SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
THIS MOTION PICTURE IS OFFICIALLY AN AFFILIATE OF THE FILMMAKING PARAGONS.
After the enormous success of A Few Dollars More, Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood rode their horsebacks again into one of the most epic Spaghetti Western tales ever told - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
It's evident that with this film, director Sergio Leone had a much, much bigger budget to make his vision come true. On technical standpoint, this motion picture is pretty much perfect! The sheer magnitude, scale and scope of this universe here is jaw-dropping! Camerawork is of staggering quality! You could see how poised, steady, clear, wide and open the camera navigations, framings and compositions are! Ennio Morricone's score is the work of a legend here! His evergreen theme music lives forever! Overall, you could easily compare this entry with the previous two features in the Dollars Trilogy and see the stark contrast for yourself. Sergio Leone's brilliant making shines here too, with cadaver dragged across railtrack by a train never fail to be brutal and visceral!
Every scene is fascinating! By toying with audiences' schema, the writers and makers give unexpected reversals with insurmountable suspense! One such scene is of course the iconic climatic triangle standoff in the middle of Sad Hill Cemetery! With Morricone's background music elevating the already tensed staredown between the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, it's one of greatest suspense ever pulled in cinema! Personality distinction between the three lead characters are defined vividly, for instance Tuco's (Eli Wallach) religious restrictions and beliefs set him apart from Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef).
The relationship between Tuco and Blondie (Clint Eastwood) is surely one of the major highlights! Them taking advantage of the bounty system and insufferably needing each other to reach the pot of gold are simply enjoyable! If there's anything to nitpick, Angle Eyes' appearance at the military did come out of left field - perhaps it could be a volunteering job or part of his plan to find Bill Carson (Antonio Casale). Blondie and Tuco being captured by the army staffs for the second time serves no relevant purpose, other than to provide a closure to the ongoing war. Also, Bill Carson spilling out the secret about Confederate gold to Tuco is totally forced.
"There are two kinds of people in the world. Those with guns and those that dig. You dig…"