In all of cinema, there may not be any single image quite as iconic (or as frequently imitated but never quite replicated) as the three leads of Sergio Leone's 1966 masterpiece The Good, the Bad and the Ugly preparing for their climactic stand-off in a gorgeously captured graveyard in contention for $200,000 in stolen gold. It's as simple as that. Thankfully, that indelible image, so beautifully captured by the cinematography of Tonino Delli Colli (whose overall career is absolutely astounding), is also surrounded by almost 3 hours of the most confident, ground-breaking, thrilling filmmaking of all time too.

By the time of its production, some of which was shared with Leone's For a Few Dollars More as they were partially shot simultaneously, this grand culmination of the unofficial ‘Man with No Name' trilogy of spaghetti westerns had stolen the American western iconography of John Ford, The Magnificent Seven, Anthony Mann and John Wayne, tussled with it and left it bloodstained and bruised. While the first instalment of this trilogy was much smaller in scale and largely derived from Akira Kurosawa's samurai film Yojimbo, this third film with its larger budget and Leone‘s growing confidence feels mammoth in its over-arching view of the ugliness, violence and complexity of the Wild West.

Leone is intelligent enough to guide and support his viewers through this bizarre, frequently off-putting (but always exciting) world utilising three key characters – the titular good, bad and ugly. Despite the unofficial trilogy title, Clint Eastwood's character is ‘the good' Blondie, Lee Van Cleef is ‘the bad' Angel Eyes and Eli Wallach (underrated generally as an actor) plays Tuco, ‘the ugly'. While it was almost undeniably Eastwood who stole the spotlight in the first two trilogy entries with his minimal, under-dramatised acting style, it is surprisingly Eli Wallach's Tuco who elevates The Good, the Bad and the Ugly into popcorn film perfection. Tuco, either fighting against or reluctantly assisting Blondie on his mission to recover the stolen gold, is charismatic and hilarious from his introduction (diving through a window carrying stolen goods) to the film's final few seconds. His cheeky vivaciousness is a perfect counterbalance to Eastwood's severity and seriousness, while Van Cleef's sneering villain makes an impact of his own despite more limited time on screen.

Just as there are certain images and certain performances in the film that have insured its place in cinema's hall of fame, it is impossible to discuss The Good, the Bad and the Ugly without giving mention to Ennio Morricone's inimitable, stylish score. A smattering of contrasting, seemingly mismatched and certainly un-musical sounds has never been so well suited to an equally chaotic cinematic world, providing the perfect backing to the adventure that the characters find themselves on, frequently set back or hurtled forwards by strange, unpredictable circumstances. Where Leone's vision is often quite grim, Morricone's music can push his characters towards a feeling of mysticism and legend, particularly with a song like ‘The Ecstasy of Gold'.

Despite some problems throughout the production, including an accidentally demolished bridge which required days (and a hefty amount of money) to rebuild as part of a gigantic Civil War re-enactment sequence, the film as a final product is utter perfection. Running at almost 3 hours in length, there isn't a second that drags as the story frequently twists or introduces new elements, some never before seen in such a way in the western genre (such as the horrible prisoners camp, a far cry from the reliability of American heroism in your average Ford western). Not only was Leone's style new to the Western, his thematic concerns were distinctive too only further engraving his unique vision into film history. While the Man with No Name trilogy came about largely through luck, with leading star Clint Eastwood taking the job on A Fistful of Dollars largely out of boredom during a summer break from filming the Western television show Rawhide, the trilogy would go on to become one of the finest ever made.

Leone would continue to make stunning epics including A Fistful of Dynamite, Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America, all of which were plagued by problems in securing budgets and distribution without being butchered by hasty studios. Leone‘s career following this film may have been troubled, but when seeing the magic of his work one can't help but be absorbed, completely titillated by this sometimes shocking, often depraved view of the West which shook away the sentimentality of most American approaches to the genre. Now presented in two different cuts with a glorious new restoration, it's never been a better time for this film to find new fans and/or to reignite the excitement of those who have already experienced its engrossing madness before.

4K ULTRA-HD CONTENTS

DISC 1 – INTERNATIONAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

New 4K restoration of the 162-minute International Cut using the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
Optional newly remixed lossless English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary by film critic and historian Tim Lucas
Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots

DISC 2 – EXTENDED CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

New 4K restoration of the 179-minute Extended Cut, using the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
Optional newly remixed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary by film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling
Audio commentary by film historian and Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel
Seamless branching options to watch the Extended Cut with the uncut torture scene (mono only) and/or without the ‘grotto' scene originally removed after the premiere
Deleted and alternate scenes

DISC 3 – EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

A Circular Trilogy, a newly filmed interview with film historian and critic Fabio Melelli
The Laughter Behind the Epic, a newly filmed interview with Giacomo Scarpelli, son of co-writer Furio Scarpelli
Three Colors, a newly filmed interview with Stefano Delli Colli, son of cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli
Sergio and Sergio, a newly filmed interview with camera assistant Sergio Salvati
The Hand That Drew The West, a newly filmed interview with Giuditta Simi, daughter of set/costume designer Carlo Simi
They Call Him Angel Eyes, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker and Lee Van Cleef biographer Mike Malloy
From Falls to Fame, a newly filmed interview with stuntman Fabio Testi
The Man, The Cut, The Masterpiece, a newly filmed interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
Frames of Glory, a newly filmed interview with post-production supervisor Enzo Ocone
That Magic Sound, a newly filmed interview with guitarist Bruno Battisti D'Amario
The Voice Behind the Gold, a newly filmed interview with singer Edda Dell'Orso
Call of the Coyote, a newly filmed interview with Morricone biographer Alessandro de Rosa
The Good, The Great and the Moody, a new visual essay exploring the film's iconic soundtrack by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
Leone's West and The Leone Style, two archive featurettes with Eastwood, Wallach, Schickel, Alberto Grimaldi and Mickey Knox
Reconstructing the Film, an archive featurette on the assembly of the Extended Cut
Il Maestro Parts One and Two, two archive featurettes with film music historian Jon Burlingame
The Socorro Sequence: A Reconstruction, a featurette on a deleted scene
The Man Who Lost the Civil War, an archive featurette on the film's depiction of the Civil War
Vignettes (Easter Eggs), four short interviews with Eastwood and Wallach
Alternate credits sequences
Four comprehensive image galleries