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Logan Japikse

Mrs. Maciulewicz

ENG 1101

7 October 2020

The Best, The Worst, and The Ugliest

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone, is a classic spaghetti

western and argued to be one of the best movies, not only the best in it’s genre. What qualifies

this piece of cinema to earn such high credentials? A good western follows a simple formula.

The picture has the classic lone ranger, his daring quest against outlaws and bandits, the flat,

barren landscapes juxtaposed with ghost towns, and duels set at high noon. A unique

characteristic of the western genre is that the roles of good and evil can swap. An outlaw can

gain more of the audience's support than the law trying to stop them. The Good, The Bad, and

The Ugly perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the spaghetti western and exemplifies all of the

criteria.

The film has not one lone ranger but three, all pitted against each other. Our mysterious

hero, Blondie, provides a classic look at western heroes. With no backstory and little to no

dialogue, Blondie is the combination of mysterious and badass all western protagonists look up

to. Tuco, aptly given the title of “the rat” by the law, is a more unconventional protagonist. The

attitude of not playing by the rules and only looking out for himself is consistent with the

archetype, but he is less morally driven than his cigar smoking counterpart. Although Blondie’s

reasons for traveling solo are never made clear, Tuco is revealed to have been cut out of his

family after adopting the bandit lifestyle to escape poverty. Our main villain, Angel Eyes, falls
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similarly into these categories. He focuses on personal gain over the greater good and is willing

to do anything it takes to get what he wants.

Because all of these characters are so similar, it leads to the question of who is the good

guy. All three of these men are outlaws and have no respect for authority, so what makes any one

of them greater than the other? The movie reorganizes the standard moral compass because each

character’s motives are understandable. It makes choosing sides increasingly difficult. The

fantastic execution of this dynamic gives each individual viewer a unique experience. The

blurred lines between hero and villain mean that two moviegoers can root for opposite sides with

equal justification.

The goal of moving west was to seek a better life and financial success, so what better

quest for the cowboys than tracking down lost gold? The sum of money is enough to cause

backstabbing and deceit no matter how close bonds were. Their mission to get rich, opposed by

other bandits and outlaws, and the trouble they get into along the way keeps a firm grip on the

viewers attention.

Leone’s classic covers just about every setting synonymous with westerns. The film

opens with a desolate town, tumbleweeds bouncing across the path between buildings. Extensive

shots of the desert and wide open terrain show how difficult it is for our characters to drag their

dehydrated bodies back to safety. Angel Eyes’ story takes him through traditional Mexican stone

and mud houses as well as yankee civil war camps. From monasteries to battlefields lodged

between mountain ranges, no aspect of the wild west was untouched by the picture. These shots

and settings place the viewer in their world. The variety of landscapes and views reinforces the

idea that our main characters are on no easy or short journey.

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A western without a showdown might not even be a western at all. The Good, The Bad,

and The Ugly includes two of these scenes. The first a guerrilla style fight that breaks traditions

of the standard showdown. With opposing sides on either end of a deserted town, there is a mix

of head to head gunslinging and ambushing that's equal parts exciting and nerve racking. The

second duel is a twist on the classic: a three way duel between out headlining outlaws. The

drawn out scene increases suspense with every cut back and forth from squinted eyes to

twitching fingers.

It may be argued that the film is unrealistic, and therefore should not be revered as much

as it is. Some aspects of the film, like Blondie being an impossibly good sharpshooter and the

Confederate Army disregarding 200,000 dollars worth of stolen gold, are farfetched, but that is

what made the western genre so enticing. Westerns aren’t about gritty realism and spot on

historic accuracy. Similar to what is so appealing about knights in shining armor, the cowboys

and outlaws are representatives of a life more interesting and challenges more daring than reality.

The exaggerated events of the movie do not derail from its worth, but do the opposite. A movie

without these characteristics becomes bland and unappealing.

A good western fits all of these criteria, but a great one bends and stretches them in ways

not seen before. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly did just that. Not only does it check all the

boxes for being a western, but it embodies the genre with a truly unique moviegoing experience.

Each recurrence of the classic trumpet and guitar song accompanying the rough riders across the

American west is a reminder of the lasting impact this movie has had on all types of media.
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Works Cited

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Directed by Sergio Leone, performances by Clint Eastwood,

Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, Produzioni Europee Associati, 1966.