The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Special
Edition set)
Picture: B Sound:
B- Extras: A-
Film: A
A few years back I went
through this phase where I was obsessed with watching repeatedly Sergio Leone’s
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, but
it did not dawn on me until recently why I did this. When I say repeatedly, I mean that I watched
it over and over, and it hypnotized me with each viewing even though I had seen
it many times before, I just kept watching it.
My fascination with the
film was more of identification than anything, not that I get to go around and
shoot people or anything like that, but I identified with the characters, or at
least the main character played by Clint Eastwood. This film is part of the Man With No Name
Trilogy, and is by far the best out of the three films, which also included Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. He plays a loner, a man that has no purpose
at least on the surface, and walks through the Wild West in an attempt to just
…fit in perhaps? Yet, deep down he knows
that he cannot. The Civil War just
happens to be taking place as well, which adds to the idea that even at war,
there are men that just have other priorities, like gold!
A man like this does not
fit in though and therein lay the problem.
He is a just man that has his share of flaws, but most of all, he just
goes from place to place. He does not
contribute, but rather lets things fall upon him. Now, the film does not just center around his
performance, but also from The Bad and The Ugly…those Tuco (Eli Wallach) and
Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef). Of course,
Eastwood is The Good, but throughout the film we ponder the idea of what it is
to be ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and where ‘ugly’ falls into the story.
There is little debate
that this film marks one of the best Westerns made and certainly a landmark in
the Spaghetti Western. In fact, the only film Leone made that I felt touched on
the same depth as this film was Once
Upon a Time in the West (reviewed on this site). There is something magical with this film as
narrative plot points occur and characters are as enigmatic as they are
predictable. The direction alone is
superior in that the screen time is devoted to each character and intertwines
various elements from each and pulls together in the end like a knot.
For years this film has
been plagued with bad sound, most of that due to an out-of-sync problem all
over the place, as well as the mono sound coming across way too harsh. Since this is an epic widescreen film it needs
that large sound design that sets the standards of today, which is why a
re-created 5.1 mix was given here in order to bring more depth to the film,
especially after MGM’s first release of the film on DVD, which was really flat
Dolby Digital mono. Mono only undermines the films grandiose setting, even for
those purists, I prefer a re-think when it comes to modifying a soundtrack for
a film. I see no reason why making
improvements with current technology is a problem, especially if the original
mono has problems, which in this case it sure did. One justification for this comes during a few
scenes that are poorly synced and when Tuco screams across the open desert his
voice is poorly matched and echoes back really bizarre. These scenes (before now) became comical because
of this, which completely changes the tone of the film and not for the
better.
This new 5.1 remix is also
Dolby Digital and expands the sound stage with more directional effects
throughout. Gunshots (which are always
going off) resonate more predominately instead of being stuck in a single
channel. Dialogue is more
center-focused, which is fine and the music is spread through the surround
channels more than expected. Some may
feel that the overall sound is still too mono based, but I think that when this
was being remixed that there was a fear of spreading too thin or venturing too
far from its mono origins.
All films that are shot
widescreen need to be seen that way, but then there are films that make
literally no sense in a modified format, The
Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is certainly one of those! The framing of the film sets new standards in
terms of tricky ways to utilize all corners of the 2.35 X 1 scope framing of
the film. Cinematographer Tonino Delli
Colli would work with Leone on a few pictures and also later in his career team
up with Roman Polanski. His use of
lenses and angles tediously match the direction of what Leone wanted and the
editing put these sequences in order that would set this Western apart from so
many. This would also launch many
imitators in trying to create the same tension through music and certain
editing in order to make the montage work like it does here…most failed.
Shot in Techniscope the
film was able to use the lighter camera and lenses, but still have a nice full
scope frame at an anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1, but there are few places
now that can transfer a format like this for DVD, however a new transfer was
created for this DVD, which is superior to the previous DVD and of course all
versions on VHS. One major difference is
in the whites, which were always a major problem before as white buildings
looked more yellow. There is still a
vast amount of grain still on the print, but the colors certainly look
better. Gold and other flesh tones
appear much more natural as well.
Overall the print looks good with some minor amounts of dirt that
appears from time to time.
Since this is such a
popular film and even after all these years manages to find its way into new viewer’s
homes. MGM has done the royal treat by
re-issuing the film in a 2-disc DVD Special Edition with deluxe packaging and a
plethora of extras sure to make any fan melt with delight. This set is aimed directly at those that like
all the extras they can get and little knick-knacks too. For example, the film comes in a packaging
that is more like a box that has a lid, which allows for more material to be
put in with the film. Since both discs
are fastened to the inside of the box (one disc on the top and one disc on the
bottom) the middle portion of the box is devoted to a sleeve that contains a
handful of little mini lobby cards with various poster art on it. There is also a handy booklet with Roger
Ebert’s review for the film as well as a listing for the extras contained on
both DVD’s.
Disc One contains the film
in its 2 hour and 59 minute runtime, which is 18-minutes longer than its
original U.S. release.
The film contains commentary throughout by Film Historian Richard
Schickel and contains both the original mono in Italian or the remixed Dolby
Digital 5.1 in English.
What I particularly like
about Richard Schickel’s commentary is that he never talks down to the listener
and combines both educational and entertaining information together. Plus he keeps with basic terminology with
what he is talking about and tries to stick to the film, rather than go on too
much about irrelevant matters like on some commentaries. He certainly knows the film well and Sergio
Leone’s style and addresses how this film is effective and how it has all the
trademarks of a Leone Western. I also
enjoyed how he compared Leone to Sam Peckinpah, who was making Westerns around
the same time, but the main difference was their approach to violence.
Leone created tension
before his violence set in with little dialogue and really dragged out the
intensity right before the violent moments.
One the violence hit, it was usually over really quick, whereas Peckinpah
elongated his action scenes by using the slow motion and other effects in order
to heighten the dramatic climax. Neither
one of these ways is necessarily better, but it just shows a contrast to the
two directing styles. Notice also the
long moments of silence or lack of dialogue in the film, it takes 10-minutes
before the first words are exchanged in the film, but yet a narrative story is
already set up just by the action alone.
Disc Two contains all the
extras including a Making-Of segment
about the creation of a Leone Western and all the elements that went into
such. This segment compliments the
documentary on Leone, which further addresses his trademark style and other
production aspects which link the film directly to a man who had a vision and
would go at any length to make that vision a reality.
My personal two favorite
portions are the reconstruction piece on remixing the film for 5.1, and the
Featurette on composer Ennio Morricone, who was just as much a vital element to
Leone’s epic. His composition for this
film alone is a standout masterpiece, which was unlike anything that was happening
at that time and directly went the other direction from the soundtracks that
were being created for most Westerns at this time. Utilizing different recording techniques and
various instrumentations to manipulate and create a unique soundtrack, which
ended up becoming popular even to this day.
Even Metallica did a cover of Ecstasy
of Gold when they did their Symphonic album.
There is also a
documentary entitled The Man Who Lost the
Civil War, which is a Civil War focused documentary that fits in well since
MGM went the distance with extras. There
is also a deleted scenes section, but this is the fullest version of the film
known and the parts put back into the film had to be re-dubbed by actors and
voice doubles in order to put these parts back into the film, this new 3 hour
version premiered in 2003.
It is hard to say when we
might see more improvements in the audio/visual sense with this film, but I
think that MGM has done a lot with what they could in order to keep this film
alive on the DVD format for a few years to come. Not only that, but they spared no expense at
delivering such a classic film with all the extras a fan could want. Even the packaging is different and stands
out as special, which is certainly the case.
If I had to say any last
comments on the film it would be that with age this film becomes more
valuable. Not only that, but you learn
to appreciate its development and its stature among other Westerns. Leone has created here a visual art form with
his amazing landscapes and forged a new type of Western that would be emulated
for many years, probably up until The Outlaw
Josey Wales (1976), which is considered the last great Spaghetti
Western. The film also adheres to too
many of the plot development and characterizations that Akira Kurosawa was
making in Japan during the 50’s and also the 60’s. Needless to say this is a cornerstone film in
the Western Genre and shall entertain for generations to come. MGM has redeemed their self by reissuing the
film in a much superior version with better sound, picture and a multitude of
extras!
- Nate Goss
