Clint Eastwood Forums
General Information => Clint Eastwood Westerns => Topic started by: The Schofield Kid on September 12, 2010, 11:15:51 PM
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I know we had a similar poll a few years ago but I think it's time for a new poll.
So which of the three films is your favorite and what is your reasoning?
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My favorite is The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. There's nothing wrong with the first two films, but for me, the three main characters in The Good, The Bad And The ugly are perfectly cast and portrayed that it surpasses the first two films. Plus add the great music score and the final three way shootout. The whole film is great and the best of the three.
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My fav is a fistful. It's not the best one. GBU is the best one of the lot but it's shorter in length than the other two. I find I watch it more because of that and it's Clint vs everyone else.
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The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. everytime. I like the other two but for me the characters and the story are more to my liking. I especially like the ending and of course the shootout.
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A Fistful of Dollars. I love the scenery, the plot, and especially the ending.
I love this quote from the book The films of Clint Eastwood (Boris Zmijewsky & Lee Pfeiffer) about the ending.
The stranger then rides nonchalantly out of town, leaving a path of destruction behind him.
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My favourite Leone film (out of the three) is The Good,The Bad And The Ugly. :)
This film is just superb in comparison to the other two. Every thing is presented in epic proportions from the soundtrack to Leone's presentation of the Civil War.
The story is much better and the coming together of the three main characters through Leone's visions of America is just pure Perfection.
Each character is unique in his own way. Clint is no longer identified by is poncho, this time it's he is wearing a long coat. Lee Van Cleef plays an entirely different character to the role he played in For A Few Dollars More and Eli Wallach is outstanding as Tuco. He was born to play this role!
The final shootout at the huge circular military graveyard is brilliant in every way from Leone's camerawork to Morricone's score!
It's a movie you can watch over and over again! I would consider this film to be one of the best westerns ever made and it's just fantastic.
The first soundtrack album I bought was The Good,The Bad And The Ugly. It's a superb film score and everybody should have this album in their collection. O0
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I voted for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for much of the same reasons already mentioned here.
I'm a bit surprised with the results of the poll though! There's only seven votes, but still... none for For a Few Dollars More? I prefer that one to A Fistful of Dollars. And really, I like Fistful a lot too. I remember at one point Matt used to say he liked For a Few Dollars More the best.
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I remember at one point Matt used to say he liked For a Few Dollars More the best.
I started to type pretty much that exact sentence before I finished reading your post!
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I don't know how I missed this thread before. My favorite is For A Few Dollars More. It's hard to say why, but if I had to pick just one to ever see again, this would be it. I enjoy watching the developing relationship between Col. Mortimer and Manco. They start out competing against each other and end up working together. The music is fantastic, but I like the music for all three movies. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly runs a close second with its unforgettable ending scenes, but Tuco steals the show and I'm just not very fond of him. He reminds me of a spoiled child.
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Ooooh, how to answer this one?
For a few dollars more, is a sentimental favorite. It was my first exposure to the Man with No Name, and I had never encountered anything resembling an anti hero. Also it was kind of a stretch allowing Clint to show he had a sense of humor, I always thought that was the one thing that was missing in FFOD.
But in all honesty, for contents sake if I had to rate them, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY is the best of the three. It seems to me that was Leone's attempt at touching the human soul. Manco showing sympathy for the young dying soldier, showing the madness of war, and finding a way to intertwine it all into the journey these three hardened killers are taking. Finding a way to strongly divide the three characters from the aloofness of Lee Van Cleef to the humor of Tuco.
In that movie there was NO one dimensional characters. And it allowed for human flaw. I would have never known that Lee Van Cleef was missing a finger had it not been for the close up during the showdown on his hand. They could have put a hand model in for that...but they didnt. Little things like that make me put it right up there with one of the best movies of all time.
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All the points supporting the reason for your favourite of the the three are well made : I agree with these points.
FOFD is of course the original , but there are moments which stretch credulity a bit too far.
Could TMWNN spend a long evening as a guest of the Rojos and make them believe that he really was drunk?
As for the final shoot-out : instead of being goaded by TMWNN into firing at the heart , why did Ramon not have the sense to go for a head shot?
He helps the woman and child,so we are left with the impression of a man who,whilst mercenary, has a sense of justice and decency.
For those of us brought up on Cooper and Wayne , that's important to help us accept the "anti-hero".
GBU was the "epic" of the three : it has the feel of a "big" movie , with its wonderful score , the long-range shots and the Civil War background.
But in this movie , we do not see much evidence of TMWNN displaying altruism : he is a criminal who - for a price - helps others escape justice.
Sure , he kills the evil Setenza , but that is in order to secure the treasure, without any apparent higher moral purpose.
The only real sense of him having any decency is in what he does not do - namely, he does not cheat Tuco out of his share.
But can one attribute qualities of character to a person for the bad that they do not do?
Eli Wallach's hammed-up performance is a real treat : he just about 'steals' the movie.
I voted for FAFDM as my favourite. As a viewer , the vengeance motif appears to me the strongest here , as we know exactly the reason for Mortimer's pursuit of the villain . Gian Maria Volonte's El Indio is pure evil : to me , the act of killing a mother and child marks him as even worse than Ramon in slaughtering the soldiers in FFOD.
TMWNN does not seem to know what El Indio did to Tomaso and family , but of course he has a good idea of Mortimer's motivation.
He seems happy to have helped him in his pursuit of vengeance.
I cannot quite explain why I believe this. Maybe it's TMWNN's curiosity about the photo in the watch , as we see him interested in something for non-mercenary reasons?
Despite the nastiness in the movie , it is also full of humour - too many examples to mention , but as you have all seen it , there is no need for me to list them.
The relationship between Mortimer and TMWNN is fascinating : this is the only one of three movies where our "hero" is challenged by a decent-minded man of comparable ability. For much of the movie , I felt that Mortimer was the more dominant character , due to being a bit smarter than TMWNN , but the latter re-asserts himself - just like in all good Westerns ! - in the final scene.
I suppose it is fun to critique the trilogy , but I do not want to overdo it : simple fact is , all three movies were rollicking good entertainment !
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Good post, thank you Marcus AF, and welcome to the Board!
One comment about the No Name character in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: He does have one moment in which we see his character as "the good," and that is when he comforts the young dying soldier by giving him a puff of his cigar and covering him with his coat. Of course, he then steals the soldier's poncho, but by that time the boy no longer needs it.
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I voted for FAFDM as my favourite. As a viewer , the vengeance motif appears to me the strongest here , as we know exactly the reason for Mortimer's pursuit of the villain . Gian Maria Volonte's El Indio is pure evil : to me , the act of killing a mother and child marks him as even worse than Ramon in slaughtering the soldiers in FFOD.
TMWNN does not seem to know what El Indio did to Tomaso and family , but of course he has a good idea of Mortimer's motivation.
He seems happy to have helped him in his pursuit of vengeance.
I cannot quite explain why I believe this. Maybe it's TMWNN's curiosity about the photo in the watch , as we see him interested in something for non-mercenary reasons?
Despite the nastiness in the movie , it is also full of humour - too many examples to mention , but as you have all seen it , there is no need for me to list them.
The relationship between Mortimer and TMWNN is fascinating : this is the only one of three movies where our "hero" is challenged by a decent-minded man of comparable ability. For much of the movie , I felt that Mortimer was the more dominant character , due to being a bit smarter than TMWNN , but the latter re-asserts himself - just like in all good Westerns ! - in the final scene.
I suppose it is fun to critique the trilogy , but I do not want to overdo it : simple fact is , all three movies were rollicking good entertainment !
Agreed!Thanks Marcus,could not say it better myself O0
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If Leone would had just shot the 3 way shootout and nothing else it would still be the best, besides the fact Wallach stole the whole movie.
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Having watched Eastwood's last 3 westerns recently, I was considering watching his first 3 again soon which happens to be these Leone westerns mentioned in this thread. I find it very difficult to choose, really. I could easily say the last one because it is an incredibly great western and maybe that statement in of itself is my answer but I still can't choose as yet. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to. To me, I consider the Leone westerns not only Eastwood’s best westerns to date, but the best of the genre. Not head-and-hells above all others, but definitely the top of the heap. To quote Sinatra, "King of the hill, top of the heap, A-number ooooone!" Well... 1, 2 and 3 O0
This truly is a great poll but one too hard for me to asnwer right now. Perhaps, if I get the chance to watch these 3 again soon...
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Great post SK!
My favorite has to be GBU! It's just an all around fabulous western. With great acting, great scenary, great plot, great music, love everything about it. Yes it is a bit long. But if you really enjoy a movie and its very entertaining throughout then lenghth doesnt matter to me at all. Matter fact I usually watch it all the way through with no break! This western is a close second to Unforgiven for me!
For A Few dollars more is defenately my second favorite. Very entertaining movie!
And I like Fistful but it's just not at the level of the other two.
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The soldier Eastwood gives his cigar to in GBU to is a dead ringer for Jan Michael-Vincent
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A Few Dollars More is my favorite, by a very narrow margin.
In my humble ( :2funny:) opinion GBU is the BEST film of the three, but not really my favorite. The poll asked for my favorite.
So coming in 3rd for fave is Fistful.
Howzat......
Fistful came across to me as a little more obviously staged production. I did not have the 100% sensation that I had beamed down in the time machine and was witnessing a real event in the real Old West. This both detracted from my appreciation of it as a fine film and unavoidably also detracted from my liking it as a favorite movie.
A Few Dollars More looked to me more gritty and real. This makes it my favorite. And I personally call it a better film than Fistful.
GBU is a marvelously good film, I call it the best of the three in terms of production values. However there are some anachronisms and other gaffes that are distracting to me and prevent me from enjoying the movie to the fullest. So I call it a very good film but not my favorite of the three, by a narrow margin.
As with many other Eastwood films, I like any of them so much that ranking them almost seems sacriligeous.
If the Movie-Monster came and stole 2 of them and left me only one, I would happily watch any one of them I still had.
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The soldier Eastwood gives his cigar to in GBU to is a dead ringer for Jan Michael-Vincent
Hahaha, true, very true!
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Please indulge me.
Who is Jan Michael Vincent?
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Please indulge me.
Who is Jan Michael Vincent?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Who+is+Jan+Michael+Vincent%3F ;)
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Please indulge me.
Who is Jan Michael Vincent?
Here you go, from Wikipedia:
Jan- Michael Vincent (http://)
Other than the tv show Airwolf, his most notable appearance on film is probably The Mechanic, with Charles Bronson.
(https://sp2.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608038279799639434&pid=15.1&P=0)
(https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608011470612400636&pid=15.1&P=0)
(https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.607996429641581580&pid=15.1&P=0)
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We have a winner!
The winner of the "Please Indulge Me, Who Is Jan Michael Vincent? Contest" is................
JED COOPER!
My personal check for $1 million US tax paid will be in the mail as soon as I can write it without violating the bad-check-law and can squeeze it into my budget. I advise that you do not count on it being within an early or critical time frame.
For all the other participants....Thanx! Gorsh, I didn't know you could look up thangs on the INTERNET. From now on, when I am having a conversation with a friend, instead of using their question as an entree to my friendly comment in response, I can tell my friend..."Look it up!". This is a great relief to me, taking a lot of stress off my shoulders about my inadequacy to interact in human social relationships.
Now I gotta somehow find my GBU DVD and indulge myself in watching this interesting bit of information. You never know when the smallest bit of information can be vitally important.
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We have a winner!
The winner of the "Please Indulge Me, Who Is Jan Michael Vincent? Contest" is................
JED COOPER!
My personal check for $1 million US tax paid will be in the mail as soon as I can write it without violating the bad-check-law and can squeeze it into my budget. I advise that you do not count on it being within an early or critical time frame.
For all the other participants....Thanx! Gorsh, I didn't know you could look up thangs on the INTERNET. From now on, when I am having a conversation with a friend, instead of using their question as an entree to my friendly comment in response, I can tell my friend..."Look it up!". This is a great relief to me, taking a lot of stress off my shoulders about my inadequacy to interact in human social relationships.
Now I gotta somehow find my GBU DVD and indulge myself in watching this interesting bit of information. You never know when the smallest bit of information can be vitally important.
Ok, I'll hold off on booking that vacation trip to Hawaii. 8)
Remember, Perry said that the guy in GBU is a 'dead ringer' for Jan-Michael Vincent, so it isn't actually him. I agree, though, they do look very much alike.
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Remember, Perry said that the guy in GBU is a 'dead ringer' for Jan-Michael Vincent, so it isn't actually him. I agree, though, they do look very much alike.
Wow, did THIS take a long time to find! Here's the soldier Blondie gives his cigar to near the end of the film. Best I could find.
(https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608030269695001556&pid=15.1&P=0)
A couple more...
(http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/TGTBTU05-e1298013072415-300x152.jpg) (http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/TGTBTU07-e1298014010452-300x154.jpg)
Here's the source:
Chud.com/Moments That Matter: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
(http://www.chud.com/38076/moments-that-matter-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/)
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.......Actually, Jan-Michael Vincent did some very good work in the 70's. He did a TV Movie in 1970 called Tribes with Darrin McGavin which he got kudos for.
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I'm a bit surprised with the results of the poll though! There's only seven votes, but still... none for For a Few Dollars More? I prefer that one to A Fistful of Dollars. And really, I like Fistful a lot too. I remember at one point Matt used to say he liked For a Few Dollars More the best.
I started to type pretty much that exact sentence before I finished reading your post!
:) Gone, but not forgotten! It warms the heart.
And sadly, I voted in the poll before even reading the responses, and even I didn't vote for For a Few Dollars More. For a while there, it was my favorite, but after a few more viewings of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it blew it away. I'm more of a GBU fan now.
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Who is Jan Michael Vincent?? WHO IS JAN MICHAEL VINCENT!!!!!!
My GOD!!!!!
Hes...
....ummmmm....
yeah who is Jan Michael Vincent?
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Whoever he is, I can assure you he'd be happy to know SOMEONE is talking about him.
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can anyone confirm if the actor actually was Jan Michael Vincent?
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can anyone confirm if the actor actually was Jan Michael Vincent?
No, it's not him. And I don't think there's any resemblance either, except in the most superficial way.
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Of course there is a resemblance though I am better looking.
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I've been watching the trilogy again lately and my opinion has changed a little with For A Few Dollars More. I still love it but it seems like the soundtrack is overwhelming at times. Otherwise, the teaming of Lee Van Cleef and Eastwood was perfect. I do love the music to this trilogy and it would be nice to see a special edition make it's way to market. I came across an extended soundtrack of A Fistful Of Dollars on Spotify recently, a pleasant surprise. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly remains my favorite, but only the original version.
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For a Few Dollars More is my favorite. I thought it moved quicker then the other two which were a bit slow for me. I am not a huge fan of the Trilogy but I do like them.
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For a Few Dollars More for me. It's almost a tie with GBU but still.. FAFDM was my first touch to Eastwood's work and it has remained one of my all-time favorites. I agree with Richard Earl on the opinion that in FAFDM the story runs faster, and I like the story better somehow.
And a girl will always remember her first time, right? ;D
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You are too much Satu! :)
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For a Few Dollars More. Mortimer and Indio take this one to another level. I've stated on the Sergio Leone Board that i feel its better than The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Tighter and a better script...
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The three Man With No Name films are all so perfect that I'd rate each of them a 10/10. For Clint to travel halfway across the world to make a severely low budget western in Italy, and transition from the Rowdy Yates character (a wide-eyed naive cowplunk sidekick on a TV western), to perhaps the most iconic figure ever created on film, is remarkable. Where'd that come from? Leone didn't envision Manco that way -- we know this since Clint took the script and removed most of his dialogue, and put together the iconic wardrobe himself. A Fistful of Dollars is lean, making every moment count. The score -- woah. It was magic. Eastwood, Leone and Morricone would come from virtual obscurity to be among the world's greatest actors, directors, and composers by creating this monumental film that's as significant as A Trip to the Moon, and the first talkies.
Then, they take the magic to the next level.... For a Few Dollars More. They add in another second complex anti-hero in Mortimer. It's another epic film, just slightly more epic than the last. The hat scene not only provides some comic relief, but it builds the mythology between these two characters, and their scenes would inspire films for the next 60+ years. But it's not enough to have two iconic characters in one film, they needed a villain. So they bring in Indio... how can they make evil look so cool? How are they able to create a shred of sympathy over a rapist murderer? Had Westerns ever provided so much character development prior to this film?
But... when we get to the third film ... there's no other explanation. In God-time, 1966 was the 8th day, and He brought us The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. God saw the script, and wanting to add a little dash of His humor (He had just had a bit of fun creating Giraffes and Squid and was still in a humorous state of mind), He added this:
TUCO: God is with us because he hates the Yanks too! Hurrah!
BLONDIE: God is not on our side 'cause he hates idiots also.
And then He saw it was good, and Earth was complete. If you mute GBU anywhere along the course of the film, and you strain hard enough, you can hear a heavenly choir singing Hallelujah. God is Great.
So I have to go with God on this one... the best Leone film is obviously The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 8)
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Thanks, Matt! (But Clint's character is only called Manco in For a Few Dollars More.)
But other than that tiny quibble, I think I agree with you almost word for word. :)
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(But Clint's character is only called Manco in For a Few Dollars More.)
:-X My bad. You'll have to mark this up.
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:-X My bad. You'll have to mark this up.
Oh, I'm keeping score! :knuppel2: ;D
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The three Man With No Name films are all so perfect that I'd rate each of them a 10/10. For Clint to travel halfway across the world to make a severely low budget western in Italy, and transition from the Rowdy Yates character (a wide-eyed naive cowplunk sidekick on a TV western), to perhaps the most iconic figure ever created on film, is remarkable. Where'd that come from? Leone didn't envision Manco that way -- we know this since Clint took the script and removed most of his dialogue, and put together the iconic wardrobe himself. A Fistful of Dollars is lean, making every moment count. The score -- woah. It was magic. Eastwood, Leone and Morricone would come from virtual obscurity to be among the world's greatest actors, directors, and composers by creating this monumental film that's as significant as A Trip to the Moon, and the first talkies.
Then, they take the magic to the next level.... For a Few Dollars More. They add in another second complex anti-hero in Mortimer. It's another epic film, just slightly more epic than the last. The hat scene not only provides some comic relief, but it builds the mythology between these two characters, and their scenes would inspire films for the next 60+ years. But it's not enough to have two iconic characters in one film, they needed a villain. So they bring in Indio... how can they make evil look so cool? How are they able to create a shred of sympathy over a rapist murderer? Had Westerns ever provided so much character development prior to this film?
But... when we get to the third film ... there's no other explanation. In God-time, 1966 was the 8th day, and He brought us The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. God saw the script, and wanting to add a little dash of His humor (He had just had a bit of fun creating Giraffes and Squid and was still in a humorous state of mind), He added this:
And then He saw it was good, and Earth was complete. If you mute GBU anywhere along the course of the film, and you strain hard enough, you can hear a heavenly choir singing Hallelujah. God is Great.
So I have to go with God on this one... the best Leone film is obviously The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 8)
Excellent write up. I almost hate to disagree because your review was soo good. I disagree that they were perfect films. I AGREE that each was iconic for different reasons. All three were huge films and rewrote in their own way the art of making westerns.
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God's creations are always perfect, and GBU is no different. But, if it was me, working with God, Leone, Eastwood and Morricone on this... I would put in Gian Maria Volonte as the Captain.
(https://i.imgur.com/ItKu9Sm.png)
Just because I would have liked to see him in all three films, and since Leone didn't think he was humorous enough to be Tuco (he was right) -- this would have been a good role for him.
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But Aldo Giuffrè was so good in that part! I don't think Volontè could have done it any better.
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He really resembles George Clooney. But, sure -- he's very good in the part. But, I would have enjoyed Volonte being in the cast again.
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God's creations are always perfect, and GBU is no different. But, if it was me, working with God, Leone, Eastwood and Morricone on this... I would put in Gian Maria Volonte as the Captain.
(https://i.imgur.com/ItKu9Sm.png)
Just because I would have liked to see him in all three films, and since Leone didn't think he was humorous enough to be Tuco (he was right) -- this would have been a good role for him.
Nothing against the actor who played the Captain, but Volonte would have been good in that role!
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Totally agree Matt... I love em all.. I love the simplicity of the first and just how different it is/was from the American westerns of the day.. As a kid I couldn't stand John Wayne and hardly ever seemed to see my dads fave Gary Cooper on tv.. When these films showed up they blew me away, they seemed so fresh and modern in a way.... Seeing it again recently that the impact of this film hasn't diminished at all..
The second takes it it all up a couple of notches and I love the relationship between Eastwood and Van Cleef's characters.. and that ending WOW !!
The third... Perfection.. Tarentino was once quoted as saying his aim was to at least equal The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.. That just aint gonna happen..
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Totally agree Matt... I love em all.. I love the simplicity of the first and just how different it is/was from the American westerns of the day.. As a kid I couldn't stand John Wayne and hardly ever seemed to see my dads fave Gary Cooper on tv.. When these films showed up they blew me away, they seemed so fresh and modern in a way.... Seeing it again recently that the impact of this film hasn't diminished at all..
The second takes it it all up a couple of notches and I love the relationship between Eastwood and Van Cleef's characters.. and that ending WOW !!
The third... Perfection.. Tarentino was once quoted as saying his aim was to at least equal The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.. That just aint gonna happen..
They were great films, but Leone's best film was Once Upon A Time in the West O0 I will say this: Without the previous 3 films, there would have been no Once Upon A time in the West...