Review of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) by Nash A — 02 Jan 2012

Sergio Leone's epic masterpiece and the best film in his classic spaghetti trilogy. A tale the involves double-crossing, murder, shoots-outs and the hunt for treasure, a cache of stolen gold colds during the Civil War.

Clint Eastwood in a superlative performance plays "The Good," an ambiguous, implacable hero called Blondie, who really is not much better than his rivals. Lee Van Cleef delivers a tour-de-force performance as "The Bad," a black hearted, murderous sadist named Angel Eyes who is evil incarnate; and Eli Wallach who is totally brilliant in a scene-stealing performance as "The Ugly," a infamous, loathsome, greedy bandit named Tuco.

Blondie teams up with Tuco who has a large price on his head, their scam is for Blondie to turn Tuco over for hanging for his many crimes and collect the reward, then when it comes time to hang him, Blondie who is a crack shot, shoots the rope and grabs Tuco and escapes, then they begin the same scam in another town for more reward money.

Angel Eyes is searching for a man who knows where the gold is, but Tuclo and Blondle by chance fine him first, the dying the man tells Tuco in which cemetery the $200,000 in Confederate gold coins are buried in, but he tells Blondie the name on the tombstone.

Thus it because a deadly cat and mouse struggle to fine the coins. This gem of a film has all the Leone signature trademarks; the brilliant close ups and extreme wide-angle cinematography; as well as the evocative Enno Morricone score.

Under Leone's masterful direction Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach communicate more with their facial expression and body language than most actors do with dialogue. Entrancing a must-see! Highly Recommended.