Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo

I decided to dive face first into the spaghetti westerns, and recently bought the "Dollars" box set. I thoroughly enjoyed the films. Each one is a natural progression to the end of the final film. The one thing that stood out for me is how No Name wasn't all about getting the ladies, but rather "stuck to his guns" and went for money, death and survival.

The dubbing was (naturally) cheezy on most parts, but once you get used to it it's not bad.

I believe this is a film series you can't truly enjoy by watching just one of the films. By seeing all three you not only gain an appreciation for each one, but you see the storyline develop as you go.

Now go rent/buy/see Once Upon A Time In The West.

Lots of folks think it's the best of the Leone westerns (and I imagine a lot more would if it starred Eastwood instead of Bronson). I tend to go back an forth between that and Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. Regardless, all four films are great.

gswitter said:

Now go rent/buy/see Once Upon A Time In The West.

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Best opening scene in a western ever!

Once you go through most of the spaghetti westerns, start devling into old samurai movies and compare. Great stuff.

HoopleHead said:

Best opening scene in a western ever!

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Agreed! Meant to mention that as well.

HoopleHead said:

Best opening scene in a western ever!

Once you go through most of the spaghetti westerns, start devling into old samurai movies and compare. Great stuff.

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Being born and raised in Japan I grew up on a steady diet of samurai movies... thus my recent fascination with fetuccine alfredo westerns!

Please feel free to share some of your more obscure cool samurai movies! Not to derail the thread...

dudemar said:

Being born and raised in Japan I grew up on a steady diet of samurai movies... thus my recent fascination with fetuccine alfredo westerns!

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Do you remember the TV show called "The Samuri" starring Shintaro? I think the only countries it was popular in were Japan and Australia, it was compulsory viewing after school in the 60's.
Norm

Heh, I only recently figured out the titular movie is Italian... I always thought it was an american production, what with Clint Eastwood being in it.
I'm not much of a cinema person.

gswitter said:

Now go rent/buy/see Once Upon A Time In The West.

Lots of folks think it's the best of the Leone westerns (and I imagine a lot more would if it starred Eastwood instead of Bronson).

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While it's not spaghetti, you gotta admit Magnificent Seven was an excellent Bronson film.

Norm said:

Do you remember the TV show called "The Samuri" starring Shintaro? I think the only countries it was popular in were Japan and Australia, it was compulsory viewing after school in the 60's.
Norm

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I'm not that old, lol but I do know what you're talking about. I grew up in the '80s, but there was still a generous helping of katana slashing to be had.

HoopleHead said:

Please feel free to share some of your more obscure cool samurai movies! Not to derail the thread...

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It was 20+ years ago, but if I look a few up I'm sure it'll stir a few memories. I still love all the Kurosawa classics, IMO they are the best.

I'll always have a warm place in my heart for Shintaro Katsu who plays the beloved blind swordsman Zatoichi.
Most memorable scene, besides the flawlessly choreographed dispatches of crowds of bad guys; he tries to calm a crying baby left in his care by breast feeding... Then again the one where they try to kill him by making him deaf as well as blind by surrounding him with men beating on drums before closing in for the kill was ..great stuff..

dudemar said:

While it's not spaghetti, you gotta admit Magnificent Seven was an excellent Bronson film.

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I'd seen Seven Samurai a number of times before ever seeing the Magnificent Seven, so the latter never impressed me much.

I have no problem with Bronson in Once Upon A Time In The West - he's fine. But most conversations about Leone's westerns seem to begin and end with the Eastwood trilogy, which is unfortunate. Nothing against Eastwood or those three films, but Once Upon A Time In The West deserves an equal place in the Leone canon.

dudemar said:

I'm not that old, lol but I do know what you're talking about. I grew up in the '80s, but there was still a generous helping of katana slashing to be had.

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I'm old :mecry: my kids grew up in the 80's
Norm

Fallingwater said:

Heh, I only recently figured out the titular movie is Italian... I always thought it was an american production, what with Clint Eastwood being in it.
I'm not much of a cinema person.

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hehe I wrote the thread title in Italian to see if you'd be the first to respond!

Norm said:

I'm old :mecry: my kids grew up in the 80's
Norm

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No worries, I'm catching up with you.:laughing:

I can't believe they don't have the thread title film on Blu-Ray yet; this is the one movie where you'd really want to capture the film grain and celluloid feel..