The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Leone's typically boundless western genius is imbued with a unique composition of shots, a phenomenal soundtrack and completely filigree work with dynamics and tension, which culminates in the final triple duel. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has all the essential features of a spaghetti western, including the occasional drag and epic breadth that borders on madness. But this gold digger road movie also enchants through its slow pace, with the gourmet care through which it clings to detail, and the delicate mosaic. In my opinion, one of the best directed and set-to-music films of all time. A magical affair. (04/06/2007)

Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach... Add Van Cleef's villain, a first-rate bastard, and you've almost got everything. Which scene from this western of all westerns to pick as the best? For me it is definitely Tuco's running between the graves accompanied by the song “The Ecstasy of Gold".... Something like this could not be made (and composed) by man, but rather by God. The best western of all time and perhaps the second best film of all time after Lawrence of Arabia.__P.S. "Comedy" is noticeably missing from the genres here. (18/09/2007)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is not only a perfect conclusion to The Dollars Trilogy, but it is also an absolute gem of film history. Every aspect of this epic film is phenomenal, with each viewing as unique to me as the first and you just can’t argue with the claim that it is perhaps the best movie of all time. (18/10/2018)

I don't feel competent to claim that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best film of its genre. I haven't seen that many westerns and, to be honest, modern anti-westerns like Dead Man or Dances with Wolves resonate with me more. Nevertheless, it is definitely a very entertaining and high-quality film. I don't really care for the western genre, and I have given five stars only to the absolute minimum of these films. The reason for the popularity of this film lies in the fact that Leone managed to make a film that appeals to everyone, which is rather rare in cinema. It is adventurous, thrilling, and very clever, as well as conveying an obvious anti-war message. It combines classic genre conventions with modern filmmaking elements, a traditionally excellent soundtrack, camera tricks, and occasional ventures into purely artistic waters. In certain moments, the film forgets itself and succumbs to genre clichés, such as the shootout with the Tuco's gang, where we see a traditional scene from B-movie westerns, where the hidden rifle shooter misses the gunslinger who shoots him from an unfavorable position with a quick draw. However, due to the overall lighthearted atmosphere, these few minor missteps easily fade away. Leone adeptly alternates the pace, combining genuinely humorous scenes with tragic ones, and, above all, relies on top-notch casting. The director always managed to choose actors who perfectly suited their roles, whether it was Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, or Eli Wallach. Overall impression: 90%. (25/03/2010)

An absolute pinnacle of filmmaking. And probably one of the works that had the biggest influence on me early on in my film development. I remember back then being hypnotized by the overlong images, the minimalist dialogue, the stylistic mannerisms on the small TV at my parents' cottage. I for the most part didn't know much about what any scene was about until now, and it didn't matter at all. Even a few minutes after watching it, the film feels a bit like a dream. Leone wasn't just rewriting western canons, he was writing general formal laws of the genre that are still in use to this day. And not just in film, but in comics and video games as well. The work with character attributes (Eastwood's casual attitude compared to Wallach's neurotic approach, Tuco's signature custom gun), the purely superficial building of iconic shots (the gunslingers slowly disappearing into the dust after the explosion), the naturalistic cynicism ("Sorry Shorty. "), or, for example, the seemingly pointless battle sequence, which in its perfectionist handling of extras and set pieces faithfully recalls wartime illustrations of the American Civil War. Superficial Mannerist cinematography at its finest. Coppola's attention to detail, Tarkovsky's patience, a pulp story. Plus some purely music video passages, of which this is the leader, quite understandably. (10/07/2021)