The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Review.

Age Certificate: 18+ (BBFC)   Runtime: 2hr 58min

By Sam Coles:

Westerns are a genre not often explored in the modern cinema, mostly due to zeitgeist changes in the world of film. Anyway, during the 1960’s Westerns were absolutely everywhere first starting with American produced films starring the human equivalent of wood John Wayne. Westerns really got going when Italian film director Sergio Leone released a film in 1964 called A Fistful of Dollars, starring fresh faced and upcoming actor Clint Eastwood. What made this film a standout from the traditional clean American Westerns, was the gritty tone where people bled when they were shot and looked as if they have actually been in a fight. However, it wasn’t until 1966 when he would release his most iconic film, and that film was The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly starts off with a beautiful opening like Leone’s other films, with a great credit sequence sporting its iconic main theme coupled gun and cannon fire effects going off in the background. Then the film launches into its first scene, and this is what is beautiful about Sergio Leone’s films is that they tend to not have dialogue for about 10-20 minutes. The actors and extras can convey their emotions of the situation with facial expressions, coupled with the subtle ambient sounds of water dripping, crickets chirping, rattle snakes slithering and people sipping their drinks. Outside of Alfred Hitchcock, Sergio Leone is a master of crafting tension you get this slow build up where no one kills each other, where the sudden explosion of gunfire catches you off guard and sometimes will make you jump.  

Let’s go over the basic story of the film, the film follows three characters, the ruthless killer for hire Angel Eyes portrayed by Lee Van Cleef, the bumbling and chunky buffoon Tuco played by Eli Wallach and the enigmatic “Blondie” played by the legendary Clint Eastwood. The three get embroiled in a conspiracy of gold worth two hundred thousand dollars, hidden by a Confederate soldier which turns out to be true. “Blondie” is working for Tuco initially as he drives up Tuco’s bounty by saving him by the skin of his neck (no pun intended) when he is about to be hanged. However, their difference in terms of how they divide the money forces them to become hostile to each other. Eventually they are forced to work together as they don’t want Angel Eyes to get his hands on the gold. It’s a pretty simple plot, but it is the performances, music and cinematography that sell this film.  

The performances from the main cast are great, Clint Eastwood really plays the cool-headed drifter really well where it doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone. Lee Van Cleef is a frightening villain, as he comes across as understanding and friendly for him to then shoot you in the back. Finally, Tuco is the comic relief of the film, he plays the fool but is quite capable of shooting his way out of a situation. Overall great performances from the main cast.  

The cinematography in this film is fantastic, Leone uses a lot of wide shots to really emphasise how large scale the canyons and deserts are. As I have said before dialogue tends to be to a minimum where emotions are conveyed through facial expressions, without meaningless exposition. To help express these expressions Leone uses lots of close ups on eyes and mouths, where you see a quivering chin from fear, a smirk before drawing their weapon or a flash of anger.  

How can I not mention this film’s iconic soundtrack, Ennio Morricone is a true master class of musical design as it is not just a standard soundtrack as it syncs up with certain movements in film. For example, if someone shoots a glare, it would be accompanied with a musical twang.  

The only issues I really have with the film, is first the ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) it’s not great in parts. When watching a few scenes in this film, a lot of the dialogue didn’t sync up with characters, but this is understandable because A. it was the 1960’s and it was common to happen, and B. some of the actors didn’t speak English so it makes scene why the English dialogue doesn’t line up. Secondly, I do think the film could have a bit shorter as it has some scenes that are either completely unnecessary, or just drag and kill the pace but fortunately they are minimal and don’t harm the film overall.  

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of my favourite Westerns and favourite films from the 1960’s. It was the film that Clint Eastwood solidified his bad ass persona, coupled with some tense gunfights and showdowns. Recommend it for anyone who is a fan of Westerns.   

Rating: 4/5