Review of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) by Geoffrey T — 11 Apr 2012

I know this is sort of cheating because I've seen this movie before, and I'm actually reviewing my second viewing of it, the first viewing was when I was 9 or 10, and failed to appreciate film as much as now.

So, this film isn't for everyone. It's a film exemplifying extremes. It juxtaposes extreme close-ups with long shots, long takes with comparatively short takes, silence with bombastic music and loud explosions of gunfire, characters who never shut up and characters who barely speak at all.

If it's not obvious already, this is a decision of style over substance. The characters are mostly archetypes. The plot is one so typical it's almost mythical. The direction is what you come for.

Combining beautiful landscapes with one of the greatest scores ever put to film, Sergio Leone invents too many things to count. And he has plenty of time to do so. The film is a minute short of three hours, and has enough digressions to rival any Russian novel.

But those aren't flaws. They feel pertinent for some inexplicable reason. In fact, any perceived flaw in this movie(simple characters, too long, too over-the-top) would also be the reasons why it's great.

It somehow takes these typical flaws and makes them work. Don't ask me how, but it does.