The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)
Directed by Sergio Leone
***1/4
Several years ago, I watched Leone's great film Once Upon a Time in the West. A wise friend told me that, as far as Westerns are concerned, I should quit while I'm ahead. Well, since I like Leone films a lot, I thought I'd give the rest of them a fair shake. This one, set during the Civil War (but filmed in Italy, of course), follows the three dudes of the title through their various trouble-makings and down to an impressive finale. The only problem is that it takes 3 hours to get there, when trimming all the fat out (read: slow, boring parts) would have taken about an hour off. Clint Eastwood is awesome, much better than in Dirty Harry, and in true Leone fashion, the film has its fair share of cool, tense and funny moments. With something this sprawling, though, it may only be worth it for loyal Leone-ites.
I completly agree in terms of film length.
This was a film that I thought when watching it that I'd love to see refilmed with those classic shots, etc. But trimmed down to make it far more accessible and less...long.
Posted by: RC of strangeculture | 13 May 2008 at 07:52 PM