WARNING: Some spoilers ahead!
In 1964, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone (1929-1989) directed the film A Fistful of Dollars, the first in a trilogy known as the "Dollars/Man With No Name" saga starring Clint Eastwood, fresh off the western-themed television series Rawhide. This picture was one of a kind, as it brought the Italian spaghetti western to the mainstream in America when it was released in theaters under United Artists, the same studio that produces the James Bond and Pink Panther movies. The film followed the Man With No Name, portrayed by Eastwood, playing two rival sanctions like a fiddle in a small, ghost-like town in order to bring justice back to the people.
Films like this back in the 1960s were controversial for the time due to their heavy use of violence, which to this day is pretty tame compared to today's films, despite the picture still retaining the R-rating. It also contributed to the then on-going debate on what a real western is, similar to how film director Fred Zimmerman made a contribution called High Noon in 1951, in which there is only one shootout scene in the entire picture. In the end, the combination of Leone's direction and cinematography, the music of expert musician and composer Ennio Morricone, and Clint Eastwood's portrayal of the unnamed protagonist made Fistful a staple of the Western genre.
It would then be followed by the 2nd film in the trilogy, entitled For a Few Dollars More in 1965. Unlike Fistful, which was around 90 minutes in runtime, Few Dollars ran for approx. 2 hours, and it was more epic and action-packed than the last film. In this installment, the man, once again played by Eastwood, teams up with a retired Spanish army colonel named Douglas Mortimer, portrayed by Western legend Lee Van Cleef, to catch the most notorious, cold-blooded bandit in the West, named El Indio, played by Gian Maria Volante, whose reward for capture was a staggering $10,000, including various amounts for the rest of his men. The movie, similar to Fistful, became a hit with many audiences, despite the dismissal of numerous film critics at the time, including then-newcomer Roger Ebert, who would later come to respect movies like this as his career went on. Today, the film is considered a classic and one of the greatest Westerns ever made.
Since the saga was a trilogy, however, the series would have to end with a big bang, and that's exactly what happened. In 1966, Sergio Leone made his magnum opus The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, a 2-and-a-half hour western of epic proportions. In fact, just calling the film "epic" would be an understatement. When I watched it for the first time on DVD, I was instantly hooked, and I hailed it as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. Today, I still do, and I wasn't alone when I thought that. On IMDB, it's ranked in the top 10 of the greatest films of all time amongst the user consensus. Critics past and present have also praised it, and those that dismissed Italian westerns in the past rethought about these types of films and what kind of an impact they hold in cultural society. In my opinion, this is a flawless, perfect movie. If the movies were actual people, this would be the movie that would look at past westerns and go "Pshaw. I could make that more badass. Stand back you pansies. Let me show you how it's done." No disrespect to those classic westerns out there, mind you, but in all seriousness, this movie represents the true spirit of the western genre with flying colors.
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The movie first shows us who's the "good", who's the "bad", and who's the downright "ugly". Starting with the "ugly", we have the no-good bandit Tuco (played by Eli Wallach), who is constantly on the run with a bounty on his head, and every bounty hunter known to man is after him. Then, we have the "bad", who is the hired hit man Angel Eyes (played by Lee Van Cleef), who gets paid to hunt down and murder certain people who "forgot" to pay their debts, or are hunted for revenge. He'll also take anyone's money, even from his victims, and see his job through no matter what. Lastly, we have the "good", who is the Man with No Name (once again, played by Clint Eastwood), who in this picture is called Blondie. He's a bounty hunter always looking for his targets for the sake of earning an honest living, as we have seen in the previous movies.
As the film proceeds, there are good reason why each of these characters are labeled as such. We see each of their exploits in their first third of the film until they come across rumors going around that a cashbox of $200,000 in gold coins was buried in a grave by a Confederate soldier named Bill Carson. Blondie and Tuco encounter the dying man while going through the scorching desert, finding out that the rumors are indeed true. Carson, in his final moments, tells both Blondie and Tuco half of where the cashbox is. Tuco knkows the location of the cemetery, and Blondie knows the grave the cashbox is hidden under, and not one of them is telling. Angel Eyes also knows about the cashbox from one of his victims, and he too is searching, even going undercover as a Yankee general. This becomes a race to find the cashbox and claim the $200,000 up for grabs, and not even the American civil war between the Yankees and the Confederacy will stop them from getting to their destination.
![Posted Image]()
Right as the film starts, we are welcomed with a fitting opening theme and a well-crafted title sequence containing the shots of our main characters and stills of the movie we are about to see revealed with paintbrush and sand grain effects, mostly shots of the civil war segments. We are then opened up with shots of a bounty hunter staring blankly into the camera, followed with a cleverly wide shot of the abandoned town where Tuco is hiding. This brings up one of the highlights of the picture: the cinematography. Director Sergio Leone uses the camera angles and longshots he utilized in the two previous films in the saga and kicks it up a notch, from the large deserts to the battlegrounds where the Confederacy and Yankee forces do battle.
![Posted Image]()
There is one scene in particular near the end of the picture in which the three main characters stare at each other in the middle of the cemetery in a stand-off. We see the trio spread apart slowly in a giant flat circular area in the middle of the cemetery that looks like it was made specifically for this event, accompanied by the triumphant musical score by Academy Award nominee Ennio Morricone. This, combined with the overhead shot of the cemetery circle, the eyes of the characters, their hands near their guns, and their poses come together like bread and butter, making it one of the most iconic scenes in motion picture history since the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which was made 6 years prior.
![Posted Image]()
The film's iconic music is also a highlight. Composer Ennio Morricone, who has composed the music for the previous films, as well as numerous other spaghetti westerns, creates a sweeping score that sets the tone in every scene, from the most sinister moments to the hauntingly beautiful. The main theme alone gives the whole western genre its identity, thanks to its hauntingly iconic vocals, harmonica, flutes, trumpets, and drums. If I were to hear this music in concert performed by an actual orchestra, I would do nothing but stand up and proudly clap my hands in a standing ovation. There's just nothing else I can describe the music. It speaks for itself.
Lastly, what really holds the film together, besides the music and cinematography, are the films three main characters: Blondie (Man with No Name), Angel Eyes, and Tuco. All three of them create the ultimate case of rivalry, as each of them has their eyes on the same goal, and they are willing to go through hell and back to get their hands on the prize, even if they hate each other's guts with a passion or encounter the horrors of the American civil war, torture, and even betrayal, all for $200,000 in gold coins.
The movie is much more than a masterpiece. It's a fucking powerhouse. Not since the likes of Shane and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has a western had me on the edge of my seat and hooked the entire way through. Director Sergio Leone was not the kind of guy that would make bullshit for the sake of earning a quick buck. He was a visionary in his own right, and he treated filmmaking as a true artistic medium. The silver screen was his canvas, and the camera was his brush. In my opinion, it represents what makes a movie epic through its imagery, music, story, and characters. A fitting end to an iconic trilogy. In my opinion, it is arguably the best western ever made in general, and it's one of my most favorite motion pictures of all time.
In 1964, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone (1929-1989) directed the film A Fistful of Dollars, the first in a trilogy known as the "Dollars/Man With No Name" saga starring Clint Eastwood, fresh off the western-themed television series Rawhide. This picture was one of a kind, as it brought the Italian spaghetti western to the mainstream in America when it was released in theaters under United Artists, the same studio that produces the James Bond and Pink Panther movies. The film followed the Man With No Name, portrayed by Eastwood, playing two rival sanctions like a fiddle in a small, ghost-like town in order to bring justice back to the people.
Films like this back in the 1960s were controversial for the time due to their heavy use of violence, which to this day is pretty tame compared to today's films, despite the picture still retaining the R-rating. It also contributed to the then on-going debate on what a real western is, similar to how film director Fred Zimmerman made a contribution called High Noon in 1951, in which there is only one shootout scene in the entire picture. In the end, the combination of Leone's direction and cinematography, the music of expert musician and composer Ennio Morricone, and Clint Eastwood's portrayal of the unnamed protagonist made Fistful a staple of the Western genre.
It would then be followed by the 2nd film in the trilogy, entitled For a Few Dollars More in 1965. Unlike Fistful, which was around 90 minutes in runtime, Few Dollars ran for approx. 2 hours, and it was more epic and action-packed than the last film. In this installment, the man, once again played by Eastwood, teams up with a retired Spanish army colonel named Douglas Mortimer, portrayed by Western legend Lee Van Cleef, to catch the most notorious, cold-blooded bandit in the West, named El Indio, played by Gian Maria Volante, whose reward for capture was a staggering $10,000, including various amounts for the rest of his men. The movie, similar to Fistful, became a hit with many audiences, despite the dismissal of numerous film critics at the time, including then-newcomer Roger Ebert, who would later come to respect movies like this as his career went on. Today, the film is considered a classic and one of the greatest Westerns ever made.
Since the saga was a trilogy, however, the series would have to end with a big bang, and that's exactly what happened. In 1966, Sergio Leone made his magnum opus The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, a 2-and-a-half hour western of epic proportions. In fact, just calling the film "epic" would be an understatement. When I watched it for the first time on DVD, I was instantly hooked, and I hailed it as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. Today, I still do, and I wasn't alone when I thought that. On IMDB, it's ranked in the top 10 of the greatest films of all time amongst the user consensus. Critics past and present have also praised it, and those that dismissed Italian westerns in the past rethought about these types of films and what kind of an impact they hold in cultural society. In my opinion, this is a flawless, perfect movie. If the movies were actual people, this would be the movie that would look at past westerns and go "Pshaw. I could make that more badass. Stand back you pansies. Let me show you how it's done." No disrespect to those classic westerns out there, mind you, but in all seriousness, this movie represents the true spirit of the western genre with flying colors.
The movie first shows us who's the "good", who's the "bad", and who's the downright "ugly". Starting with the "ugly", we have the no-good bandit Tuco (played by Eli Wallach), who is constantly on the run with a bounty on his head, and every bounty hunter known to man is after him. Then, we have the "bad", who is the hired hit man Angel Eyes (played by Lee Van Cleef), who gets paid to hunt down and murder certain people who "forgot" to pay their debts, or are hunted for revenge. He'll also take anyone's money, even from his victims, and see his job through no matter what. Lastly, we have the "good", who is the Man with No Name (once again, played by Clint Eastwood), who in this picture is called Blondie. He's a bounty hunter always looking for his targets for the sake of earning an honest living, as we have seen in the previous movies.
As the film proceeds, there are good reason why each of these characters are labeled as such. We see each of their exploits in their first third of the film until they come across rumors going around that a cashbox of $200,000 in gold coins was buried in a grave by a Confederate soldier named Bill Carson. Blondie and Tuco encounter the dying man while going through the scorching desert, finding out that the rumors are indeed true. Carson, in his final moments, tells both Blondie and Tuco half of where the cashbox is. Tuco knkows the location of the cemetery, and Blondie knows the grave the cashbox is hidden under, and not one of them is telling. Angel Eyes also knows about the cashbox from one of his victims, and he too is searching, even going undercover as a Yankee general. This becomes a race to find the cashbox and claim the $200,000 up for grabs, and not even the American civil war between the Yankees and the Confederacy will stop them from getting to their destination.
Right as the film starts, we are welcomed with a fitting opening theme and a well-crafted title sequence containing the shots of our main characters and stills of the movie we are about to see revealed with paintbrush and sand grain effects, mostly shots of the civil war segments. We are then opened up with shots of a bounty hunter staring blankly into the camera, followed with a cleverly wide shot of the abandoned town where Tuco is hiding. This brings up one of the highlights of the picture: the cinematography. Director Sergio Leone uses the camera angles and longshots he utilized in the two previous films in the saga and kicks it up a notch, from the large deserts to the battlegrounds where the Confederacy and Yankee forces do battle.
There is one scene in particular near the end of the picture in which the three main characters stare at each other in the middle of the cemetery in a stand-off. We see the trio spread apart slowly in a giant flat circular area in the middle of the cemetery that looks like it was made specifically for this event, accompanied by the triumphant musical score by Academy Award nominee Ennio Morricone. This, combined with the overhead shot of the cemetery circle, the eyes of the characters, their hands near their guns, and their poses come together like bread and butter, making it one of the most iconic scenes in motion picture history since the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which was made 6 years prior.
The film's iconic music is also a highlight. Composer Ennio Morricone, who has composed the music for the previous films, as well as numerous other spaghetti westerns, creates a sweeping score that sets the tone in every scene, from the most sinister moments to the hauntingly beautiful. The main theme alone gives the whole western genre its identity, thanks to its hauntingly iconic vocals, harmonica, flutes, trumpets, and drums. If I were to hear this music in concert performed by an actual orchestra, I would do nothing but stand up and proudly clap my hands in a standing ovation. There's just nothing else I can describe the music. It speaks for itself.
Lastly, what really holds the film together, besides the music and cinematography, are the films three main characters: Blondie (Man with No Name), Angel Eyes, and Tuco. All three of them create the ultimate case of rivalry, as each of them has their eyes on the same goal, and they are willing to go through hell and back to get their hands on the prize, even if they hate each other's guts with a passion or encounter the horrors of the American civil war, torture, and even betrayal, all for $200,000 in gold coins.
The movie is much more than a masterpiece. It's a fucking powerhouse. Not since the likes of Shane and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has a western had me on the edge of my seat and hooked the entire way through. Director Sergio Leone was not the kind of guy that would make bullshit for the sake of earning a quick buck. He was a visionary in his own right, and he treated filmmaking as a true artistic medium. The silver screen was his canvas, and the camera was his brush. In my opinion, it represents what makes a movie epic through its imagery, music, story, and characters. A fitting end to an iconic trilogy. In my opinion, it is arguably the best western ever made in general, and it's one of my most favorite motion pictures of all time.