This movie is a magnet for copyright claims, so special thanks to my supporters on Patreon for helping make these videos possible! I'll talk more about this video in my commentary and podcast, exclusively on Patreon. What's another movie scene where the music is the main character? 👀
@@RealPixels Keeping it MCU; both parts of Deadpool & Wolverine's finale, the fight against the Deadpool Corps & the aforementioned guilt-ridden protagonists holding hands (and the timelines) in a desperate struggle to save the multiverse set to Madonna's "Like A Prayer" jump out for me. Listening to both the Battle Mix and Choir versions in the weeks since immediately induces all the feelings of heart-pumping anticipation, joy and excitement I felt in the theater. The "And it feels like...home" with the beat drop effectively gets across that feeling of finally as Hugh/Logan finally puts on the cowl.
Although the film isn't on the same level, the execution of Paul Newmans character in Road to Perdition was what first came to mind. The visual contrast of dark and light, along with the use of ambient sound volume changes and a simple piano tune really build this scene for just a few words of dialogue long time fan, first time commentor
How Morricone did not win the Academy Award for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is shocking for me. For me, it is simply the best musical score for a movie ever.
Just for explanation: Inspite all its three main stars being Americans and delivering their dialogue in English the movie itself was entirely an Italian production and therefore wasn't allowed to compete in the annual oscars ceremony at the time. A movie must at least partially be co-produced by an American production company to be eligible for any regular Oscars. The AMPAS and the Academy Awards were originally created to point out and honor outstanding achievements of the American movie industry exclusively, thus the Oscars from their origins are actually NOT an international and open film festival like Cannes, Berlin or Venice for instance. Therefore it was simply formally impossible for Morricone to win an Oscar for this iconic score or even get a nomination, even if the soundtrack went to become a megaseller in the USA too after the release of the movie there. In fact only a few years after WW2 and to compete with these international film festivals the AMPAS introduced the 'Best Foreign Language Picture'-category (today: 'Best International Picture') in order to open the Oscar event also for foreign movies a little bit.
Perhaps only Quentin Tarantino, but then one must not underestimated that Quentin Tarantino's movies are actually completely and utterly fully inspired by Sergio Leone, and he adapted that style fully with his own 'twist' to it. And just like Sergio Leone made a trilogy, his own 'universe', all of Tarantino's movies are actually 'connected' and make up one big universe. It doesn't however tell one big story. That 's where Leone was legendary. And it would not have been the same without Morricone's music. It's cinematic perfection. It's not just a movie, it's truly a story. Many 'movies' today are just that - movies. That's okay, but it's just that. But these movies truly told a story, and the way that it did, it made all the 'involved' actors permanently legendary with it too. Clint Eastwood 'Blondie' essentially is the equivalent back then, bigger even if you wish, how we (now) look at Robert Downey Junior as Iron Man. He has played many great movies and characters. He's now even going to play 'Dr Doom'. But he is ,in soul, Iron Man, forever. When you see Clint Eastwood, you only essentially see him as 2 people : The man with no name (Blondie), and as Dirty Harry. And that character somehow isn't too far off 'Blondie' even. It's not as one-dimensional as for example Dwayne Johnson. Clint has actual talent. I also think that Dr Doom is going to be a lot like Iron Man. Even though it's in-universe. Clint easily is the most remembered, but the other actors were legendary in their own rights too and the movie would not have been as it was without them. It was somewhat perhaps like Terminator 1. The right people. Terminator would not have been the same without those three either. And though the music really fit there too - it was better in Terminator 2, though - the epitomy of it all still is TGTBATU. What I also like is that there isn't a remake. All it needs is talented people making a 8k or plus 'improvement' of the quality. That's a lot of work because it's not just upping the pixels. The depth of it needs to be improved, the color pallette, the sound, everything. But it doesn't need any changes in itself. It'll be the most legendary movie in history, not unlike 'Shakespeare'.
@@manoahvanderwolf3259 Tarantino films are great fun but in terms of artistry he doesn't come close to Leone. Tarantino films are almost like hybrid tribute/ parodies of good movies. I think Jackie Brown is his most legit good film.
I went to Sad Hill in 2023. It's in the middle of nowhere near Contreras in Northern Spain. There was a fan-led effort to restore the site and it looks great. No one did it for pay, and no one is asking for money to visit. I went there with the sound track in my head phones. I noticed the couple other folks had headphones on too. I'm sure they had Morricone's soundtrack playing. Thanks for the treatise. good job. EDIT: I've seen this movie 40 times. Re-watching this treatise was the first time I noticed that the half-assed mausoleum A: existed in the first place B: disappears during the shoot out sequence. (It's not recreated at the site, either)
I am so emotional about this movie and this music I can't write about it now. I had just gotten married, it was 1968, I was 25. I had just come back from my first tour in the Vietnam War, we were living in a suburb in tropical Miami, my wife Lucia and I used to sneak into the drive-in movie near our house on foot through a jungle carrying our fold-up chairs, she was game for any kind of fun, she was a veteran of the Peace Corps. We loved movies but we had never heard of this one. I watched, stunned, thinking I was asleep and hallucinating, a feeling I often had in the war. I spent the next several years trying to tell people about this movie, and almost nobody would listen. You young folk have no idea how this movie blasted us (those of us whose brains weren't clotted) away when it was new. I'm 81 years old now and have watched it dozens of times via the internet. I've gotten "used to" it now, it's not mind-blowing any more to me it's just a damn good movie. This movie was one of the things that started Lucia on her career as a popular writer of Western novels. Me, it's just part of my bones.
Perfectly understandable.in it's day it was a mind blowing cinema adventure and still is. But needs to be seen in a theater to be fully experienced. A multifaceted story of the horrendous upheaval of American Civil war.
Italian here, I first watched this movie by chance when I was a teenager (mid 80s) on TV on a late night rerun as I could not sleep. I was completely blown away, yes blasted, exactly.
@@cl8804 I know you're just trolling, but I'll bite.... The OP is obviously male, given he was drafted into the Vietnam war, so how is it 'kinda gay' to sneak into the cinema with your girlfriend..? To me it sounds like a better love story than Twilight.
“It was a standoff between the good and the bad… as it always is.” Damn, I have watched this movie as a kid and throughout and never seen it framed this way, good shit mane
To be honest, I don't easily buy that it's a battle between Good & Evil. Blondie is fairly amoral, and sharing your cheroot with a dying man and leaving your coat doesn't suddenly make him a paragon of virtue. He's just seen men die at a bridge that served no strategic purpose and was feeling raw about it. Angel Eyes was a real threat, and had a posse. Tuco had an empty gun. Blondie is Chaotic Neutral at best. The "laughing ghosts" thing is artsy shit that I could imagine Ridley Scott saying. I am perfectly happy to believe Leone said it, but I totally believe he was just waxing rhapsodic for some interviewer.
@@guyjperson I would say that Blondie is more indifferent, which is your average man. Your average man is neither fully good nor bad, but the point is they are NOT bad; and average indifferent men often rise to the occasion to do good things and be good people. He’s also not good in the traditional sense, I mean he’s kind of an outlaw; but being good isn’t necessarily just doing good things… he’s good hearted, tuco is just as good or evil as blondie imo. Wickedness is such an ginormous cancer, that any opposition to it is in itself good.
@@brandonpeters1618 But IS Blondie good hearted? He steals from multiple decent towns. He turns on his partner, leaving him to die, though the partner did nothing to him. In the movie, showed compassion to one dying boy. Angel Eyes is respectful to a severely injured soldier. Hes not good. Also, I disagree that the average man is indifferent. Some men are ineffectual and meek. I don't think the bulk of men are indifferent to others.
@@guyjperson I wold even call Blondie as a lawful evil. Blondie abide to law and co-operates with law forces for his own good, publicly. On the other hand when he has possibility to gain some more when going against it, with no repercussions or witnesses, he will do just that. He don't seem to care much about people foolishly following orders, yet he has some kind of his own morals and values, he respects certain characteristics. When the soldier decides to go against his orders and destroy the bridge, he respects that. Tuco would be Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil, he doesn't have grudge against someone who used him as long as he can get something out of it, but when betrayed he will do anything to take revenge, like anything. Angel Eyes would be Chaotic Evil - he doesn't care about anything and anyone but just his own goals. He uses law and people, manipulates, doesn't hesitate to kill even bystanders that don't poses any threat to him (his opening scene).
I think you meant to finish the quote (one of my favourites from the Eastwood library) "Hey Blondieee, you are the son of a thousand fathers; each one of them like you! A BASTARD"
@@MoonlightingJames The quote is from the very last scene of the movie "Hey, Blond! You know what you are! Just a dirty son of a b*ahAHahAHah... wah WAH waaaahhh*
@@MoonlightingJames his quote is from the very last line of the movie, though not quite- “"Hey Blonde..you know what you are? Just a dirty son of a b-🎶wah wah wah!”
I’ll never forget when my dad took me to rent The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from a local store in middle school. My mother, my father and I sat in complete silence and this scene really awakened me to music and film as art. Watching this somehow I knew, I was watching something important and I felt a kinship with my father that made me feel as I’m sure he did when his Uncle brought him to see it in theatres when he was a kid. I didn’t expect this analysis to bring a tear to my eye, but it did. I’ll always appreciate my dad for spending time with me on his busy work schedule, especially to show me films like these.
I first saw this movie in January of 2022 when I went to college in Texas. It was free on TH-cam and I had nothing going on the weekend I moved into my dorms. To say this movie didn't absolutely rock my movie viewing experience would be an understatement, and this scene made the entire thing worth it. I had no concept of time with this movie, it still feels like it's less than 2 hours, what a great film.
The best part about the triello is the fact that it goes on for an eternity, yet flys by- you can really feel the weight of each movement the men make, each glance and each motion to their gun toting the line of death- tldr it’s a fantastic finale to a fantastic movie
There was a video essay that analyzed the editing on this scene, there are much more takes of angel eyes than blondie and tuco, because he knows the two were partners so hes the more vulnerable one. Blondie has less takes and he stares directly at one direction because he knows tuco is unloaded, while angel eyes and tuco flick their eyes between left and right.
@benb-gh3uo It's when great art meets great entertainment. A perfect movie from start to finish. I first watched it on video as a young teenager in the 80s. I was mindblowing how good it was and still is. What followed in the decades after since in terms of movies is largely a big disappointment.
@@THOUGHTCRIME_No1 yeah I’m a younger guy and it’s a shame lots of people my age won’t wanna watch it cuz they cant bother to sit through the 2 1/2 hr runtime
@@benb-gh3uo was thinking the same. If it hasn't got loads of jump cuts, shaky cam and stuff blowing up. Watched this again a couple of summers ago. forgot how long it was - but you just don't notice
Someone once said you could announce a show where James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader) would read a phone book, and it would quickly be sold out. That's how I always felt about this scene. 3 guys staring at each other for nearly 5 minutes. And your attention is absolutely riveted the entire time.
It's amazing how massive that cemetery set was. No visual effects of any kind. They built that entire thing by hand. Amazing work by the set designer and construction crew.
@@guyjperson The Spanish Army also built the bridge that was blown up earlier in the film. They built it twice because when the first explosion of the bridge happened the cameras weren't rolling.
"No visual effects of any kind". Yeah, you are one of those weirdos who uses words without putting effort into understanding what they mean. The very video you are commenting on describes a visual effect in the movie. I'm assuming you're wilfully ignorant to the point of thinking you were talking about CGI? That's really the only way your comment can make sense in any way, again, considering the fact that the very video you are commenting on, objectively speaking, SPECIFICALLY DESCRIBES A VISUAL EFFECT. Too funny. 😂 Open a dictionary someday.
I watched an interview where Leone explained the scene to Morricone and asked for a score that could show the skeletons from the graves were tingling in antecipation of the bloodshed to follow. Quite impressive how he could imagine the whole scene like that
Leone: Uhh...yeah I've got a scene in my head where 3 guys are about to have a duel and it's all exciting and stuff... Morricone: Gotcha, give me half an hour I'll figure something out.
The part where he tries to convince Blondie that his brother was glad to see him is pure class, especially after he'd secretly seen them both argue. Pure class.
This was a gateway movie for me - after you watch it there's a realization that there's another level to how good films can be. It stood out to everything that I saw before it and it set the bar
My father Franco Gaieni was Roberto Cinquini’s assistant editor on this film. After finishing the project, as this wasn’t still known as the great success and masterpiece that it is today, he moved to Milan and helped the industry there to become the go to place for video commercials. He never regretted his decision, as he had great success in Milan, becoming one of the creators of the italian post production powerhouses of the ‘80s and ‘90s, but he always had a kind of a nostalgia recalling the editing of those great movies… and the Dolce Vita in Rome at that time.
On this topic, I recommend the Documentary 'Sad Hill Unearthed' (2017). It follows the fans of 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' who tried and successfully the original set of this scene and restored it while covering the cultural impact of the movie.
I was 5 years old when I went to see my first film in a theater. It was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I was hooked for life, and I spent years trying to recapture the excitement of this film, and in particular these two scenes. I still watch this film, and it has lost nothing over the last 57 years.
Thats also why I love Once Upon a Time in the West. The soundtrack for that movie is mesmerizing and haunting. It really pulls you into the movie and makes you feel what the characters feel.
Yup, thats the best one by far. One lesser known, but also stellar, and has mesmerizing melancholic soundtrack by Morricone, is The Great Silence. Its quite different to many westerns as its set in snowy mountains (opening scene to RDR2 and Tarantinos Heightful 8), but its very unique and good western with bleak atmosphere and suberbly good Morricone soundtrack.
@@samuraidoggy I've heard multiple good things about The Great Silence sadly I've never watched it... It's def on my list to watch tho as soon as I can, that and the hellbenders
Even a singular clip from this movie is enough to make me wanna jump into Red Dead 2, go and do outlaw shit in New Austin, it really is the anthem of the whole western genre.
Too bad that RDR2 doesnt really have any Morricone or Leone feeling to it. Its more modern american western all the way, not this style of spaghetti western at all. Closer to Tarantino than Leone. I would love a Leone style western myself.
@@samuraidoggy It has its own style, it is both a neo-western and an embrace of the old spaghetti westerns, it has always been in the middle because while a lot of the game is nasty, depressing and fairly realistic and grounded, sometimes you get some movie shit like the Braithwaite Manor battle or the attack on Cornwalls oil factory with the natives. It is safe to say that Red Dead has become the modern symbol of the western genre along with movies like Django: Unchained.
@@thirdhandlv4231 Yes, that is well put, I can agree with that. But it doesnt really ever have the "spaghetti" feeling with the characters or feeling. Its always more realistic, than spaghetti western which are more about fantasy than realistic. I think the most "Sergio Leone style" character in RDR2 is Hamish Sinclair, that old dude you go at the end of the game to hunt and fish with and get Buell. That character has certain "romantism" for the western aspect around him and makes him a Spaghetti character of RDR2.
you're either fallen angel or an angel. btw a demon is a fallen angel. so i like your analogy but in this case, Blondie would be an angel. Angels are not 100% good -- Sodom and Gomorrah, killing the first born in Egypt etc.
Try watching this scene muted, you will lose it and turn the volume back up full force. The opera soprano bringing her voice into play only makes it all the more epic, ethereal and heavenly.
As a 7 year-old in the early 70s, god almighty, watching this in my Italian neighbor's garage, lord almighty, we were in LOVE with this movie! Them HORNS!!!!!
@@MrGilRoland I know a good one about music and this movie: it's one of the very few or maybe the only one where the soundtrack was played on set, so you can see the actors react to the same music you're hearing
@@XMarkxyz That really was a good one. I checked and it’s true, the soundtrack was played on set on this movie. There is really no end to the ways Sergio Leone keep surprising even after all this years. Ok, now I’ll give you a good one as well. You know when they finally get to the cemetery and Eli Wallach hits his head on that grave while Clint is shooting him with a cannon? He gets up, and makes a few steps in to the cemetery. At that point a dog enters the scene and barks to him, and Eli act very surprised… it’s because the dog wasn’t scripted, Leone just left it loose without telling anyone, to have a genuine reaction from Wallach.
Hugo Montenegro's cover of the main theme of "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" was played on the radio along with the Beatles and Stones hourly, and it reached No.1 in 1968 competing with the music from the British Invasion. Imagine that! I bought the 8-Track tape which included Montenegro's covers from all the Eastwood & Leone westerns. It was two years before I finally got to see "TGTB&TU." Having not seen the movie, only the cover soundtrack, I thought the The Ecstasy of Gold track was going to be used when the Tuco-tormenting- Blondie- in-the-desert scene came. Montenegro's cover is haunting, dark, and moody and you can see the tumbleweeds and feel the dusty wind blowing. When the original track did come per the above I didn't recognize it at first after listening to the cover for two years! What a grand sound it is. Of course I bought all the soundtracks later after seeing all the movies. I even air-conducted this original Ecstasy of Gold track.☺I still play the original most of the time after all these years over a half a century, and the cover some of the time. I think Montenegro wanted to make the antithesis in spirit to the original so he made it anti-fanfare, and used deep voiced male chants versus the soaring female aria and choir, solemn, and a somewhat simple dead-pan approach, but I still enjoy it when I feel a little melancholy. Upbeat vs. downbeat and slow-tempo. Many artists have covered Morricone and I enjoy just about all of them. Thanx for the video.
Every time i hear that music and i start thinking about the movie, my whole body seems to become activated with inspiration. Never before or since do i think a movie combined adventure with art in such a perfect way.
When I first saw this film , as a young lad, I concentrated on the Hero character, Blondie, but later, I began to appreciate more Eli Wallach's rat like characterisation of Tuco, it's almost a Comedy, as he constantly tries to get the better of Blondie.... 'Where's the owner of that horse, he's tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar and he's Pig !!!'' Perfect casting of all three protagonists. One of very few films I like to watch again.
The thing is that Tuco is really proficient in his own right and he gets the better of just about everyone he meets, except for Blondie and it drives him mad how the other man is always one step ahead.
The movie is more about Tuco than anyone else. His is the only character we learn any of a backstory of--why his is where he is, and why he is who is he. He is the only one to have any family (his brother, the priest), and the only one isn't really one-dimensional. Blondie and Angel Eyes pretty much maintain the same demeanor throughout, Tuco runs the full gamete of emotions. His is the only character that lends one to have hope for--the first time you watch the movie, without knowing the outcome, you start hoping half-way through that he survives. You know Blondie will live, you know Angel Eyes will die, but Tuco is throughout the movie the character you are uncertain of until the end--and even as he is on the chair with the rope around his neck, you are on edge, hopeful he will get out somehow (and thankful Blondie returns to shoot the rope). Wallach and Leone had a very good friendship during filming, and that is considered one of the reasons Tuco became such a developed character, with a fair bit of that character created while the film was being shot. Tuco is also the character that other movie bad guys need to lessons from: "If you are going to shoot, shoot! Don't talk!"
The movie is Tuco's movie. Without Eli Wallach it would be just another western. RIP ELI. I just wish you would have played the Character in more westerns.
When Tuco runs through the graveyard, the graves a blur behind him. I saw this movie when I was 12? 13? And that scene haunts me. Beautiful film. Great video. Thanks, man.
Leone actually had the music playing on the set, as they were shooting. He could do this since everything was shot silent, audio dubbed later. He was doing this already on For a Few Dollars More, which also is a criminally underrated film.
Both are not "criminally" underrated, they both are one of the most loved movies in the film history and classics that everyone know. Sorry if I offended you, but are you 13 years old or what the heck are you talking about to call them criminally underrated? Also, all the movies of this era which were shot outside (not in studio) were shot silent and dubbed later. Every single one.
@@samuraidoggy Everything is relative, sure For A Few Dollars More is known but is practically a footnote at best whenever Leone's work is discussed, very rarely does it get brought up on its own - again, relative to its known status. Never said TGTBTU was underrated, I'd perhaps say overrated. Very mature to add an insult in there though, you'd think I specifically called you out. The fact that many other films were shot silent doesn't undermine my point: That this music was played during the shooting of the film, which is unusual and worth mentioning.
"Underrated" is used whenever someone likes something. It's a way of making something famous seem like an obscure, unknown treasure only hip, cool kids are into. . . . even if it's famous, popular, and highly regarded. I've seen the Beethoven Ninth and every film made Kubrick labeled "underrated." Labeling something "underrated" is a gimmick to turn widely renowned and accepted masterpieces into forgotten niche delicacies which only highly sophisticated and educated connoisseurs know of and understand. 🙄 In the same way, something enjoyable is now automatically called "iconic." By the way, I had an iconic cup of coffee this morning. It went well alongside my highly criminally underrated pancakes. Best wishes from Vermont 🍁 @@faridbenkhatemallah727
"Leone actually had the music playing on the set, as they were shooting." Do you have a source for that? I thought he only did that for Once Upon a Time in the West.
I didn't think I could love the final showdown between the trio anymore than I already do and then you pointed out the reference to the trumpet and glockenspiel from AFOD and FAFDM. Somehow despite repeated viewings, I have always missed that. Excellent video for an excellent movie.
Leone captured emotion in the craft of filmmaking in such a gorgeous way along with Morricone. So glad Morricone got some accolades before he died. He was long overdue an oscar and both of them are rightfully remembered as legends. Edit: Great video btw! Lol you got me loving the duo so much I forgot to let you know that this video was beautiful and I love the passion you put into these.
I saw Ennio perform live in Hamburg about 8 years ago. It changed my life. Hearing his music live was an experience which was so unbelievable that it made me a better person. He was an incredible, incredible man.
My three favorite movies are all by Leone and have Morricone soundtracks: The Good The Bad & The Ugly. Once Upon A Time in the West. Once Upon A Time in America. Three absolutely wonderful films.
One of the greatest cinematic and musical set pieces ever committed to celluloid. 12:16 The close ups; the sweat, the shifty, nervous, greedy eyes of the Ugly. The focused, business-like eyes of the Bad. The almost blasé, confident blue eyes of the Good. The dry, cracked lips. The realisation that their own mortality is about to be decided. The crescendo of the music. The cinematic climax. Hitchcock definitely inspired some of the camera work here. Cinematic perfection.
@@abecerra81000Not because of the topic but because of the presentation. Just looks like any of the millions of „when the director does X“ type of videos that are usually really weak essays.
The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Cowboy Bebop, Red Dead Redemption 2 all have two things in common: They're arguably the best westerns of their respected mediums Their soundtracks are fucking incredible
Also I think just on their own RDR1's soundtrack far outclasses 2's. To me, 2 will always be a case of "too much money", 1 had a fifth of the budget and feels much more spaghetti western for it, even if that did come at the cost of it being very much Grand Theft Horse.
@@MostlyPennyCat I mean, RDR2 is certainly a good game... but it's also clearly overestimated. Time will judge, but I'm quite confident, since it's ALREADY getting forgotten. Meanwhile, Cowboy Bebop and this movie aren't. That's the difference between "good" and "classic".
@@huyxiun2085 You're crazy if you think Red Dead 2 is "already getting forgotten". It had its highest PC player peak of all time a mere 10 months ago. 10 months ago, more players played it at once than anywhere near launch. So no, that's simply a false opinion of yours, and clouded by your personal experience.
I was introduced to this movie at the age of 8 by my Uncle and Aunt. We used to call my cousin Angel Eyes. This is how I learned the word, "bastard". As a kid, these movies left me in awe, and they still do!
One of the things I noticed about this sequence and never gets talked about it how Clint Eastwood almost takes Tucos fingers off with that throw of the shovel.
I vaguely remember reading, that in a particular scene near the railroad tracks, where he has to lie down next to the tracks to have the train's wheels cut the chain that he has on his wrist, they neglected to tell him that the steel steps on the passenger car were permanently attached, and that if he lifted his head at all as the train rolled by, he would be decapitated.
@@TehButterflyEffect You are mistaking Tuco for Angel Eyes (van Cleef). Van Cleef cut the tip of his finger off while building a doll house for his daughter.
I can't think of too many other movies where the soundtrack is virtually a character in the film the whole time. Jaws perhaps? The soundtrack is fantastic and the volume and distortion shows the gritty character itself.
I actually listened to the entire soundtrack before I watched the film and there were so many scenes my imagination envisioned to fit the music, and honestly, I got some of them right.
this movie has been my favorite since i was a kid. to this day i can turn it on and just from the music know exactly what scene it is. its the best movie and score ever.
well done! this really lays out everything that I always felt, but couldn't put into words. thank you! as many have probably already mentioned, Leone' was a genius and Morricone extraordinary ...together those two forever changed what had been in cinematic westerns and in cinema in general. your video does an excellent job of showing how it was done.
This film being a artistic operatic magnificent masterpiece, truly awe inspiring, Once Upon A Time in The West takes it up a notch and even further, and I dare say... Once Upon A Time in America (the full cut) goes even beyond that
Indeed. I never heard of Once Upon A Time in America when I caught its start one evening on TV three decades ago, but I was instantly mesmerized by the music & had to watch it to the end, well past midnight, even though I had school the next day.
THis is one of my favorite musical pieces in a movie of my entire life. It's amazing! I love how the music ramps up as he is running looking for Arch Stanton's grave marker. You can almost feel the fevered dream, and dizziness from dehydration.
I've always been a huge fan of Morricone's music especially in this film. Thank you for helping me understand how the filming and camera shots were connected to these great compositions!
I've seen this movie so many times. And it's good every damn time. You aren't human if that final showdown doesn't make you tense up. The tension just keeps ratcheting up and up and up.
This is the most dynamic outstanding end to ANY Western -SUPERB! "HEY BLONDIE - YOU ARE A SON OF A .......AHHHH EEE AHHH EEEE AAAHHHHH WAH WAH WAH.........TRULY EPIC."
The music in the trilogy is absolutely memorizing and perfectly compliments the atmosphere of what's on screen. This also reminds me of when Kubrick was editing 2001: A Space Odyssey. Originally, most of the music in the film was to be composed for the film by Alex North. But in the editing booth, Kubrick used Blue Danube which he told North to use as a guide piece. And he loved how the piece seemed to complement the film so much that he scraped the idea of using a score.
Two of the most elevating, intense and exhilarating sequences I've ever experienced in entire history as a viewer of film. They carried an indescribable feeling of recognizing movie magic play out on screen, that you alongside all the film scholars you quoted on screen have put into words for me. As always, your break-down intercut with the you editing in clips and commentate makes for some of my favorite analysis videos on the platform.
One night in the mid-1980s, while visiting relatives, I found myself alone in their TV room, faced with limited channel options. I ended up watching this movie for the first time. Even as a young boy, the poignant irony of Tuco frantically running for gold among the graves of the dead, was not lost on me.
I was a teenager i the early 90’s when I saw this movie first time. What blow me away was the picture qualit after see so much bad stuff in the 80’s. The movie is gorgeous, the music top notch and actors legend. I love Clint Eastwood movies, also Kelly’s heroes and where the eagles nest. I was 5 or 6 years old when first seeing those two.
I am 50 years old . Born in 1973 . This is my favorite movie of all time , No country for old men a close second. Excellent video and respect paid to a top notch film !
Even without the music, the Mexican Standoff would have been a brilliant scene, the whole movie for that matter. But with that music by genius Ennio and the genius Sergio Leone, it is an invaluable film. Indescribably good. This music still gives me goosebumps. You must be a genius to create such a masterpiece. And what a good explanation from the narrator.
This was the first spaghetti western I saw in the early 70’s. It made such an impression on me as it was so unlike any other films I had seen to that point. The long drawn out scenes and the extreme close up shots were so innovative and unusual. The soundtrack is a perfect match for this film. It has remained one of my favorite films and I have rewatched it countless times and listen to the soundtrack numerous times as well. Eli Wallach had a masterful performance as Tuco. Everyone who loves great film making should watch this film.
Amen and Amen. I say that heartbroken: when I was a kid I longed for them to make the comics I held in my hand into movies; now they have beat the thing to death in ways I never thought they would even try. Really sad.
This scene is great, the music is great, and Eli Wallach is great. Tuco is such a special character: Il Brutto adds a special flavor to this movie that sets it apart from most westerns. Tuco is a rascal, but charming. He is weak, but stronger than most. He is clever, but not quite clever enough.
I was 18 years old, working at a Drive-In movie theater in Tucson AZ, and at one point they had a triple-feature of Fis Full Of Dollars, Hang-Em High, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, in that order. By the time they got to the graveyard scene each night I would be just hanging out in the parking area, nothing much to do except enjoy the music, and I LOVED it. I was always sad to think that once this next movies came I would not hear this music again. This was 1973. Now, of course, I can hear it any time I want. But videos like this are wonderful, explaining the movie and music in a different way. I still love this music.
The Ecstacy of Gold is what Metallica uses to start every show. You wouldn't think this would be a good choice for a metal show, but it just builds the anticipation of the crowd, just like it does in the movie
Tuco is not a bad man, he's a good survivor, the natural world does not see good and evil, only death and survival, as civilised beings we merely see the illusion of these outcomes, the good the bad and the ugly.
One doesn't need to be a film student to appreciate great cinematic works like this. Late "60's -early "70's was the age of the Director. They were the star and were given wide parameters to work within...thankfully!!
![20 Things You Didn't Know About The Good, The Bad & The Ugly [1966]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7G7x3hmKyIE/mqdefault.jpg)
![20 Things You Didn't Know About The Good, The Bad & The Ugly [1966]](/img/tr.png)
This movie is a magnet for copyright claims, so special thanks to my supporters on Patreon for helping make these videos possible! I'll talk more about this video in my commentary and podcast, exclusively on Patreon.
What's another movie scene where the music is the main character? 👀
The "Portals" scene is Avengers: Endgame immediately comes to mind for me. That song gives me goosebumps even without watching the movie.
@@RealPixelshi
@@RealPixels Keeping it MCU; both parts of Deadpool & Wolverine's finale, the fight against the Deadpool Corps & the aforementioned guilt-ridden protagonists holding hands (and the timelines) in a desperate struggle to save the multiverse set to Madonna's "Like A Prayer" jump out for me.
Listening to both the Battle Mix and Choir versions in the weeks since immediately induces all the feelings of heart-pumping anticipation, joy and excitement I felt in the theater. The "And it feels like...home" with the beat drop effectively gets across that feeling of finally as Hugh/Logan finally puts on the cowl.
Although the film isn't on the same level, the execution of Paul Newmans character in Road to Perdition was what first came to mind. The visual contrast of dark and light, along with the use of ambient sound volume changes and a simple piano tune really build this scene for just a few words of dialogue
long time fan, first time commentor
Interstellar instantly comes to mind in multiple different scenes. The docking scene or the scene on millers planet would prob work best
How Morricone did not win the Academy Award for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is shocking for me. For me, it is simply the best musical score for a movie ever.
Just for explanation:
Inspite all its three main stars being Americans and delivering their dialogue in English the movie itself was entirely an Italian production and therefore wasn't allowed to compete in the annual oscars ceremony at the time.
A movie must at least partially be co-produced by an American production company to be eligible for any regular Oscars.
The AMPAS and the Academy Awards were originally created to point out and honor outstanding achievements of the American movie industry exclusively, thus the Oscars from their origins are actually NOT an international and open film festival like Cannes, Berlin or Venice for instance.
Therefore it was simply formally impossible for Morricone to win an Oscar for this iconic score or even get a nomination, even if the soundtrack went to become a megaseller in the USA too after the release of the movie there.
In fact only a few years after WW2 and to compete with these international film festivals the AMPAS introduced the 'Best Foreign Language Picture'-category (today: 'Best International Picture') in order to open the Oscar event also for foreign movies a little bit.
@@gunterangel First it was not American but to win an Oscar you have to buy everyone to vote your film or acting role for an Oscar.
As good as this is. I can't believe the score for the Magnificent 7 is so great but not so intertwined as this score.
Who cares. It won the heart across the world
Its beyond Oscar
99.99% of filmmakers are incapable of creating this scene. It's absolutely perfect.
There could be a strong argument of 100%. Have we seen its like in 60 years? Haven't even seen its shadow.
Perhaps only Quentin Tarantino, but then one must not underestimated that Quentin Tarantino's movies are actually completely and utterly fully inspired by Sergio Leone, and he adapted that style fully with his own 'twist' to it. And just like Sergio Leone made a trilogy, his own 'universe', all of Tarantino's movies are actually 'connected' and make up one big universe. It doesn't however tell one big story.
That 's where Leone was legendary. And it would not have been the same without Morricone's music. It's cinematic perfection.
It's not just a movie, it's truly a story.
Many 'movies' today are just that - movies. That's okay, but it's just that. But these movies truly told a story, and the way that it did, it made all the 'involved' actors permanently legendary with it too.
Clint Eastwood 'Blondie' essentially is the equivalent back then, bigger even if you wish, how we (now) look at Robert Downey Junior as Iron Man. He has played many great movies and characters. He's now even going to play 'Dr Doom'. But he is ,in soul, Iron Man, forever.
When you see Clint Eastwood, you only essentially see him as 2 people : The man with no name (Blondie), and as Dirty Harry. And that character somehow isn't too far off 'Blondie' even. It's not as one-dimensional as for example Dwayne Johnson. Clint has actual talent.
I also think that Dr Doom is going to be a lot like Iron Man. Even though it's in-universe.
Clint easily is the most remembered, but the other actors were legendary in their own rights too and the movie would not have been as it was without them.
It was somewhat perhaps like Terminator 1. The right people. Terminator would not have been the same without those three either. And though the music really fit there too - it was better in Terminator 2, though - the epitomy of it all still is TGTBATU.
What I also like is that there isn't a remake. All it needs is talented people making a 8k or plus 'improvement' of the quality. That's a lot of work because it's not just upping the pixels. The depth of it needs to be improved, the color pallette, the sound, everything.
But it doesn't need any changes in itself. It'll be the most legendary movie in history, not unlike 'Shakespeare'.
@@manoahvanderwolf3259 Hear, hear!!
@@manoahvanderwolf3259 Tarantino films are great fun but in terms of artistry he doesn't come close to Leone. Tarantino films are almost like hybrid tribute/ parodies of good movies. I think Jackie Brown is his most legit good film.
If you have seen this movie and make a movie like World War Z, honestly, wtf. This movie is awesome!
I went to Sad Hill in 2023. It's in the middle of nowhere near Contreras in Northern Spain. There was a fan-led effort to restore the site and it looks great. No one did it for pay, and no one is asking for money to visit. I went there with the sound track in my head phones. I noticed the couple other folks had headphones on too. I'm sure they had Morricone's soundtrack playing.
Thanks for the treatise. good job.
EDIT: I've seen this movie 40 times. Re-watching this treatise was the first time I noticed that the half-assed mausoleum A: existed in the first place B: disappears during the shoot out sequence. (It's not recreated at the site, either)
August 12th, 2026
Use a speaker! Way better
THere's a Documentary about that....
That's awesome
@@framegrace1 "Desenterrando Sad Hill" and it's here in YT for free, the full 1 hour 22 minutes,
in the "El Cafe de Rick - Cine Clásico" channel :)
I am so emotional about this movie and this music I can't write about it now. I had just gotten married, it was 1968, I was 25. I had just come back from my first tour in the Vietnam War, we were living in a suburb in tropical Miami, my wife Lucia and I used to sneak into the drive-in movie near our house on foot through a jungle carrying our fold-up chairs, she was game for any kind of fun, she was a veteran of the Peace Corps. We loved movies but we had never heard of this one. I watched, stunned, thinking I was asleep and hallucinating, a feeling I often had in the war. I spent the next several years trying to tell people about this movie, and almost nobody would listen. You young folk have no idea how this movie blasted us (those of us whose brains weren't clotted) away when it was new. I'm 81 years old now and have watched it dozens of times via the internet. I've gotten "used to" it now, it's not mind-blowing any more to me it's just a damn good movie. This movie was one of the things that started Lucia on her career as a popular writer of Western novels. Me, it's just part of my bones.
Perfectly understandable.in it's day it was a mind blowing cinema adventure and still is. But needs to be seen in a theater to be fully experienced. A multifaceted story of the horrendous upheaval of American Civil war.
That's a great memory! Appreciate you sharing it with us! ❤
kinda gay
Italian here, I first watched this movie by chance when I was a teenager (mid 80s) on TV on a late night rerun as I could not sleep. I was completely blown away, yes blasted, exactly.
@@cl8804 I know you're just trolling, but I'll bite....
The OP is obviously male, given he was drafted into the Vietnam war, so how is it 'kinda gay' to sneak into the cinema with your girlfriend..?
To me it sounds like a better love story than Twilight.
“It was a standoff between the good and the bad… as it always is.”
Damn, I have watched this movie as a kid and throughout and never seen it framed this way, good shit mane
To be honest, I don't easily buy that it's a battle between Good & Evil. Blondie is fairly amoral, and sharing your cheroot with a dying man and leaving your coat doesn't suddenly make him a paragon of virtue. He's just seen men die at a bridge that served no strategic purpose and was feeling raw about it. Angel Eyes was a real threat, and had a posse. Tuco had an empty gun. Blondie is Chaotic Neutral at best. The "laughing ghosts" thing is artsy shit that I could imagine Ridley Scott saying. I am perfectly happy to believe Leone said it, but I totally believe he was just waxing rhapsodic for some interviewer.
@@guyjperson
I would say that Blondie is more indifferent, which is your average man. Your average man is neither fully good nor bad, but the point is they are NOT bad; and average indifferent men often rise to the occasion to do good things and be good people.
He’s also not good in the traditional sense, I mean he’s kind of an outlaw; but being good isn’t necessarily just doing good things… he’s good hearted, tuco is just as good or evil as blondie imo.
Wickedness is such an ginormous cancer, that any opposition to it is in itself good.
@@brandonpeters1618 But IS Blondie good hearted? He steals from multiple decent towns. He turns on his partner, leaving him to die, though the partner did nothing to him. In the movie, showed compassion to one dying boy. Angel Eyes is respectful to a severely injured soldier. Hes not good.
Also, I disagree that the average man is indifferent. Some men are ineffectual and meek. I don't think the bulk of men are indifferent to others.
@@guyjperson
I mean indifferent like good or bad… most men are in between good and bad, as most things
@@guyjperson I wold even call Blondie as a lawful evil. Blondie abide to law and co-operates with law forces for his own good, publicly. On the other hand when he has possibility to gain some more when going against it, with no repercussions or witnesses, he will do just that. He don't seem to care much about people foolishly following orders, yet he has some kind of his own morals and values, he respects certain characteristics. When the soldier decides to go against his orders and destroy the bridge, he respects that. Tuco would be Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil, he doesn't have grudge against someone who used him as long as he can get something out of it, but when betrayed he will do anything to take revenge, like anything. Angel Eyes would be Chaotic Evil - he doesn't care about anything and anyone but just his own goals. He uses law and people, manipulates, doesn't hesitate to kill even bystanders that don't poses any threat to him (his opening scene).
"Hey Blondieeee! You son of a wah wah wah......"
One of the top 10 films ever made, & I mean ever
I think you meant to finish the quote (one of my favourites from the Eastwood library) "Hey Blondieee, you are the son of a thousand fathers; each one of them like you! A BASTARD"
A masterpiece
@@MoonlightingJames The quote is from the very last scene of the movie "Hey, Blond! You know what you are! Just a dirty son of a b*ahAHahAHah... wah WAH waaaahhh*
It's to bad Eastwoods character acts so dumb at the end.
@@MoonlightingJames his quote is from the very last line of the movie, though not quite- “"Hey Blonde..you know what you are? Just a dirty son of a b-🎶wah wah wah!”
I’ll never forget when my dad took me to rent The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from a local store in middle school. My mother, my father and I sat in complete silence and this scene really awakened me to music and film as art. Watching this somehow I knew, I was watching something important and I felt a kinship with my father that made me feel as I’m sure he did when his Uncle brought him to see it in theatres when he was a kid. I didn’t expect this analysis to bring a tear to my eye, but it did. I’ll always appreciate my dad for spending time with me on his busy work schedule, especially to show me films like these.
Dad! You had a wonderful Dad!
you are/ was a good kid.
@@LewdCowboy You are a lucky man indeed.
Wow, the best ever thanks
@@LS-mv8qe your welcome
I first saw this movie in January of 2022 when I went to college in Texas. It was free on TH-cam and I had nothing going on the weekend I moved into my dorms. To say this movie didn't absolutely rock my movie viewing experience would be an understatement, and this scene made the entire thing worth it. I had no concept of time with this movie, it still feels like it's less than 2 hours, what a great film.
Have you watched Apocalypse Now? I would recommend that one to you.
I would recommend the original 1979 theatrical release. Redux in the final cut are way to complex for the first time viewer to really comprehend.
The best part about the triello is the fact that it goes on for an eternity, yet flys by- you can really feel the weight of each movement the men make, each glance and each motion to their gun toting the line of death- tldr it’s a fantastic finale to a fantastic movie
There was a video essay that analyzed the editing on this scene, there are much more takes of angel eyes than blondie and tuco, because he knows the two were partners so hes the more vulnerable one.
Blondie has less takes and he stares directly at one direction because he knows tuco is unloaded, while angel eyes and tuco flick their eyes between left and right.
@benb-gh3uo
It's when great art meets great entertainment. A perfect movie from start to finish.
I first watched it on video as a young teenager in the 80s. I was mindblowing how good it was and still is.
What followed in the decades after since in terms of movies is largely a big disappointment.
@@THOUGHTCRIME_No1 yeah I’m a younger guy and it’s a shame lots of people my age won’t wanna watch it cuz they cant bother to sit through the 2 1/2 hr runtime
@@benb-gh3uo was thinking the same. If it hasn't got loads of jump cuts, shaky cam and stuff blowing up. Watched this again a couple of summers ago. forgot how long it was - but you just don't notice
Someone once said you could announce a show where James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader) would read a phone book, and it would quickly be sold out. That's how I always felt about this scene. 3 guys staring at each other for nearly 5 minutes. And your attention is absolutely riveted the entire time.
It's amazing how massive that cemetery set was. No visual effects of any kind. They built that entire thing by hand. Amazing work by the set designer and construction crew.
As I recall, they enlisted the Spanish Army to help build the site. I mean the original time.
@@guyjperson The Spanish Army also built the bridge that was blown up earlier in the film. They built it twice because when the first explosion of the bridge happened the cameras weren't rolling.
@BlueHooloovoo Hrundi V. Bakshi comes to mind!
@@BlueHooloovoo No way hahahaha
"No visual effects of any kind". Yeah, you are one of those weirdos who uses words without putting effort into understanding what they mean. The very video you are commenting on describes a visual effect in the movie. I'm assuming you're wilfully ignorant to the point of thinking you were talking about CGI? That's really the only way your comment can make sense in any way, again, considering the fact that the very video you are commenting on, objectively speaking, SPECIFICALLY DESCRIBES A VISUAL EFFECT. Too funny. 😂 Open a dictionary someday.
I watched an interview where Leone explained the scene to Morricone and asked for a score that could show the skeletons from the graves were tingling in antecipation of the bloodshed to follow.
Quite impressive how he could imagine the whole scene like that
Leone: Uhh...yeah I've got a scene in my head where 3 guys are about to have a duel and it's all exciting and stuff...
Morricone: Gotcha, give me half an hour I'll figure something out.
How much do I love this movie? And Tuco is one of the best characters created in cinematography.
The part where he tries to convince Blondie that his brother was glad to see him is pure class, especially after he'd secretly seen them both argue. Pure class.
Agreed
I mean Tuco is decent but Vader is better.
Tuco where’s my gold ?
This was a gateway movie for me - after you watch it there's a realization that there's another level to how good films can be. It stood out to everything that I saw before it and it set the bar
YES. I miss those, nowadays all ist fast, sloppy and hectic.
My father Franco Gaieni was Roberto Cinquini’s assistant editor on this film.
After finishing the project, as this wasn’t still known as the great success and masterpiece that it is today, he moved to Milan and helped the industry there to become the go to place for video commercials.
He never regretted his decision, as he had great success in Milan, becoming one of the creators of the italian post production powerhouses of the ‘80s and ‘90s, but he always had a kind of a nostalgia recalling the editing of those great movies… and the Dolce Vita in Rome at that time.
COOOOOOOOL! What stories your dad must have!
@@DanFreeman-i7b Unfortunately, he had.
He passed away in 2022.
@@liosandro Condolences. You must be very proud.
@@DanFreeman-i7b I am.
Amazing, thank you for sharing!
On this topic, I recommend the Documentary 'Sad Hill Unearthed' (2017). It follows the fans of 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' who tried and successfully the original set of this scene and restored it while covering the cultural impact of the movie.
here in the "El Cafe de Rick - Cine Clásico" YT channel :)
I was 5 years old when I went to see my first film in a theater.
It was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
I was hooked for life, and I spent years trying to recapture the excitement of this film, and in particular these two scenes.
I still watch this film, and it has lost nothing over the last 57 years.
Totally agree still brilliant 💜💜❤❤😃😃
There's two types of people in this world: those that dig and those that make sublime music...
and so few of the latter.
I dig sublime music!
Digging is sublime
I don't dig or make sublime music.
Thats also why I love Once Upon a Time in the West. The soundtrack for that movie is mesmerizing and haunting. It really pulls you into the movie and makes you feel what the characters feel.
It's my favorite western of all time.
The music itself in Once Upon a time were characters themselves
That’s the best one!
Yup, thats the best one by far.
One lesser known, but also stellar, and has mesmerizing melancholic soundtrack by Morricone, is The Great Silence. Its quite different to many westerns as its set in snowy mountains (opening scene to RDR2 and Tarantinos Heightful 8), but its very unique and good western with bleak atmosphere and suberbly good Morricone soundtrack.
@@samuraidoggy I've heard multiple good things about The Great Silence sadly I've never watched it...
It's def on my list to watch tho as soon as I can, that and the hellbenders
Even a singular clip from this movie is enough to make me wanna jump into Red Dead 2, go and do outlaw shit in New Austin, it really is the anthem of the whole western genre.
YOU SAID IT MAN
Too bad that RDR2 doesnt really have any Morricone or Leone feeling to it. Its more modern american western all the way, not this style of spaghetti western at all. Closer to Tarantino than Leone. I would love a Leone style western myself.
@@samuraidoggy It has its own style, it is both a neo-western and an embrace of the old spaghetti westerns, it has always been in the middle because while a lot of the game is nasty, depressing and fairly realistic and grounded, sometimes you get some movie shit like the Braithwaite Manor battle or the attack on Cornwalls oil factory with the natives.
It is safe to say that Red Dead has become the modern symbol of the western genre along with movies like Django: Unchained.
@@thirdhandlv4231 Yes, that is well put, I can agree with that.
But it doesnt really ever have the "spaghetti" feeling with the characters or feeling. Its always more realistic, than spaghetti western which are more about fantasy than realistic.
I think the most "Sergio Leone style" character in RDR2 is Hamish Sinclair, that old dude you go at the end of the game to hunt and fish with and get Buell. That character has certain "romantism" for the western aspect around him and makes him a Spaghetti character of RDR2.
Your video game would not exist, but for this masterwork.
#reverance
Young Buck
I've always though that Blondie was a semi-fallen angel, Angle Eyes a demon loose upon the earth, and Tuco the mortal man caught between them.
Great inside on your part.
. . . That is a very interesting insight, and one that works throughout the film quite well. I quite like it.
you're either fallen angel or an angel. btw a demon is a fallen angel. so i like your analogy but in this case, Blondie would be an angel. Angels are not 100% good -- Sodom and Gomorrah, killing the first born in Egypt etc.
Tuco was the psychic, Angel Eyes the archon and Blondie the pneumatic. Everyone else hylics.
Very interesting take on it. I like your take on it
Try watching this scene muted, you will lose it and turn the volume back up full force. The opera soprano bringing her voice into play only makes it all the more epic, ethereal and heavenly.
Try watching this scene while high on galaxy gas.
It was the best of both worlds. BRILLIANT cinematography and BRILLIANT music scores. Perfection. There is no better.
I love the way you interweave quotes and facts into the information you're giving.
Same. It's one thing that makes the communication of his message so effective for me and his analyses so enjoyable to watch through.
I hate how pretentious the narration sounds. Unbearable
As a 7 year-old in the early 70s, god almighty, watching this in my Italian neighbor's garage, lord almighty, we were in LOVE with this movie! Them HORNS!!!!!
This is easily the greatest films of all time in my opinion. Simply perfection for the entire 3 hour runtime.
Real
Once upon a time in America
Yes
@@MrGilRoland I know a good one about music and this movie: it's one of the very few or maybe the only one where the soundtrack was played on set, so you can see the actors react to the same music you're hearing
@@XMarkxyz That really was a good one. I checked and it’s true, the soundtrack was played on set on this movie. There is really no end to the ways Sergio Leone keep surprising even after all this years.
Ok, now I’ll give you a good one as well. You know when they finally get to the cemetery and Eli Wallach hits his head on that grave while Clint is shooting him with a cannon? He gets up, and makes a few steps in to the cemetery. At that point a dog enters the scene and barks to him, and Eli act very surprised… it’s because the dog wasn’t scripted, Leone just left it loose without telling anyone, to have a genuine reaction from Wallach.
I remember being completely mesmerized during this scene the first time I was watching the movie. Absolutely surreal feeling of immersion.
I could only imagine it in the theater.
Hugo Montenegro's cover of the main theme of "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" was played on the radio along with the Beatles and Stones hourly, and it reached No.1 in 1968 competing with the music from the British Invasion. Imagine that! I bought the 8-Track tape which included Montenegro's covers from all the Eastwood & Leone westerns. It was two years before I finally got to see "TGTB&TU." Having not seen the movie, only the cover soundtrack, I thought the The Ecstasy of Gold track was going to be used when the Tuco-tormenting- Blondie- in-the-desert scene came. Montenegro's cover is haunting, dark, and moody and you can see the tumbleweeds and feel the dusty wind blowing. When the original track did come per the above I didn't recognize it at first after listening to the cover for two years! What a grand sound it is. Of course I bought all the soundtracks later after seeing all the movies. I even air-conducted this original Ecstasy of Gold track.☺I still play the original most of the time after all these years over a half a century, and the cover some of the time. I think Montenegro wanted to make the antithesis in spirit to the original so he made it anti-fanfare, and used deep voiced male chants versus the soaring female aria and choir, solemn, and a somewhat simple dead-pan approach, but I still enjoy it when I feel a little melancholy. Upbeat vs. downbeat and slow-tempo. Many artists have covered Morricone and I enjoy just about all of them. Thanx for the video.
I watched this film in 1966. I was floored by the sight and sound. Many thanks, Real Pixels!
Every time i hear that music and i start thinking about the movie, my whole body seems to become activated with inspiration. Never before or since do i think a movie combined adventure with art in such a perfect way.
When I first saw this film , as a young lad, I concentrated on the Hero character, Blondie,
but later, I began to appreciate more Eli Wallach's rat like characterisation of Tuco,
it's almost a Comedy, as he constantly tries to get the better of Blondie....
'Where's the owner of that horse, he's tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar and he's Pig !!!''
Perfect casting of all three protagonists.
One of very few films I like to watch again.
The thing is that Tuco is really proficient in his own right and he gets the better of just about everyone he meets, except for Blondie and it drives him mad how the other man is always one step ahead.
The movie is more about Tuco than anyone else. His is the only character we learn any of a backstory of--why his is where he is, and why he is who is he. He is the only one to have any family (his brother, the priest), and the only one isn't really one-dimensional. Blondie and Angel Eyes pretty much maintain the same demeanor throughout, Tuco runs the full gamete of emotions. His is the only character that lends one to have hope for--the first time you watch the movie, without knowing the outcome, you start hoping half-way through that he survives. You know Blondie will live, you know Angel Eyes will die, but Tuco is throughout the movie the character you are uncertain of until the end--and even as he is on the chair with the rope around his neck, you are on edge, hopeful he will get out somehow (and thankful Blondie returns to shoot the rope).
Wallach and Leone had a very good friendship during filming, and that is considered one of the reasons Tuco became such a developed character, with a fair bit of that character created while the film was being shot.
Tuco is also the character that other movie bad guys need to lessons from: "If you are going to shoot, shoot! Don't talk!"
The movie is Tuco's movie. Without Eli Wallach it would be just another western. RIP ELI. I just wish you would have played the Character in more westerns.
When Tuco runs through the graveyard, the graves a blur behind him. I saw this movie when I was 12? 13? And that scene haunts me. Beautiful film. Great video. Thanks, man.
It is sort of like filming insanity, or his extreme desperation for the gold. Perfectly captured on film.
Leone actually had the music playing on the set, as they were shooting. He could do this since everything was shot silent, audio dubbed later. He was doing this already on For a Few Dollars More, which also is a criminally underrated film.
It is not an underrated film ,none of Sergio's films are underrated
Both are not "criminally" underrated, they both are one of the most loved movies in the film history and classics that everyone know. Sorry if I offended you, but are you 13 years old or what the heck are you talking about to call them criminally underrated?
Also, all the movies of this era which were shot outside (not in studio) were shot silent and dubbed later. Every single one.
@@samuraidoggy Everything is relative, sure For A Few Dollars More is known but is practically a footnote at best whenever Leone's work is discussed, very rarely does it get brought up on its own - again, relative to its known status. Never said TGTBTU was underrated, I'd perhaps say overrated. Very mature to add an insult in there though, you'd think I specifically called you out.
The fact that many other films were shot silent doesn't undermine my point: That this music was played during the shooting of the film, which is unusual and worth mentioning.
"Underrated" is used whenever someone likes something. It's a way of making something famous seem like an obscure, unknown treasure only hip, cool kids are into.
. . . even if it's famous, popular, and highly regarded.
I've seen the Beethoven Ninth and every film made Kubrick labeled "underrated." Labeling something "underrated" is a gimmick to turn widely renowned and accepted masterpieces into forgotten niche delicacies which only highly sophisticated and educated connoisseurs know of and understand. 🙄
In the same way, something enjoyable is now automatically called "iconic."
By the way, I had an iconic cup of coffee this morning. It went well alongside my highly criminally underrated pancakes.
Best wishes from Vermont 🍁
@@faridbenkhatemallah727
"Leone actually had the music playing on the set, as they were shooting."
Do you have a source for that? I thought he only did that for Once Upon a Time in the West.
I didn't think I could love the final showdown between the trio anymore than I already do and then you pointed out the reference to the trumpet and glockenspiel from AFOD and FAFDM. Somehow despite repeated viewings, I have always missed that. Excellent video for an excellent movie.
Look at how cute they were!!
I'm so glad this was my era that gave us such fabulous actors and great movies.
Eli Wallach was a terrific actor.
Leone captured emotion in the craft of filmmaking in such a gorgeous way along with Morricone. So glad Morricone got some accolades before he died. He was long overdue an oscar and both of them are rightfully remembered as legends. Edit: Great video btw! Lol you got me loving the duo so much I forgot to let you know that this video was beautiful and I love the passion you put into these.
I saw Ennio perform live in Hamburg about 8 years ago. It changed my life. Hearing his music live was an experience which was so unbelievable that it made me a better person. He was an incredible, incredible man.
One of the best movies ever ... the cast, the music, camera, cut...Sergio was a genius and for me...he is the "Mozart" of movie making
My three favorite movies are all by Leone and have Morricone soundtracks: The Good The Bad & The Ugly. Once Upon A Time in the West. Once Upon A Time in America. Three absolutely wonderful films.
To think that Clint is the only one still alive. What a career.
man, this movie is sick and the scene is art at it's finest... Sergio Leone truely was a maestro when it comes to Western movies
As a standard it sets the bar impossibly high. Maybe 5 movies have Evan come close. Casa Blanca is one, once upon a time in the west is another...
I bought the CD when I saw this movie in my teens in the 90s. Best sound track ever.
One of the greatest cinematic and musical set pieces ever committed to celluloid.
12:16
The close ups; the sweat, the shifty, nervous, greedy eyes of the Ugly. The focused, business-like eyes of the Bad. The almost blasé, confident blue eyes of the Good. The dry, cracked lips. The realisation that their own mortality is about to be decided. The crescendo of the music. The cinematic climax.
Hitchcock definitely inspired some of the camera work here. Cinematic perfection.
Just brilliant. The essay I have been waiting 20 years for after first being blown away by the third act of this movie.
I gotta be honest, with the title and thumbnail I didn’t realize this was one of your videos at first and almost ignored it.
SAME
Why ? This was inevitable you could only dissect red dead so many times
@@abecerra81000Not because of the topic but because of the presentation. Just looks like any of the millions of „when the director does X“ type of videos that are usually really weak essays.
@@mirfalltnixein.1Yeah it’s so oversaturated at this point
opposite for me- ive never heard of this channel but clicked because i love the good the bad and the ugly soundtrack
Excellent dissection, evaluation and construction of a truly outstanding scene and probably one of 5 of my top all-time favourite westerns. Thank you
The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Cowboy Bebop, Red Dead Redemption 2 all have two things in common:
They're arguably the best westerns of their respected mediums
Their soundtracks are fucking incredible
agreed
I say Red Dead Redemption 1 but I've always preferred "End of the West" stories.
Also I think just on their own RDR1's soundtrack far outclasses 2's.
To me, 2 will always be a case of "too much money", 1 had a fifth of the budget and feels much more spaghetti western for it, even if that did come at the cost of it being very much Grand Theft Horse.
@@MostlyPennyCat I mean, RDR2 is certainly a good game... but it's also clearly overestimated. Time will judge, but I'm quite confident, since it's ALREADY getting forgotten.
Meanwhile, Cowboy Bebop and this movie aren't.
That's the difference between "good" and "classic".
@@huyxiun2085 You're crazy if you think Red Dead 2 is "already getting forgotten". It had its highest PC player peak of all time a mere 10 months ago. 10 months ago, more players played it at once than anywhere near launch. So no, that's simply a false opinion of yours, and clouded by your personal experience.
Modern Hollywood couldn't make a movie this good if their lives depended on it.
Because hollywood never made this. This was made in Europe, with love.
No country for old men ...
I was introduced to this movie at the age of 8 by my Uncle and Aunt. We used to call my cousin Angel Eyes. This is how I learned the word, "bastard". As a kid, these movies left me in awe, and they still do!
I don‘t know how many times I listened to that song but still when her voice kicks in, I get goosebumps every single time. What a masterpiece….
As someone who is deeply into Morricone, spaghetti westerns and Sergio….this is absolutely terrific. Kudos.
One of the things I noticed about this sequence and never gets talked about it how Clint Eastwood almost takes Tucos fingers off with that throw of the shovel.
Actually if you watch closely during the final standoff, he did manage to take one.
@@TehButterflyEffect lol
I vaguely remember reading, that in a particular scene near the railroad tracks, where he has to lie down next to the tracks to have the train's wheels cut the chain that he has on his wrist, they neglected to tell him that the steel steps on the passenger car were permanently attached, and that if he lifted his head at all as the train rolled by, he would be decapitated.
@@TehButterflyEffect You are mistaking Tuco for Angel Eyes (van Cleef). Van Cleef cut the tip of his finger off while building a doll house for his daughter.
Since I first saw it as a kid, it became my favourite western movie.
I can't think of too many other movies where the soundtrack is virtually a character in the film the whole time. Jaws perhaps? The soundtrack is fantastic and the volume and distortion shows the gritty character itself.
I too thought jaws....and psyco
I actually listened to the entire soundtrack before I watched the film and there were so many scenes my imagination envisioned to fit the music, and honestly, I got some of them right.
this movie has been my favorite since i was a kid. to this day i can turn it on and just from the music know exactly what scene it is. its the best movie and score ever.
well done! this really lays out everything that I always felt, but couldn't put into words. thank you!
as many have probably already mentioned, Leone' was a genius and Morricone extraordinary ...together those two forever changed what had been in cinematic westerns and in cinema in general. your video does an excellent job of showing how it was done.
Truely brilliant movie, im 46 and grew up watching this with my dad love all 3 of the movies the music is spot on
This graveyard was practically in ruins , but Spain decided to restore it.
It was a crowld founded initiative by fans of the movie.
One of the perks for the supporters was putting your name on one of the graves 😁
@@qdaniele97 cool!
@@qdaniele97that's kinda fcked, no?
Where is it?
@@christopherpaul7588 Northern Spain, Burgos province! Google Sad Hill and it should appear right away
Lovely detailed look at an iconic scene made with love. Thank you.
Tuco's running is also iconic: dude's just like baby me in the Lego aisle!
I always Loved those Movies and Especially the Soundtrack! So grateful that you can hear it again here on TH-cam!
This film being a artistic operatic magnificent masterpiece, truly awe inspiring, Once Upon A Time in The West takes it up a notch and even further, and I dare say... Once Upon A Time in America (the full cut) goes even beyond that
Indeed. I never heard of Once Upon A Time in America when I caught its start one evening on TV three decades ago, but I was instantly mesmerized by the music & had to watch it to the end, well past midnight, even though I had school the next day.
THis is one of my favorite musical pieces in a movie of my entire life. It's amazing! I love how the music ramps up as he is running looking for Arch Stanton's grave marker. You can almost feel the fevered dream, and dizziness from dehydration.
I've always been a huge fan of Morricone's music especially in this film. Thank you for helping me understand how the filming and camera shots were connected to these great compositions!
I've seen this movie so many times. And it's good every damn time. You aren't human if that final showdown doesn't make you tense up. The tension just keeps ratcheting up and up and up.
The ecstacy of gold is fire
Fantastic video! This scene is one of my all-time favourites, and the music just takes it to heaven.
This is the most dynamic outstanding end to ANY Western -SUPERB!
"HEY BLONDIE - YOU ARE A SON OF A .......AHHHH EEE AHHH EEEE AAAHHHHH WAH WAH WAH.........TRULY EPIC."
Wow, what a great piece. Thanks for pulling that together. Truly a classic piece of cinema
The music in the trilogy is absolutely memorizing and perfectly compliments the atmosphere of what's on screen.
This also reminds me of when Kubrick was editing 2001: A Space Odyssey. Originally, most of the music in the film was to be composed for the film by Alex North. But in the editing booth, Kubrick used Blue Danube which he told North to use as a guide piece. And he loved how the piece seemed to complement the film so much that he scraped the idea of using a score.
LOVE Johann Strauss II. His music is so uplifting.
Part of my childhood was this trilogy, the music burn my brain for the rest of my life.
Well done video, congrats from Uruguay
Two of the most elevating, intense and exhilarating sequences I've ever experienced in entire history as a viewer of film. They carried an indescribable feeling of recognizing movie magic play out on screen, that you alongside all the film scholars you quoted on screen have put into words for me. As always, your break-down intercut with the you editing in clips and commentate makes for some of my favorite analysis videos on the platform.
Impressive. Thanks a lot for your passion and work. What an hommage.
One night in the mid-1980s, while visiting relatives, I found myself alone in their TV room, faced with limited channel options. I ended up watching this movie for the first time. Even as a young boy, the poignant irony of Tuco frantically running for gold among the graves of the dead, was not lost on me.
I was a teenager i the early 90’s when I saw this movie first time. What blow me away was the picture qualit after see so much bad stuff in the 80’s. The movie is gorgeous, the music top notch and actors legend. I love Clint Eastwood movies, also Kelly’s heroes and where the eagles nest. I was 5 or 6 years old when first seeing those two.
I love cinema, and cinematography nerds who makes these kinds of videos.
Possibly my favorite western movie. I love the score and I love the ending. It's just so well done.
I am 50 years old . Born in 1973 . This is my favorite movie of all time , No country for old men a close second. Excellent video and respect paid to a top notch film !
Oh man, No Country for Old Men is so good-not a second of wasted time in that movie. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
@@RealPixels awesome channel btw!
This and Unforgiven are the greatest westerns of all time. Closely followed by True Grit and A few dollars more.
This film is a master piece and your analysis pays great tribute to that, well done!
Even without the music, the Mexican Standoff would have been a brilliant scene, the whole movie for that matter. But with that music by genius Ennio and the genius Sergio Leone, it is an invaluable film. Indescribably good. This music still gives me goosebumps. You must be a genius to create such a masterpiece. And what a good explanation from the narrator.
This is one of the best analysis I have ever watched. Brilliant work, mate!
Beautiful films....timeless, and excellent summary of the final scenes.
This was the first spaghetti western I saw in the early 70’s. It made such an impression on me as it was so unlike any other films I had seen to that point. The long drawn out scenes and the extreme close up shots were so innovative and unusual. The soundtrack is a perfect match for this film. It has remained one of my favorite films and I have rewatched it countless times and listen to the soundtrack numerous times as well. Eli Wallach had a masterful performance as Tuco. Everyone who loves great film making should watch this film.
This is real cinema unlike the crap that is the MCU.
Amen and Amen.
I say that heartbroken: when I was a kid I longed for them to make the comics I held in my hand into movies; now they have beat the thing to death in ways I never thought they would even try. Really sad.
Facts. I'm so glad that capeshit is on the decline
Hey... I liked Iron Man. But it's Snickers against tiramisu.
Uhh...She Hulk is just as good as this you should give it a go.
Absolute Wow. Like the movie and score it pays homage to, this analysis is truly a work of art!
This scene is great, the music is great, and Eli Wallach is great. Tuco is such a special character: Il Brutto adds a special flavor to this movie that sets it apart from most westerns. Tuco is a rascal, but charming. He is weak, but stronger than most. He is clever, but not quite clever enough.
I was 18 years old, working at a Drive-In movie theater in Tucson AZ, and at one point they had a triple-feature of Fis Full Of Dollars, Hang-Em High, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, in that order. By the time they got to the graveyard scene each night I would be just hanging out in the parking area, nothing much to do except enjoy the music, and I LOVED it. I was always sad to think that once this next movies came I would not hear this music again. This was 1973. Now, of course, I can hear it any time I want. But videos like this are wonderful, explaining the movie and music in a different way. I still love this music.
From western games to movies, hell yeah
ecstasy of gold the cemetery scene is unbelievable the searching and desperation and elation when he believes he has found his gold its amazing
From the first hand close up, it's a solid 2 minutes of eyes and hands until the final shot.
Masterfully narrated. Now I know also in theory why this has always been one of my favourite films. Thank you. ^^
The Ecstacy of Gold is what Metallica uses to start every show. You wouldn't think this would be a good choice for a metal show, but it just builds the anticipation of the crowd, just like it does in the movie
Finally !! A Metallica reference
It’s a masterpiece the film and music are perfect in a way no other film and score are they don’t make em like this anymore
One of the greatest films and sequences of all time
Great watch. Thank you this video was a treat.
Tuco is not a bad man, he's a good survivor, the natural world does not see good and evil, only death and survival, as civilised beings we merely see the illusion of these outcomes, the good the bad and the ugly.
Such a great movie and a beautiful score. They don't make em like this anymore.
This is the Number one Best Western Movie 🎥 Clint Eastwood ever played in,, Most importantly the
Music🎵 was Excelente🌹
One doesn't need to be a film student to appreciate great cinematic works like this. Late "60's -early "70's was the age of the Director. They were the star and were given wide parameters to work within...thankfully!!
the movie is a... MASTERPIECE!