{"id":76712,"date":"2023-11-30T14:41:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=76712"},"modified":"2023-11-30T14:41:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:41:34","slug":"off-the-shelf-reviews-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=76712","title":{"rendered":"Off The Shelf Reviews: ‘The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By CONNOR KEATING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Off The Shelf Reviews – the series where I review anything (excluding monster movies) that comes out of my DVD collection. To kick things off, we\u2019re starting with a classic of Italian cinema: 1966\u2019s \u201cThe Good, The Bad and The Ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film follows three men in the midst of the American Civil War. First, there\u2019s the pair of \u201cfriends\u201d who are always looking to stab each other in the back, the clever and skilled marksman Blondie and his buddy Tuco, the wanted criminal. Then there\u2019s Angel Eyes, the brutal bounty hunter who always finishes the job. The three learn of a $200,000 cash box buried in a cemetery. Angel Eyes is hunting Bill Carson, the man who knew where it was hidden, but discovers that Blondie and Tuco ran into Carson just before his death, and he told Tuco the name of the cemetery and Blondie the name on the grave where it\u2019s buried. Now the three men have to work together, backstab and outsmart each other, and race to the cemetery for their prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premise is pretty simple; however, it takes a bit for the plot to get going. The film has a runtime of 161 minutes, and much of the first half is spent setting up the characters and the dynamics between them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tuco manages to gain the upper hand on Blondie. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Blondie makes for a pretty good stoic protagonist. While he certainly isn\u2019t a \u201cgood guy\u201d as the title suggests, he has some code of ethics to him that is shown throughout the film. Much like the samurai he was based on (Sanjuro Kuwabatake from \u201cYojimbo,\u201d which was the direct inspiration for \u201cA Fistful of Dollars\u201d), Blondie doesn\u2019t just brute force his way through everything. He\u2019s smart and knows when to hold information and deceive his enemies. Then there\u2019s Tuco, Blondie\u2019s partner in crime. He\u2019s pretty much the exact opposite of him. Tuco isn\u2019t as bright, he\u2019s loud, and brute forces his way through things; however, he\u2019s still very capable and dangerous. He gets the most development over the course of the film as he grows closer to Blondie, and runs into his own brother who scolds him for his life choices and causes him to reflect a bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there\u2019s Angel Eyes who makes for a great villain. He\u2019s a bounty hunter who will take any job and make sure he sees it through. Unlike Blondie, he has no remorse. This is perfectly established during his introduction at the beginning of the film. The three of them are awesome and make for great characters. They\u2019re cool, they\u2019re dynamic, and they\u2019ll do almost anything for the $200,000 dollars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, the film has a pretty long runtime and is a bit slow. There are a number of scenes that go on for quite a while, but I think it works. Never again will we get a soup-eating scene as suspenseful as Angel Eyes\u2019 introduction. It was a lengthy scene with very little dialogue for the majority of it. And, of course, there\u2019s also the intense standoff during the climax. Ultimately the drawn-out scenes work to better the film and raise the tension and suspense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One aspect of the film that isn\u2019t talked about much is the fact that it takes place during the Civil War and that the war plays a pretty big role in the story and the themes. The film\u2019s title is almost ironic, painting Blondie as inherently good, but he definitely isn\u2019t. So there\u2019s this theme running throughout the film of \u2018nothing is as black and white as it seems\u2019 and that can be felt in the war scenes. The union may be fighting for a better cause, but it\u2019s war, and there are plenty of bad people on both sides, and there\u2019s suffering on both sides as well. Tuco and Blondie disguise themselves as both Confederate and Union soldiers at different points in the film, so we get to see what it\u2019s like for both sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tuco and Blondie end up in a Union prison camp after disguising themselves as Confederates. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the film has plenty of dour scenes, particularly around the war, it also has plenty of fun and action-packed sequences. One of my favorites has to be when Tuco walks into a gun store and just starts taking the guns apart and making his own revolver. The gun store owner really helps make that scene, he\u2019s great. Blondie and Tuco also play off of each other well, giving us lots of great and funny exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action scenes are unlike most today. Here, they tend to be slow and cautious, then erupt with sudden bursts of action as one character quickly draws his revolver and fires. What really carries a lot of the film though is the music. There\u2019s a reason why one-half of the soundtrack is synonymous with cowboys, and the other half is synonymous with truck commercials. It\u2019s all great stuff and very unique, helping it to stand out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Tuco: \u201cSee you soon, i-i-idi\u2026\u201d Blondie: \u201cIdiots. It\u2019s for you.\u201d\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The three men have a standoff in the middle of the cemetery.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yeah, \u201cThe Good, The Bad and The Ugly\u201d is a fantastic film. It has a simple but fun plot done in an interesting way with great characters who play off each other well, giving us one of the greatest westerns of all time. I give this film 9 \u201cbullets left\u201d out of 10.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connor Keating is a junior at Fort Hays State University, studying digital media and journalism. Connor is an old-school movie fan, particularly Japanese monster movies, and is an avid DVD collector.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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