Most second sequels blow it, but The Good, The Bad And The Ugly has the right attitude if theyre going to give you more money to make another one, then youve got to make the biggest, most grandiose, most outrageous horse opera ever committed to film. Throwing in everything except the proverbial sink, Sergio Leone tells a story thats nominally about the hunt for hidden treasure, yet also takes in sub-plots concerning betrayal, revenge and Civil War battles. And who could forget Ennio Morricones score, or Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef in their signature roles? Stylistically, its a million miles away from the Westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks, and seems to take place in a never-never land where larger-than-life characters exist only to engage in hyper-violent showdowns, but thats the thing about the Spaghetti Westerns they were always more outrageous fun than their American counterparts.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
