10 Most Intense Gunfights In Westerns
3. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Sergio Leone made some of the best spaghetti westerns out there, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly stands tall among the crowd. It isn't just one of the best western films ever made, it is one of the best films ever made! This all comes down to Leone and his unique talent of mixing awe-inspiring cinematography and terrific music with equal hints of heroism and dread.
The film up to this point has been a tense, gruelling ride through the dark heart of the wild west. Then, in a graveyard of all places, the final showdown begins between the three titular men. We all know the scene by now. The long, drawn out shots. The intense close-ups. The shifty eyes of each man looking between each other. The music building in volume and intensity. It's one of the most beloved (and yes, parodied) scenes in film history.
You talk to anyone about a western film, odds are it is this moment that they think of, even if they do not know the film itself. The faces of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach are as powerful as any gun shot. Not to say that when the guns start firing it is any less impactful. It may be over with quickly, but every bullet is felt, every shot deafening.