DVD Review HTF Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly CE (Highly Recommended!) (1 Viewer)

[JoshB]

I grew up on CLint Eastwood films, and this is among my favorite. Having watched chopped up versions on TV and never seeing in in its complete form in widescreen, it will be like revisiting it all over again when I pick it up.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Great review. Sounds like an interesting DVD to buy sometime.

 

[Steve K.H.]

Wow!

('nuf said)

 

[Sean Scott]

I've been waiting for this set since it got announced! I won't be buying it on May 18th because of the Walt Disney Treasures! hehe but I will be putting it on Layaway at Wal-mart if I find it below $19.99 if not I will buy it eventually

 

[Gary->dee]

Does anyone know if this DVD CE version is the same extended version that was shown on AMC? Because from what I recall of that version the added scenes with Eli Wallach(such as the scene in the cave when his friends drop down and join him) didn't sound that bad at all dialogue-wise.

I have the old version of the DVD but I'm still torn as to whether I'll double-dip. I definitely would like to hear Ennio's score in 5.1 though(or at least stereo)!

Btw Jason:

I think you meant to say that it was recorded in the studio, correct?

 

[Peter Svensson]

Could someone please explain which audio track is the original? I suppose it is the Italian, but do all the actors speak Italian on that track, I mean Clint can´t speak Italian, can he? Or is the Italian track dubbed to Italian from English or is the English 5.1 track dubbed to English from Italian? Is the English, if it´s dubbed, a good dubbing or does or does the lipsync look disturbing?

I normally hate dubbed films, but I rather want the 5.1 dub instead of the mono. The thing is that the R2UK edition doesn´t have the Italian mono track. So is it necessary to buy the R1 edition for the correct(?) audio track or can I settle for the English 5.1? Thank you!

 

[JonZ]

Im a bit nervous about the new scenes added back with new dubbing :frowning:

This is one of my favorites as well, and Ill gladly double dip for the updated transfer and better sound.

I think the other 2 are being worked on as well.

 

[Tommy G]

Peter, I believe because Leone used a mixture of American actors and Italian actors that everyone spoke their native tongue and the audio track was dubbed afterwards in English. I think I remember reading this somewhere but I'll let another who is more of an expert chime in.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

In Italian films of this era, most actors simply spoke their own native language since the films were all post-synchronized, so there's no easy answer to which is the "original" language.

In the case of GBU, Eastwood, Wallach, and Van Cleef are speaking English and dubbed their own dialogue for the English version. The Italian-language version is the one that Leone directly supervised, but the voices of the three main charactes are dubbed into Italian by other actors. Go here for some details on GBU's audio: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1139gbu.html

 

[Peter Svensson]

But in that case the English dub should be the best. The English speaking actors speak English and the Italian actors speak Italian. In the Italian version all the actors speak Italian, in other words, the Enlish speaking actors are dubbed to Italian and the Italian speaking actors speak Italian. Correct? Or does all actors speak English, including the Italian speaking actors, in the English version?

 

[Lawrence X]

Just had a friend bring over a copy from BlockBuster a couple nights ago that we all watched. The picture quality was better than I remembered from the copy I owned (has there ever been more than 1 version of the film released on DVD?).

It was a great film as I'd remembered, but waaay too long. They could have cut out most of the civil war stuff for my money to make a shorter, more enjoyable and endurable film.

Adding in another 20 minutes would be a killer for me.

 

[Jason Perez]

Gary (post #25):

Thanks!

I changed that sentence around so it would read better, and forgot to get rid of the "not". Yes, I did mean recorded in the studio... I will edit my review to clarify this.

Regards,

Jason

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Yes, the English dub is the best version.

 

[Peter Svensson]

Thank you! I just bought the R2UK digipack edition without the Italian mono track.

 

[ChrisBEA]

Thanks for the review!
I'm not a big western fan, but this is an excellent movie!
Looking forward to this release.

 

[oscar_merkx]

I am eagerly awaiting with anticipation to watch this next week

 

[Yee-Ming]

Sorry, I'd have to disagree. I first watched this on VHS in the middle of the night (in college), about 2 to 5 am. Not once did I nod off, it was that riveting.

(The dorm was screening this the following evening, but since I was going to be out, I borrowed the tape and watched it myself; I had to watch it that very night since apparently the tape was being returned right after the screening the next evening.)

 

[Gary->dee]

Yeah I also disagree that this movie is too long. For me it's the Lawrence of Arabia or LOTR of Westerns, if that makes any sense. In other words I think the length is perfect because it's an epic Western. I like GBU more than Leone's Once Upon A Time in the West because the latter seems to crawl, even though I do understand the particular, languid style Leone used for Once Upon a time... The faces spoke more than the dialogue. But GBU too long? Nah, it's just right. Once you get into it you're hooked.

For me Good, Bad and the Ugly is simply the best Western movie ever. It's iconic, legendary, simple, arcane, brutal, definitely humorous(which I think is one of its strongest qualities) and classic.

 

[oscar_merkx]

also taken from the dvdtalk review, and I guess Eastwood learned from the best to become a director in his own right

 

[Carlo_M]

Great review. Didn't really need the extra "push" to buy this (I was going to buy it on release date anyway) but it's always good to read that a studio didn't screw up one of my most beloved films.