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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.) (1966)

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Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 66
Fresh: 64 | Rotten: 2

Arguably the greatest of the spaghetti westerns, this epic features a compelling story, memorable performances, breathtaking landscapes, and a haunting score.

Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 2

Arguably the greatest of the spaghetti westerns, this epic features a compelling story, memorable performances, breathtaking landscapes, and a haunting score.

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Movie Info

In the last and the best installment of his so-called "Dollars" trilogy of Sergio Leone-directed "spaghetti westerns," Clint Eastwood reprised the role of a taciturn, enigmatic loner. Here he searches for a cache of stolen gold against rivals the Bad (Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless bounty hunter, and the Ugly (Eli Wallach), a Mexican bandit. Though dubbed "the Good," Eastwood's character is not much better than his opponents -- he is just smarter and shoots faster. The film's title reveals its

R, 2 hr. 41 min.

Western, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Classics

Directed By: Sergio Leone

In Theaters: Dec 23, 1966 Wide

On DVD: Nov 18, 1997

United Artists

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.) Trailer & Photos

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.)

All Critics (66) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (2) | DVD (38)

All three arrive at the cache at the same time. Who gets it? Director Leone doesn't seem to care very much, and after 161 minutes of mayhem, audiences aren't likely to either.

August 11, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comments (132)

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

The third in the Clint Eastwood series of Italo westerns, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is exactly that -- a curious amalgam of the visually striking, the dramatically feeble and the offensively sadistic.

July 22, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comments (7)

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Though ordained from the beginning, the three-way showdown that climaxes the film is tense and thoroughly astonishing.

March 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comments (2)

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Sergio Leone's epic looks good, almost great, restored to its original running time.

June 8, 2004 Comment

Glenn Abel

Hollywood Reporter

Top Critic

Of all the great films of the 1960s, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of a fistful that can be truly appreciated only on the big screen.

September 11, 2003 Comment

John Monaghan

Detroit Free Press

Top Critic

Leone's blockbuster is balanced on the razor's edge between popular entertainment and art film. It took classic American themes and turned them inside out.

September 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

| Comment

Colin Covert

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Top Critic

A unique vision of the American West as place of desolation and ruin on a truly epic scale.

August 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy

| Comment

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

The defining spaghetti western pits a charismatic Clint Eastwood against partner and nemesis Eli Wallach and perpetual enemy Lee Van Cleef.

August 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

| Comment

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

Potent Italian-Western shoot-'em up/war drama.

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Charles Cassady

Common Sense Media

Its parody of genre conventions resonates with scope and power.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Sergio Leone's dramatic directing style is powerful and well delivered, even by today's standards.

January 9, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures

| Comment (1)

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

The fellas in Leone's films are seething cesspools of hatred and frustration whose only satisfaction-however fleeting-is found in pursuit and acquisition of money

December 31, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Dan Jardine

Apollo Guide

The sublime film music, now-iconic situations (like the climactic ghost town shootout), and sure visual style add up to a pitch-perfect genre pic that ongoingly influences generations of hip filmmakers. [Blu-ray]

June 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews

| Comment

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews

Leone created a phenomenal film but also created some of the most memorable shots in film history. The extreme close-ups are still impressive to this day.

August 3, 2008 Comment

Kevin McCarthy

BDK Reviews

It still looks a treat and a bold and largely successful attempt to recast the traditions of the genre in a new, sometimes critical, almost operatic way.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: This is London

| Comment

Derek Malcolm

This is London

The visuals are eye-popping, the score (by Ennio Morricone) magnificent, the Civil War set-pieces both stunning and haunting. If you're going to end a trilogy, this is the way to do it.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film

| Comment

Neil Smith

Total Film

The new length gives a clearer view of the civil war context: a nightmare of panic as the south flees before the Union's advance.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

Re-released movies are forever claiming to be iconic, but few can hold the title as easily as Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Kevin Maher

Times [UK]

Sergio Leone's masterpiece is as enduring as the scorched desert in which it is filmed. Also receives props for most effective use of whistling ever.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Amid the endless homages and the sheer adoration meted out to Sergio Leone's ambitious, pricier finale to his Spaghetti Western trilogy, it's easy to forget just how damn good the film is.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Leone also endows the film with a clever visual style. His sense of scale is especially inspired.

June 8, 2008 Full Review Source: KPBS.org

| Comment

Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

The definitive spaghetti western.

August 29, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

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.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Tom Huddlestone

Time Out

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.)

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Sergio Leone not only turned his classic "Dollars trilogy" around with a great final part, but he also managed to create one of the greatest films ever made. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has always been one of my favorite films, and for good reason. There are things about it that would definitely rub the critically

March 25, 2007

Tim Salmons

Super Reviewer

Classic western film. Loved it! "If you're gonna shoot, don't talk, shoot."Well I obviously watched the director's cut (I didn't realize this until I heard a bit of the commentary... I actually thought the film had been THAT long) and though I think I should've watched the "normal version" first, I

May 25, 2007

Wildaly M.

Super Reviewer

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo.) Quotes

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1. The Good: [to Tuco] There are two kinds of people in the world those with guns and those that dig. You dig?
– Submitted by Harvey C (4 months ago)
1. Tuco the Ugly: How much?
– Submitted by Aram F (5 months ago)
1. Tuco the Ugly: You want to know who you are? Huh? You want to know who's son you are? You don't, I do, everybody does... you're the son of a thousand fathers, all bastards like you.
– Submitted by Lee L (6 months ago)
1. Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
– Submitted by Dean F (6 months ago)
1. Tuco the Ugly: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?
– Submitted by Ernest A (7 months ago)