The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

John Chard

2016-05-08

⭐ 9

I'm looking for the owner of that horse. He's tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar, and he's a pig! It's debatable of course, since there are legions of fans of the first two films in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trology, but with each film there not only came a longer running time, but also a rise in quality - debatable of course! Here for the third and final part of the trilogy, Leone adds Eli Wallach to the established pairing of Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood, and brings all his tools of the trade to the party. Plot is slight, the three principals are on a collision course to find some buried…

Sergio Leone's <i>The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly</i> is a classic Western film. Clint Eastwood is the Good, aka the Man with No Name, a taciturn wanderer who follows his own sense of justice. His opposite is Angel Eyes (Lee van Cleef), the Bad, a brutal mercenary who kills anyone who stands in the way of making ready cash. The film's comic relief is Tuco (Eli Wallach), the Ugly, a Mexican bandit wanted in several states who ends up inadvertently doing some good turns. At the height of the Civil War, as Union and Confederate armies battle each other in the West, these three men vie for an aban…

Peter McGinn

2020-10-19

⭐ 10

I am not a fan of Sergio Leone. In fact, this movie and Once Upon a Time in the West are the only movies of his that I have seen. But I think they are both classic westerns. He seems to bring out the best in his cinematographer, both for scenery and for his characters. In one review I read, he was criticized for staying with facial close-ups too long, and I would probably agree if he populated his movies with beautiful actors and actresses as many films do, but he relies heavily upon actors with interesting faces. Sometimes I feel he relies on too many shootings, and on having his gunfig…

DrewBlack

2021-02-11

⭐ 10

There is one word to define The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And that word is “transcendent”. This movie is not only the pinnacle of the Spaghetti Western, but it transcended into the pinnacle of the Western genre in itself. It’s safe to say it transcends that too, and can be considered one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking ever. It counts with memorable performances by three different leads, a story that breaks the “black and white” concepts of morale, and an original score that can only be defined by the word “epic”. Directed by the man responsible for the revitalization of the western…

JPV852

2021-04-24

⭐ 8

Solid western, which generally isn't a favorite genre of mine, with great performances and some well shot scenes and landscapes. Been a long time since I saw A Fistful of Dollars or For a Few Dollars More, but this is a great entry in the "Man With No Name" Trilogy. **4.0/5**

r96sk

2022-01-10

⭐ 8

Very good no doubt about it, even if I feel it's an odd fitting third installment of the Dollars trilogy. In case this review sounds negative at any point, I wanna explicitly state for the avoidance of any doubt that <em>'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'</em> is very good! Any cons noted are relative. I just feel like it's a drop-off from the brilliant double of <em>'A Fistful of Dollars'</em> and <em>'For a Few Dollars More'</em>. The near 3hr run time is one of the reasons, though the pacing is actually pretty good in fairness. I guess it's more so the plot, which is filled with an Amer…

drystyx

2023-04-18

⭐ 3

Not as bad as the other Leone Westerns. Still, that is not saying much at all. At 3/10, this is better than his totally ridiculous ones. It's still a dull movie with non credible one dimensional characters who have no motivation for a single thing they do. Three homicidal maniacs who are called good, bad, and ugly, but really they're all just bad and ugly. Eli Wallach steals the show. I think most people agree with me on that, and for some people he saves the show, but I need better writing, and more "credible characters in incredible circumstances" than we get with Leone. Blondie (Eastw…

Filipe Manuel Neto

2023-06-04

⭐ 10

**One of the best, most famous and most iconic Westerns ever. More than a classic, it's mandatory.** I'm not an expert nor do I want to sound like one, but I think this is one of the most famous western films ever made, despite being shot by an Italian director and being more European than American. Sérgio Leone was one of the most notable directors of his time and he left us, in this film, one of his masterpieces. This is one of those movies that is almost perfect. Problems and failures are scarce and reside in minimal details that end up not making a big difference in the overall work.…

CinemaSerf

2024-09-02

⭐ 8

People tended to treat Sergio Leone's work with a considerable degree of disdain, but watching this in 2020 it is still amongst the very best of the genre. A good-looking, calculating Clint Eastwood ("The Good"), is the itinerant bounty hunter who has an uneasy partnership with a scene-stealing Eli Wallach ("The Ugly) to trick the local authorities of the reward money due for his capture before escaping and dividing the spoils. After a bit of duplicity that rather erodes what little trust there ever was between them - and some very timely cannon fire - they happen upon a recently robbed stagec…

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk. 70% (ish) This is the third in a so-called ‘trilogy’, a framing which I expressed doubts about in my review for the second in the sequence, “For a few dollars more”. So, from my perspective it’s a matter of complete indifference as to how many in this ‘trilogy’ you see and in what order you watch them. That being said, if you watch all three films you will observe the tropes that are common to this ‘trilogy’. In this one the plot concerns three men on the make who end up chasing a fortune in gold during the American Civil War (American history is…

Dr_Nostromo

2026-04-20

⭐ 10

97/100 Amidst the US Civil War, an assassin, a bounty hunter, and a bandit are on a collision course to obtain a box of gold. Simply the best Western ever made ...except possibly another Sergio Leone classic, "Once Upon a Time in the West" - still not sure which one I like better. The characters are fully formed and a delight to watch, the story is a complex and grand adventure, the dialogue is humorous and quotable, and the direction and cinematography are unparalleled. If you haven't seen this film, you've missed a huge piece of cinematic history. -- DrNostromo.com