The Good, the Bad and the Ugly · reception & legacy
1966 · Sergio Leone
How The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Sneered at on release as another violent 'spaghetti western' — American critics were largely dismissive — it's now routinely ranked among the greatest films ever made and has spent years parked near the top of the IMDb Top 250.
What's debated
Fans endlessly relitigate whether it's actually Leone's best — or whether Once Upon a Time in the West deserves that crown — along with which cut (and which runtime) is the 'real' one.
Its footprint
The title itself became an English-language idiom, Morricone's wah-wah-wah theme is arguably the most recognizable film music ever written, and the climactic three-way standoff has been parodied and homaged everywhere from The Simpsons to countless video games.
Where it stands
It's the ultimate gateway western — the 'you must have seen this' pick that converts people who swear they don't like westerns.