The actor discussed his feelings about violent cinema during his appearance on fellow actor Brett Goldstein's "Films To Be Buried With" podcast ... saying he thinks the senseless violence in film cheapens each death and downplays human life in general.

Macy says, "I swear to God, you kill one person, there's nothing more dramatic than that. You kill 18 people, it's just porn. The only thing you can do to make that more dramatic is kill 18 more."

Basically, Macy's saying he's not above a well-timed death ... but, spilling blood just to shock the audience ain't cool with the venerated character actor.

William claims he's lost work by only signing on to projects with realistic violence ... and, he's looking to practice what he preaches in a new Western he's hoping to direct with his daughter Sophia.

Macy says the script started out with nearly a dozen dead within the first few pages ... but, he talked producers into bringing a little more reality back to the film genre by showing how violence really affects people, as opposed to just writing them off as dead and gone.

It may come as a shock to some to hear Macy's out on violence ... 'cause he's made some very violent films in his time. "Air Force One," "Fargo," "Boogie Nights," and "Spartan" all have a fair amount of violence in them ... and a lot of his characters have been killed!