The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

(Note: This review refers to the Blu-ray version of the DVD.)

The "good" in the title of Sergio Leone's operatic spaghetti Western is a relative term. Shot on empty streets of clapboard towns and stark landscapes of endless, sun-blasted deserts and captured on the wide CinemaScope frame, it's a cynical, ruthlessly violent Western of mercenaries out for no one but themselves. The guns ring out in cartoonish exaggeration, and the eclectic, electric score by Ennio Morricone pitches the film between myth and modernity. And as cool as Clint Eastwood plays it, steely-eyed Lee Van Cleef is even cooler. The Blu-ray release features the reconstructed version of the film, along with the commentaries and featurettes of the previous DVD release.