The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a great western-thriller thanks to a wonderful core cast with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach and even for those not inclined to enjoy westerns, like myself.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(1967)
Genre(s): Western
Kino Lorber | R – 162 min. – $39.95 | April 27, 2021
Date Published: 04/26/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Note: The screen captures in this review were taken from the included Blu-ray disc
and does not represent the quality of the 4K transfer.
THE MOVIE — 4/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: “The Man with No Name” (CLINT EASTWOOD) returns, this time teaming with two gunslingers — marksman Angel Eyes (LEE VAN CLEEF) and bandit Tuco (ELI WALLACH) — to pursue a cache of $200,000, buried in a cemetery, and letting no one, not even warring factions in a civil war, stand in their way.
Quick Hit Review: Despite not being the biggest fan of the Western genre, there has been a gem or two that I have immensely enjoyed, including Unforgiven, The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and now The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which is the final film in “The Man with No Name” Trilogy. While not a favorite of mine, preferring the previously mentioned movies, but still a very well made, and classic, Western nevertheless. The film, even though it’s fairly lengthy clocking in at over 2.5 hours long, moves along at a brisk pace thanks in large part to three great performances from Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach, not to mention the beautiful landscapes shot by director Sergio Leone alongside his cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli (Once Upon a Time in America), photographing Spain and Italy taking place of the American frontier.
Even for those not entirely into westerns, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly would make for a good entry point in the genre, though you couldn’t go wrong with the first two in “The Man With No Name” trilogy. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and an inner sleeve that is reversible showing the film’s original poster artwork. This is pretty well packed with bonus features, including ports from the original DVD and Blu-rays releases best I could tell. Audio Commentary — Film Historian Tim Lucas Leone’s West: Making of Documentary (19:56) looks at the history behind Spaghetti Westerns and Sergio Leone’s approach to filmmaking and entry into the American market. Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Parts 1 & 2 (7:49/12:28) — Featurette on the amazing composer and his iconic score for the film, some of which I still hear in commercials today. The second part is basically an audio essay on Morricone. The Leone Style: On Sergio Leone (23:49) — Another close look at the filmmaker in this older featurette that includes interviews with Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and others who worked with or historians of Leone. The Man Who Lost the Civil War (14:23) is about the true conflict that was featured in the film. Reconstruction of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (11:10) — Extended cut of a featurette on how the film trimmed down from 178-minutes to 161 minutes for American audiences. Deleted Scenes (TRT 12:25) — There are a few scenes here including two extended scenes and a reconstruction of another. Also included on the 4K disc. Vignettes (TRT 2:35) — “Uno, Due, Tre”, “Italian Lunch”, “New York Accent” and “Gun in Holster” are just some extended interview sound bites with Eastwood and Wallach. The Optical Flip (0:55) shows how some theatrical versions contain an optical transition, used for comic effect. Also included is the Trailers from Hell (3:25) featurette examining the movie’s trailer; two Image Galleries, one on the set the other promotional material; Trailers and a Radio Spot for the film; as well as trailers for the other two films in the trilogy. |
VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
| Kino Lorber releases The Good, the Bad and the Ugly onto 4K Ultra HD for the first time and presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer. There’s no mention of exactly where this was taken from, but I assume it was directly provided by MGM rather than undergoing some new restoration. However, even so, the picture here looks absolutely fantastic, detail is very sharp and nicely defined with the original film grain and noise, which is prevalent given the stark environment, is still present even without the aid of a dynamic range. I didn’t detect any major instances of artifacting, aliasing or bouts of dust marks, scratches or other damage to the film. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
| The disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track as well as a 2.0 option, but the film starts with the former as the default. For the most part the lossless track sounds great, dialogue comes across with fine clarity and there is some moderate depth for the ambient noises, such as the surrounding elements of the western frontier. Can’t say this is nearly reference quality but more than acceptable. |
OVERALL – 4½/5 |
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a great western-thriller thanks to a wonderful core cast with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach and even for those not inclined to enjoy westerns, like myself. This 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray combo pack released by Kino Lorber offers a good selection of bonus features and great video and audio transfers. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.