The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1998)

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"Every gun makes its own tune."

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly(1966) sits atop the pinnacle of cinema, sharing that seat with none but a select few. Not one aspect of this film falls short of groundbreaking and absolutely spectacular. Quite honestly, in my opinion, pretty much the greatest movie ever made.

The story, is a long one. The movie is about two and a half hours long, but don't let the length deter you. There's not a dull moment in this spectacle. It's set during the Civil War era. The North and the South are constantly at battle, making the country a very disruptive and chaotic place filled not only with soldiers and war, but with bandits, thieves, drifters and much worse. One such bandit is El Tuco (Eli Wallach). Tuco is a half-wit with a very lethal shot. We first see him narrowly escaping capture from three bounty hunters. Tuco, a wanted man, has a considerable price on his head and aims to keep it that way. He takes out the three men, escaping into the desert, only to encounter another ragtag trio of hunters. Tuco is being taken captive, when out of nowhere a stranger (Clint Eastwood) approaches. This man with no name challenges the bounty hunters to a gunfight. The bounty hunters feel the odds are in their favor and accept, but the stranger proves too quick for the three, laying them out faster than an eye can blink. The stranger claims Tuco for himself and delivers him to the authorities, cashing in on the bounty on his head, much to Tuco's displeasure.

The law plans to hang Tuco. He is tied up and sat atop a horse with a noose wrapped around his neck, but just before the deed is done, the stranger, from a building opposite, shoots the rope free from its gallows and the horse gallops away with Tuco on top. The two meet up later, and their elaborate money making scheme is revealed in its entirety. Tuco and Blondie, as Tuco calls him, obviously for his hair, turn in Tuco for his bounty, then bust him out and do it all over again in another town. The next town goes just as smoothly, but Tuco, the greedy man he is, feels he does all the work and that it warrants a larger share than Blondie. Blondie disagrees and ends there partnership. He deserts Tuco in the desert, relieving him of his guns, but leaving him with his half of the reward money and wishing him luck. Blondie, though fed up with Tuco, still does what is fair.

Meanwhile, a ruthless mercenary by the name of Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) seeks out information on a missing soldier named Bill Carson who made off with a load of Confederate gold. Angel Eyes caught word of the missing soldier and his fortune and is seeking out al with any knowledge on the subject. He beats, tortures and kills to get what he wants and does it all with a smile on his face He wants the gold and will stop at nothing until he gets a hold of it.

Tuco eventually manages to find a town and avoids dying in the desert as a result of Blondie's abandonment. He arrives to a little town and after re-hydrating, heads straight to the gun shop with revenge in his heart. He takes his time choosing his weapon, and gives the gun smith an impromptu lesson on trick shooting, as well as drinking all his whiskey. He finally finds a suitable weapon and heads out after his former partner. The two evade each other for days, Blondie always a step ahead of Tuco. Blondie's luck runs out though and Tuco manages to catch up to him, ironically, back in the middle of the desert. Its Blondie's turn now, to stagger through the desert with no horse to ride, no hat for shade and no water to drink. Tuco rides alongside taunting and teasing Blondie. Guzzling excess amounts of water and liberally pouring it on his face and head. Blondie is struggling and eventually collapses from the heat and exhaustion.

Tuco is about to take is life and end his misery when out of the horizon approaches a runaway stagecoach, carrying dead and dying Confederates, one of which happens to be Bill Carson (Antonio Casale). Carson is dying of thirst. In exchange for water, he begins to tell Tuco of the treasure he hid in a graveyard, though Tuco only promises water after he tells. He tells him the location, but not the name on the grave and succumbs to his dehydration and exhaustion before he can get it out. Tuco rushes back to his horse for a full canteen since his was empty from his wastefulness, returning only to find Carson dead and Blondie leaning against the stagecoach. Tuco finds that Blondie managed to get the name out of Carson before he died, but Blondie passes out from his exhaustion before he can tell it to Tuco. Tuco becomes frantic and does his best to revive Blondie, but his condition is too severe and the only way he can save Blondie is by taking him to a mission for real help. He knows he'll never find the gold without Blondie; one has the location of the graveyard, one has the name on the grave.

Upon Blondie's recovery, the two leave the mission disguised in the Confederate uniforms of Carson and his fellows. On there way to the riches though, they are apprehended by Union soldiers and imprisoned. At the prison camp while sounding off their names, Tuco calls out Bill Carson, catching the eye of Angel Eyes who is impersonating a Union officer. Angel Eyes interrogates Tuco and has him tortured by an associate of his named Wallace (Mario Brega). Wallace gets the location out of him, but not the name on the grave. He sees that Blondie isn't the type to break easily and torture will do no use, so they strike a deal and set out from the prison camp, leaving Tuco behind, imprisoned and at the mercy of the North army.

Tuco manages to escape his imprisonment by killing his escort, Wallace, and leaping from the train transporting him to his death. Tuco sets out and eventually stumbles upon a town. He ambles in to an old wrecked building, coming upon a bathtub. While enjoying a well deserved soak, a man with one arm interrupts. He is a survivor of one of the bands of bounty hunters that attempted to capture Tuco. He has followed Tuco and is here seeking revenge for his lost limb and comrades. The one armed man is a little too chatty though, and during his diatribe, Tuco raises a gun from beneath his bubble bath and takes him out saying, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."

Blondie, who is in the same town as Tuco, hears and recognizes Tucos gun. He separates himself from Angel Eyes and his resting posse and seeks out Tuco, finding him chest deep in warm, bubbly water and with a corpse on the floor. Blondie proposes they team up against Angel Eyes and get the gold for themselves. Tuco agrees and it's just like old times. In a fantastic shootout, Blondie and Tuco manage to take out Angel Eyes' entire posse, save for the man himself, who leaves behind a note saying, "See you soon...idiots".

Blondie and Tuco set out with Angel Eyes always one step behind. Three men are in the race of a lifetime. A drifter, a killer and a goon all after $200,000.00 dollars in Confederate gold. Who will win? The Good?...the Bad?...or the Ugly?

The story is an original concept co-wrote by both the director Sergio Leone and Luciano Vincenzoni. It is a classic tale of greed. It shows the lengths to which a man will go for money. Betrayal flows throughout the script. Every other scene someone is getting double crossed. The Civil War seems insignificant throughout the tale. Like a backdrop of sorts. All of the main characters see the war as a nuisance, just something getting in there way of getting rich. The dialogue between the characters is superb. Every line is pure gold and delivered perfectly from its speaker. It's funny as well. There is a sarcastic and cynical humor throughout the film, mainly from Tuco, that makes it that much more fun.

Clint Eastwood plays Blondie; the Good, The Man With No Name. While this wasn't the last time Clint played this iconic character, this did mark the end of the Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). We wouldn't see him don his poncho and trademark cigarillo again until 1973 in High Plains Drifter. Everyone knows this character. Everyone has seen the poster of Clint with his hat and cigar, guns at the hip. Whenever we hear that raspy voice, the image of Clint with guns drawn, eyes squinted towards the sun comes right to mind. Clint's performance is nothing short of brilliant. He lost himself in this character. Blondie is the definition of a cowboy. Rugged, weathered and fast as lightning. He is an outsider and a drifter. While his greed and his violent lifestyle may make him seem troublesome, his underlying nature is one of strict moral boundaries. Though a man of few words, he shows great sadness and anger at the casualties of war. In one of the best scenes of the movie, he stumbles upon a young dying soldier. A casualty of war left to suffer a painful death. Blondie stands by the boy's side as he dies, covering him with his poncho for warmth and giving him a few puffs from his cigar. He doesn't leave until the boy's last breath. He shows great regret for the loss of life, even though a killer he is. At heart, he wishes to preserve life, only killing those with disregard for their lives and others. He is an anti-hero. He doesn't look or seem the part, but his intentions are nothing but good.

Lee Van Cleef plays Angel Eyes: the Bad. A low down, no good, rotten to the core killer with no remorse. He is greedy, sadistic, conniving and dangerous. His goal in life is simple: get rich and kill as much as he can. Cleef personifies all that is wrong with the world perfectly. His tone, his mannerisms, his malicious grin, they all capture the essence of bad. Cleef wasn't the first choice for this role. Originally, Charles Bronson was slated to take over as the Bad. For one reason or another, the part went to Cleef and it's a good thing it did. You take out one element of this movie and it just wouldn't be the same. Cleef and Eastwoods interaction as two opposite ends of the spectrum is beautiful. They feed off of each other in every scene, trying to outdo one another, making it all the better for the viewer.

Lastly, we have Eli Wallach as El Tuco, the Ugly, falling somewhere in between good and bad. He may be a ruthless killer and thieving sneak, but he is also a tender soul who feels that the world has done nothing but wrong him. His character is a tragic one. Tuco has a brother who is a priest in the church, which shows that no matter where you come from, you can still make something of yourself. He could have taken a different path, but he chose a life of crime, and deep down, he probably regrets it a little. His regret and inner struggle makes him all the more uncouth. He's a loudmouth, a drunk and a killer. Eli Wallach hit the nail on the head with Tuco. His portrayal of utter stupidity, arrogance and buffoonery is priceless. His humor throughout the film is rich and satisfying. You know when Tuco opens his mouth it's going to be something funny. The chemistry between him and Clint is unbelievable. They play out Blondie and Tucos ambivalent relationship amazingly. Clint's reserved and introverted character and Wallachs out of control, oafish heathen mesh together like yin and yang. A true case of when opposites attract.

The locations and cinematography are absolutely mesmerizing. Tonino Delli Colli, an Italian cinematographer, uses wide sweeping views of vast and ever expanding plains and hills to capture the freedom of those days. That a man could ride for hours and encounter nothing but the great wide open. Shot in Italy and Spain, Colli makes you really believe you are in the American Frontier. Every shot not only focuses on the characters, but on the background and the land surrounding the characters. The scenery plays as much of a part as the actors. It performs beautifully, delivering us breathtaking shots that are truly one of a kind. Watching it, I find myself imagining all of the effort and work it took to get some of the shots. Literally filming from hundreds of yards away is no easy task, yet Colli not only pulls it off, but achieves something groundbreaking. The ending scene in particular is just absolutely beautiful.

Sergio Leone, director extraordinaire, delivers us not only a classic, but his best piece of work ever done. Leone had already capitalized on the spaghetti western genre, but this was just the nail in the coffin. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly set the bar for all that followed it. Not just western films, but all films. All genres of movie were inspired by what Leone created. The angles, from dramatic close ups to wide shots that take in not just the character but the world that surrounds him, suck you in from the beginning. He has a way of concealing the change of a situation that has you guessing until the last minute. Will Blondie make it out? Can Tuco really escape again? He keeps you on pins and needles the whole scene, saving the twists for just the right moment. Leone gave us magic with this period piece. And though part of a trilogy, and its predecessors being nothing short of spectacular themselves, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is Leone's Mona Lisa: his Sistine Chapel. His mark on cinema that will be praised and criticized as long as there are people left to watch movies. He produced a masterpiece in every sense of the word and we should all be thanking him and his wonderful mind. I also feel I should clear up why most of the voices don't match up with the mouths speaking. The answer is simple. Only the three main actors are speaking English. The rest speak Italian, dubbed over in English. Leone didn't really find it pressing to match up the voices exactly with their speakers, and I feel it adds a quality to it that makes it just that much better. Once you get sucked in, you don't even notice it.

And finally, we come to the icing on the cake: the score. Ennio Morricone delivers us something absolutely beautiful. Not the first time Morricone and Leone collaborated, though certainly their greatest. Morricones iconic score, that encompasses everything from gunfire to yodeling, captures the feeling of the film and the Civil War and puts it to music. The main theme is known worldwide. We have all, at some points in our life, heard these songs, whether we know it or not. The score for this film has a place forever in pop culture history. Kids all over the world play Cowboys with Morricones creation going through their minds. Metallica has opened with "The Ecstasy of Gold", the films final song, since 1983. I couldn't begin to count the number of movies that have used that iconic sound reminiscent of a coyotes wail. If you still can't bring it to mind here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct6p0sP_KSk

Sounds familiar right? Like I said, the score is universally known and reminds us of a time in filmmaking long gone. Ennio Morricone is a master composer. Arguably the greatest film composer of all time, he came up with a sound unlike any ever heard. The combination of his sound and Leone's vision gave us something epic, that can never, and will never, be replicated or topped.

This movie is the summit of its genre. As far as westerns go, it just doesn't get any better. Really, as far as movies go, it almost doesn't get any better. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly set the standard for all that followed it. An achievement of the highest caliber, it gives us a glimpse of what a film has the potential to become. It's not only entertaining, but a lesson; a lesson on right and wrong, on morals and the fine lines that separate the differences between good, bad and of course, ugly.