The most famous movie people haven't seen. This is one of those movies that everyone has heard of, everyone knows what it is, but few have actually sat down to watch it. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone, now before we start I should explain what a spaghetti western is. A SW is a sub genre of westerner that started to pop up in Italy during the 60's, the main difference between a SW and a traditional western is that SW's are a lot more over the top and ridiculous. They almost take place in a fantasy world where everything defy's logic. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is actually the final film in the Dollars trilogy (the first two being a Fistful of dollars and For a few more dollars). The western has always been an American genre, but Sergio Leone actually did westerns better than anyone else. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly takes place during the civil war in the southern US. Two con artists, Tuco and Clint Eastwood's character (who's name isn't given but is refereed to as Blonde), pull a scam where Tuco poses as a wanted man and Blonde collects the award money. Before Tuco is to be hung Blonde shoots the rope with a well placed shot freeing him. After one of these jobs goes bad Blonde decides to leave Tuco about 25 miles in the dessert. Tuco seeks revenge and kidnaps Blonde at gunpoint and plans on returning the favor. He makes Blonde walk across a desert, if he makes it he lives but if he refuses he'll be shot. After about 2 days of walking they come upon a wagon containing a bunch of dead confederate soldiers. One of them is still alive and tells Tuco of two thousand dollars in confederate gold buried in a graveyard. He tells Tuco what cemetery it's at but before he says what grave it's in he asks for water. Tuco goes to get some but when he comes back he sees Blonde talking to him, but when Tuco gets over there the soldier is dead. So Tuco knows what cemetery and Blonde knows what grave, as much as they hate each other they decide to use each other to get the gold. I consider The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to one of the only truly perfect movies, I consider it to be one of the top five films of all time. It's one of those movies that follows the same road as Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space odyssey, actions speak louder than words. There isn't much talking in this movie, especially from Eastwood. It lets the setting and style tell the story. And no movie does it better than this one. While this may be the final film in a trilogy you don't need to watch the others to know what happens in this. The others are great but they aren't even on the same playing field as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Of all the movies I've talked about, of all the movies I've recommended, I can honestly say none of them are as good as this movie. And while it may not be for everyone, of any of the suggestions I've made up to this point please give The Good, the Bad and the Ugly a try.
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