The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Bad and ugly pretty much sum up Sergio Leone's operatic masterwork's distribution and home video history. Despite the director's protests, 18 minutes were cut for the film's American release, and for years it could only be seen on home video in an abridged pan-and-scan version that brutalized Leone's screen compositions. This is the eagerly anticipated restored version, complete with those missing 18 minutes, that played theatrically last year to rapturous acclaim. The third film in Leone's spaghetti western trilogy starring Clint Eastwood, this sweeping Civil War-era epic revolves around three men---Eastwood's bounty hunter Blondie (the Good), Lee Van Cleef's hired killer Angel Eyes (the Bad), and Eli Wallach's Mexican bandit Tuco--who all seek a fortune in Confederate gold buried in a cemetery. While the story itself has considerable substance, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is also a triumph of Leone's signature and singular style (with his long takes and drawn-out armed confrontations, Leone was the anti-Michael Bay). Boasting a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer, GBU is presented here on a two-disc set that also contains a treasure trove of supplemental material, including audio commentary by Time film critic Richard Schickel, the documentaries “Leone's West” and “The Leone Style,” a tribute to composer Ennio Morricone (who was to Leone what Bernard Herrmann was to Hitchcock), a segment about the film's restoration and reconstruction (Eastwood and Wallach were called back to re-dub some of their dialogue), and deleted scenes, including a painful-to-watch extension of the scene in which Tuco is tortured while an oblivious army band plays on. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—May 26, 2009—MGM, 161 min., R, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly sports a great transfer with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (one by film critic historian Richard Schickel; the other by historian Christopher Frayling), “The Leone Style” featurette on director Sergio Leone (24 min.), the 20-minute “making-of” featurette “Leone's West,” the 20-minute “Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone” featurette on the composer, “The Man Who Lost the Civil War” historical featurette (15 min.), an 11-minute featurette on “Reconstructing” the film, 11 minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: one of the all-time classic Westerns makes a glorious debut in Blu.][Blu-ray/DVD Review—Aug. 22, 2017—Kino Lorber, 162 min., R, DVD: $19.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly features a fine transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks on the Blu-ray release. Extras include three audio commentaries (by film historian Tim Lucas; film critic Richard Schickel; and Sergio Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling), the production featurettes “The Leone Style” (24 min.), “Leone's West” from 2004 (20 min.), “Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone” with the composer (20 min.), “The Man Who Lost the Civil War” (15 min.), and “On Set” (8 min.), as well as deleted scenes (12 min.), a reconstruction segment (11 min.), a promotional materials segment (9 min.), vignettes (3 min.), and a brief alternate scene. Bottom line: Leone's spaghetti Western classic looks sharp in this 4k restoration.]