watching the behind the scenes features, the amount of care and attention to detail, even down to having Native American consultants to ensure accuracy with the two different cultures portrayed in the movie (Cheyenne and Comanche), is absolutely amazing. I am able to appreciate all it took to make this film that can truly stand on its own merits and not be a retread of something else that was done in the past.
This is a story, while grim, grisly and quite violent at points, that speaks to the heart of a man and what it takes to find forgiveness and redemption for the sins of the past. It puts on display how war breaks a man, how hate can corrupt a man and take him away from his humanity. One of the messages .... if we take the time to understand others and ultimately their culture, we can better understand ourselves. It also displays some of the atrocities against the Native Americans, which is horrendous and abhorrent to see. That is something that has a theme still running to this day, with them and also with other minorities in this country.
This is quite a long movie, but it held my interest for the entire time. The themes are a bit heavy, but the payoff at the end is well worth the long ride. Highly recommended.