THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1966)
Directed by Sergio Leone
On DVD
(****)
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  Hailed by Robert Rodriguez as “pure cinema”, Sergio Leone’s massive epic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) remains one of the first spaghetti westerns, meaning of course an American genre shot with a European sensibility, in this case an Italian, bringing to the genre a fresh new look, allowing said genre to expand and grow as an art. The arid deserts are as much a character as those who inhabit this odd film which over the years has become fiercely influential to entire generations of new directors. To gain an understanding of the impact of the film, I suggest watching Kill Bill Volume Two (2004) immediately after screening this picture and watch closely how the sparse desert becomes another character in the film.
  
Like Antonioni before him, Leone allowed the landscape and environment to become a character in the film, sometimes placing the characters at war with that very landscape often seeing them consumed by its harshness. Westerns changed sharply after Leone’s picture, as the Americans took his cue and made their westerns much more realistic and sometimes seething with rage.
  
The good is the man with no name portrayed by Clint Eastwood at his squinty eyed best, the bad is the vicious Angel Eyes, portrayed to perfection by the sneering Lee Van Cleef and the ugly is Tuco portrayed by Eli Wallach. Leone’s films launched Eastwood’s career, making him an international superstar and no doubt influencing him as a filmmaker in the years to come. Certainly Eastwood’s westerns have an authentic feel to them, a harsh reality very much a part of the film.
  
The story in the film is simple. Bounty hunter Eastwood rescues Tuco from a group of opportunists only to turn him in for a reward, then stealing him again to turn him in elsewhere for yet another reward. Then abandoned by his false partner, Tuco catches up with him and tortures him in the desert, allowing the landscape and surroundings to become his ally in his dirty deeds. They then stumble upon news of a lost treasure and form an uneasy alliance to find the treasure, placing them in the direct path of the evil Angel Eyes who is also on the hunt for the treasure.
  
The most common theme in American westerns in man versus man, which is precisely what Leone uses here, though he adds to the mix man versus himself and man versus the environment. Leone gives the film a genuine sadness, particularly in any discussion or remembrances of the Civil War as those involved discuss the slaughter with great melancholy and regret.
  
This DVD was restored by MGM archivist John Kirk and restoration company Triage. Together working from the a Techniscope negative they were able to beautifully restore the film for the digital realm, adding eighteen minutes of lost footage that superbly fleshes out the Van Cleef character.    The film is superbly presented in widescreen with a remixed audio that is perfect. The special features include a forty minute documentary on Leone entitle Leone’s West and a second called Leone’s Style. There are lengthy interviews with Clint Eastwood and ninety year old Eli Wallach, as well as Time film critic Richard Schickel. There is an extended deleted scene in which Mario Brega beats Wallach senseless, and one can see why the scene was left out as the quality of the shot is poor. Also included are discussi0ons about Morricone’s ground breaking score, which would be imitated for the next twenty years.
 
  All in all The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) is among the finest DVD releases of the year; a wonderful trip back to a ground breaking western that’s impact is still reflected in today’s’ films.










 
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