Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. This time we’ll be taking a look at one of the greatest westerns ever committed to celluloid now available for the first time in glorious UHD from Kino Lorber. I’m of course talking about Sergio Leone’s mystical tribute to the old west: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The majestic craftsmanship of director Sergio Leone was never laid out more transparently than in the visual narrative framework for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. There’s a clever manipulation being captured within the frame that gives the perspective of the principal characters, which in turn, becomes our own. The opening set up never allows us to be ahead of the action on screen. We’re watching events unfold under the lens of an ambushed confederate soldier and witnessing the sadistic bounty hunter Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) interrogate him and the brutal aftermath that awaits his family all fueled by sheer greed.
There truly are no “good guys” in this iconic western masterpiece. Clint Eastwood as “the good,” or “Blondie” as who he’s referred to in the film, is the lesser of three evils, but his moral guidelines are dubious at best. Essentially, this tale unfolds with three desperate criminals with varying degrees of moral guidelines all hunting for the same buried treasure. Leone isn’t necessarily judging them and neither is the audience. In fact, one could argue that Tuco (Eli Wallace), considered “the ugly” in this scenario, is often the most empathetic. His actions are often equal to the morally reprehensible choices made by Angel Eyes, but those characteristics often come to play when he’s been wronged. Walking endless miles with dehydration amidst the relentless dessert sun tends to do that to a person. Also, his personality shows that he has feelings, which clearly Angel Eyes does not. His reluctant loyalty to Blondie is always playing against the odds, but we’re rooting for them the same way we root for characters in buddy cop movies that typically begins at odds with one another.
L-R: Eli Wallach as Tuco and Clint Eastwood as Blondie in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Photo not representative of the 4K UHD release.
All of Leone’s westerns are grandly operatic and seem to exist in a world that’s completely separate than what would be found in a film from John Ford. His extravagantly beautiful vistas spread across his cinematic canvas are the perfect juxtaposition to the perilous civilization that his loathsome characters inhabit.
Ennio Morricone’s alluring score fluctuates between melancholic to the sensational echoes of triumph. If the post dubbed dialogue were omitted from Leone’s grand opus it would still be a mesmerizing work of art. It’s cinema in its purest form, and it is a reminder of why the work of Chaplin and Keaton still remains exceptionally potent today.
The patience for this stunning achievement to be available in Ultra High Definition is justly rewarded in this home 4K release from Kino Lorber. Practically every frame is a sight to behold and the stunning Civil War battle that precedes the famous standoff in the graveyard is a stunning revelation. This release comes recommended with very high regards.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Bonus Features:
Disc 1: 4KUHD
- 162-Minute Theatrical Cut – Over 30 hours of extensive shot-by-shot color grading and a 4K scan of a 1967 IB tech print as the secondary source to restore the theatrical cut to its original glory.
- Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
- Extended Cut – Deleted, Extended & Alternate Transition Scenes
- Newly Restored English 2.0 Mono Audio
- English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround
- Optional English Subtitles
Disc 2: Blu-ray
- 162-Minute Theatrical Cut – Over 30 hours of extensive shot-by-shot color grading and a 4K scan of a 1967 IB tech print as the secondary source to restore the theatrical cut to its original glory.
- Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
- Leone’s West: Making of Documentary
- Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 1
- Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 2
- The Leone Style: On Sergio Leone Featurette
- The Man Who Lost the Civil War: Civil War Documentary
- Reconstruction GBU (Extended Cut)
- Deleted Scene 1: Extended Tuco Torture scene
- Deleted Scene 2: The Socorro Sequence – A Reconstruction
- Deleted Scene 3: Skeletons in the Desert
- Deleted Scene 4: Extended Torture Scene
- Vignette 1: Uno, Due, Tre
- Vignette 2: Italian Lunch
- Vignette 3: New York Accent
- Vignette 4: Gun in Holster
- Alternate Scene: The Optical Flip
- TRAILERS FROM HELL with Ernest Dickerson
- GBU on the Set – Image Gallery
- Promoting GBU – Image Gallery
- Original U.S. Theatrical Trailer
- Newly Restored Original German Theatrical Trailer
- Original French Theatrical Trailer
- GBU – Radio Spot
- A Fistful of Dollars – Trailer
- For a Few Dollars More – Trailer 1
- For a Few Dollars More – Trailer 2
- A Fistful of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More – Burning at Both Ends Trailer
- A Fistful of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More – Burning at Both Ends Radio Spot
- Newly Restored 2.0 Mono
- English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround
- Optional English Subtitles
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Kino Lorber beginning April 27th, 2021.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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