The Good the Bad and the Ugly is a great movie
to look back on.
It made 5 times its money back, making it a big success.
But even Clint Eastwood himself thought the movie
would do either really well or really bad.
It didn't have the greatest reception from critics at that time.
One of the most memorable criticisms from The LA Times
said that the movie should have been called
The Bad, The Dull and the Interminable"
The main reason for this negativity was due to the movie
belonging to a not so popular sub genre, the Spaghetti Western
which when compared to a Hollywood western
was considered as a cheap, inferior, foreign version
In your typical Hollywood Western everything looked clean
where the heroes were handsome,
and wore freshly pressed suits and had shiny new guns
But in a Spaghetti or Italian Western thing were far more
gritty, dirty and violent
as a whole they were perceived as been more realistic
Its main characters weren't well groomed nor necessarily handsome
The musical scores were pretty different, from the amazing high energy music by Enyo
Morricone
compared to the more stately orchestral scores by Elmer Bernstein, like in The Magnificent
7. �
In the 1960s the Hollywood hero was usually a great gunslinger
who faced insurmountable odds
taking on the bad guys and out smarting them.
They were usually unselfish and down to earth
The main villains were very one dimensional, they're badness was not explained, and they
were often an outcast
which meant they were either feared
or hated by the local townspeople.
However Italian films featured anti-heroes
instead of the protagonist saving everyone,
the main character himself was either neutral
or more interested in personal gain.
While the bad guy was often as charismatic or powerful as the hero
in order to give the protagonist a real challenge.
In Hollywood westerns the death of an antagonist
simply meant the triumph of the good over the bad
going back home or having a
reunion with loved ones, concluded the movies story.
Whereas in its European counterpart, the death of the antagonist usually completed the narrative.
Sergio Leone had only directed a "fistful"
of low budget movies at this point of his career,
but you wouldn't think that watching this film
What makes this movie truly amazing
is Leones scope and vision
not to mention the man never wrote any of his ideas down on paper
the entire movie was in his head!
He had the special ability to use silence to help build suspicion,
and paranoia when it came to one of his famous
shootout scenes.
-- Save Tuco scene
Or Leone would use a long pause
combined with music that slowly increased in tempo
to make his action scenes feel more exciting
and have a far greater payoff,
even though the action would be over within a blink of an eye
--End scene (sped up with timer, clint shoot next scene)
Leone's unique style involved
shots of scenery that were very pulled back,
where he would have small figures moving around in the distance,
The beginning of the movie starts like this, with a barren landscape
these wide shots were then followed by tight close ups of faces,
giving you the audience this fantastic operatic feeling
whenever a new chapter began
Leone was great with people's faces
he would deliberately hand pick his extras to find people who had very different looks
and features
he would then pan across them giving his shots an extra sense of realism
Leone also establishes a rule
where a characters vision is limited by the sides of the frame,
everything outside the frame is invisible.
This allows you the viewer to see only from the perspective
of what the characters sees
So when Blondie and Tuco are heading towards the cemetery,
they don't notice the massive Union army in front of them
and neither do you.
Leone often thought that Hollywood Westerns had too much dialog,
so he had his characters say more by saying less
Where most of them make eye contact with each other
Pause and then start shooting!
The characters in this movie are as rememberable as they are brilliant.
Clint Eastwood as Blondie aka the good,
is easily recognizable due to his iconic brown hat,
poncho and fondness for cigarillos.
But apart from that, his character is pretty mysterious
not much is known about him
he says very little, and technically isn't `good' in a traditional sense
however he has a certain sense of honour
and tries to do the right thing from time to time.
Tuco aka the Ugly is the exact opposite or his partner blondie,
he never stops talking
Eli Wallach steals the show with his acting,
he's funny, unpredictable, and stubborn
and is easily the most complex character
always lying, switching sides,
where he goes from trying to kill Blondie in one scene
to pretending to be his best friend in another
He truly represents `the ugliest' side of humanity,
But that doesn't stop you from loving his character
-- Shoot shoot scene
Angel Eyes aka The Bad is evil personified.
Lee Van Cleef was born to play this part
He's a totally ruthless hitman,
that will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
His merciless narrow eyes combined with his evil cackle
are near impossible to forget.
-- Angle evil cackle
Nonetheless it's the uneasy alliance between Blondie and Tuco
and their mutual hostility towards Angel Eyes
which gives this story and its characters
that extra bit of energy and screen presence
that makes it unique --Tuco kill angel eye
makes you far more unlikable than a person
who shoots people in cold blood
The overall success of the Good the Bad and the Ugly
made Clint Eastwood an international star
and inspired many other famous directors
including director Robert Zemeckis
who paid tribute to Leone in
Back to the future part 3
Where, Marty McFly is wearing Blondies distinctive style of clothing,
and uses Clints name as an alias.
-- My name is clint eastwood
Director Sam Raimi created a homage to Leone with his movie
"The Quick and the Dead"
and Director Robert Rodriguez
said that his movie "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"
was a kind of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
of his Mariachi series.
Quentin Tarantinos movie, Reservoir Dogs' has a "Mexican standoff"
which plays homage to the end showdown between
tuco, blondie and angel eyes.
Tarantino even says his favourite movie is the good the bad and the ugly
. due to it being the greatest achievement in
the history of cinema"
YOU can't get higher praise than that!
The good the bad & the ugly is a long film,
but there's not a wasted moment in this movie.
Each scene slowly lets the film unfold with a certain style and grace.
revealing more & more about each character
and what's going on in the story
The pacing in this film is remarkable, as is the direction.
Leone manages to build a lot of tension,
allowing for the film to never become predictable.
Any run of the mill Western clich�
and trope that you can think of
is either given a unique twist
or completely broken down by his great storytelling.
Enyo Morricone's score, is close to perfection.
From the opening credits and introduction to Angle Eyes
to the final showdown
There are two scenes in particular
where the music really adds to the emotion of the film.
In the Union prison camp where the prisoners are playing to conceal the sound of people
being tortured
and in the climatic gunfight in the cemetery.
These are amazing scenes on their own,
but combined with Morricone's powerful score,
they become absolutely amazing.
One essential element to make a film great
is creating a mood that absorbs your attention.
This operatic epic, with its compelling characters and magnificent settings.
draws you in and doesn't release you until the ending credits begin.
When it's over, you feel that you've been on a long and exciting journey.
Originally aimed to be a satire on ordinary westerns,
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, continues to stand the test of time.
It will always be remembered as one of European cinema's greatest,
not only to the Western genre, but to the world of cinema.
The beauty of this film is that it remains as entertaining today as it was when it was
first released.
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