The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The concluding part of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy surpasses its predecessors in graphic nature, compassion and dark humour while paying homage to the Hollywood western. It features stylised violence and a superb Ennio Morricone score, proving the benchmark for spaghetti westerns.

One of the monumental achievements in narrative filmmaking and a masterclass in movie storytelling. Eli Wallach’s Tuco steals the show as the archetypal pitiable villain, with the film featuring many iconic sequences and an intimate vision that never loses sight of humanity amidst the carnage.

The film is damn good and far more than a cool exercise; it is a covert condemnation of American hypocrisy with anti-war sentiment and deep compassion beneath its amorality. The extended cut is applauded for letting the leathery, quasi-comic-book dream roam further in search of the gold.

The critic praises Sergio Leone's capstone to the Dollars trilogy for its compelling take on western archetypes like stoic outlaws and moral divisions. He singles out the director's flamboyant visual style, dreamlike Spanish landscapes, and Ennio Morricone's evocative score for particular acclaim.

The critic calls the re-released three-hour cut of Sergio Leone's 1966 classic a grisly-brilliant story of three amoral gunslingers hunting Confederate gold. The extended length clarifies the civil war backdrop as a nightmare of panic during the South's retreat.

The re-released 1966 film is described as an iconic ultra-violent treasure-hunting western that made Clint Eastwood an international star and influenced modern action movies, with a memorable theme tune.

The film succeeds through its understanding of the ruthless Western bad man and its barren Italian locations populated by memorable faces. Leone creates memorable self-contained scenes, though the picture runs about 30 minutes too long.

The reviewer calls the film the most expensive, pious and repellent in its genre, criticizing its slow pace, excessive brutality and sadism over two and a half hours with a thin plot about three criminals hunting gold during the Civil War.

The critic hails the film as the platonic ideal of the Spaghetti Western and a mythic masterpiece that remade the genre. He singles out its epic scale and operatic tone, achieved through wide landscapes, extreme close-ups, and Ennio Morricone's score, despite a meandering pace and simple plot.

It is one of the best westerns and most rousing action adventures ever made, carrying a poignant anti-war message amid the carnage. Leone's masterpiece features devilish humour, orchestrated shoot-outs and an exhilarating Morricone score.

The critic calls it a must-see masterpiece and the one western everyone should watch, praising its jaw-dropping sequences, sweeping visuals, and perfect direction by Sergio Leone along with Ennio Morricone's score.