John William H.

This is a Western’s Western: an immovable epic film that has become a timeless class in the pantheon of cinema exploring ‘The Old West’. This was easily Sergio Leone’s masterpiece made during his masterfully impactful career; from A Fistful of Dollars to Once Upon a Time in America, the man became one of Italy’s hottest directors from 1964 to his untimely passing in 1989. It may have been a career short-lived compared to some but Leone left a long-lasting impression on all of cinema itself. This film covers bounty hunters looking for buried Confederate Gold during the bloody trials and tribulations of the American Civil War; this is the perfectly epic and tense set-up for a Western led by Clint Eastwood as ‘Blondie’, Lee Van Cleef as ‘Angel Eyes’ and Eli Wallach as Tuco, hence their namesakes in the movie’s title. The three leads do a commendable job as wealth-hungry cowboys desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the others and survive one of America’s bloodiest historical conflicts. Leone’s direction is not only complimented by his choice of actors but also the film’s sweeping cinematography capturing the feel and essence of ‘The Old West’ in a pitch-perfect way; not to mention Ennio Morricone’s iconic score and theme song furthering the movie’s mastery. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of cinema’s proverbial movies and it’s become one of the all-time greats for a good reason: it’s taking history, remixing it in moderately modern ways that it helps give the film a timeless appeal thanks to its direction and not diluting the ruthlessness or vastness of ‘The Old West’ in any way. It’s a film that is a non-conventional yet classically appealing in its reach of audience and scope of cinematic influence. This is some truly good stuff right here. 5/5 stars.