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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

  • Film
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
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Time Out says

5 out of 5 stars

One of the monumental achievements in narrative filmmaking, Sergio Leone’s grandiose 1966 western epic is nothing less than a masterclass in movie storytelling, a dynamic testament to the sheer, invigorating uniqueness of cinema.

Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef are their usual taciturn selves as rival gunslingers pursuing a cache of lost gold. So it’s left to Eli Wallach’s Tuco to steal the show, the archetypal pitiable, self-deluded villain, the rotten heart of Leone’s colossal canvas.

It’s hard to name another film with so many iconic, indelible sequences: Tuco following a trail of half-smoked cigars; the unmanned stagecoach thundering through the desert; the operatic Mexican standoff in the graveyard, as Ennio Morricone’s peerless score mounts over five nailbiting, wordless minutes. But what impresses most is the intimacy of Leone’s vision, sketching a vast array of ruthless characters with broad but subtle visual strokes, never losing sight of the humanity amidst the carnage.

Written by Tom Huddleston

Release Details

  • Rated:18
  • Release date:Friday 1 August 2008
  • Duration:180 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Sergio Leone
  • Screenwriter: Age, Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Leone
  • Cast:
    • Clint Eastwood
    • Eli Wallach
    • Lee Van Cleef
    • Aldo Giuffrè
    • Mario Brega
    • Luigi Pistilli
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