The Good the Bad and the Ugly

[bigsleepj]

Let's see: it's rather violent, it's rather nasty, but somehow I just love this movie! It has a great epic story-telling structure and is visually one of the best movies ever conceived. That's my oppinion.

What is your oppinion on this movie?

[CDLviking]

Greatest movie Clint Eastwood ever made. Ecstasy of Gold is one of the greatest scores ever.

[shooraijin]

Myself, I liked Fistful of Dollars a bit more, although TGTBTU is still a very good Western. But that's just preferences

[CDLviking]

I think it's kind of funny how Fistful of Dollars is almost an exact copy of Yojimbo.

[bigsleepj]

I think it's kind of funny how Fistful of Dollars is almost an exact copy of Yojimbo.

It is. In fact Akira Kurosawa sued Sergio Leone because of this, delaying the release of the movies in the US while they were big hits in Europe. Leone thought his movie wouldn't be a big hit and that no one will pay too much attention to it. Oops.

I have the soundtrack in my collection and I love the "Ecstacy of Gold" tune as well. Tuco running through the graveyard is also my favourite bit in the movie followed with the whole sequence surrounding the bridge that was just before that. But the best "spaghetti western" score that Ennio Morricone wrote was for Leone's next western, the good but slightly uneven "Once upon a time in the West".

[CDLviking]

I didn't know they were sued. What about The Seven Samurai and the Magnificent Seven?

[Shinja]

tgtbatu is one of my favorite films, though i think all 3 from that sieries are great

[shooraijin]

Good point, CDL.

It's sort of evidence that the Western genre and the samurai genre have an immense amount in common with basic story structure and characterization, even if the settings are different superficially (you might lump them under the "Frontier" supergenre, even).

[bigsleepj]

I didn't know they were sued. What about The Seven Samurai and the Magnificent Seven?

Well, Akira Kurosawa sold the filmrights to Seven Samurai for "The Magnificent Seven". Leone didn't buy the film-rights for Yojimbo. That's the basic differnce, though. But Kurosawa just sued for "Fistful of Dollars" not the entire series.

I'm not sure if Kurosawa liked "Fistful of Dollars", but he did like "The Magnificent Seven" even though some people refer to it as "Seven Samurai for Dummies". Apparently Kurosawa sold the rights to Hollywood for $150 dollars, which is astronomically low. Although I prefer "Seven Samurai", I have to admit that "Magnificent Seven" isn't bad.

[shooraijin]

$150? That seems like an urban legend (I can't imagine Kurosawa would have been so short-sighted) ... but I can't find anything to refute it.

The suit must not have had any clause in it about the sequels, or did it? I thought the Fistful sequels entered theatres unmolested.

[PumpkinKoRn52]

I loved the good the bad and the ugly, but it's not my favorite his. The outlaw of Josey Wales is my favorite movie Eastwoods in, followed by High plains drifter.

[bigsleepj]

$150? That seems like an urban legend (I can't imagine Kurosawa would have been so short-sighted) ... but I can't find anything to refute it.

It does sound like an Urban Legend...but my source was the "Guns for Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven", a documentary made in 2001 for the DVD release.