The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Ending Explained

By Cathal Gunning

July 1, 2024

 

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly's iconic ending solidified Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood's status in the spaghetti Western genre.

The standoff scene showcases the archetypical spaghetti Western, with its tension, daring duration, and Ennio Morricone's score.

The movie's ending offers a brutal deconstruction of traditional Western heroism, setting the stage for darker revisionist Westerns.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’s ending is famous and still so beloved for as a spaghetti Western for its final scene ushering in a new era for the genre. Director Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy began in 1964 with A Fistful of Dollars. This inexpensive Clint Eastwood vehicle was a box office hit, and 1965 saw the arrival of its first sequel, For A Few Dollars More. Although both of these movies remain well regarded critically, it was 1966’s The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly that cemented Leone and Eastwood’s statuses as central figures in the spaghetti Western sub-genre.

While Clint Eastwood appeared in many Westerns, not all of them qualify as spaghetti Westerns. Spaghetti Westerns were created by European (usually Italian) directors and writers and typically featured more bloodshed and moral ambiguity than their American counterparts. In this regard, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly was the archetypical spaghetti Western. Filmed when Eastwood was only 36 years old, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly follows the eponymous trio of amoral bandits who vie for a buried cache of gold against the backdrop of the American Civil War. Unlikely alliances and endless double crosses inevitably ensue.

How Blondie Beat Angel Eyes In The Good, The Bad, And The Uglys Standoff

The Man With No Name Was A Faster Draw

By The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’s ending, Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes, Eastwood’s Blondie (or The Man With No Name), and Eli Wallach’s Tuco have all ended up at opposite ends of the cemetery at Sad Hill. The gold that Tuco and Blondie heard about is buried nearby, but all three men want to leave the cemetery with the entire fortune. A lengthy, legendary Mexican stand-off ensues as the three men eye each other, their hands hovering over their guns. The scene became iconic thanks to its daring duration, its tension, and Ennio Morricone’s instantly recognizable score.

Even though he has been known to resort to underhanded tricks and clever gambits in earlier movies and throughout The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Blondie beats Angel Eyes fair and square when he outguns him.

Finally, Angel Eyes draws his gun first but Blondie shoots and kills him before he can fell Eastwood's Man With No Name. Hilariously, Tuco plays no part in the standoff since, after trying to fire, he discovers that there are no bullets in his gun. Even though he has been known to resort to underhanded tricks and clever gambits in earlier movies and throughout The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Blondie beats Angel Eyes fair and square when he outguns him. This is thematically appropriate since Angel Eyes is even more untroubled by playing dirty than Blondie.

Why Blondie Almost Hangs Tuco In The Good, The Bad, And The Uglys Ending

Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallachs Characters Share A Longstanding Feud

There is no way of knowing where Blondie is riding off to in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’s final shot, but there is a reason that this is left ambiguous. The movie's perspective subtly shifts between Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco throughout, with all three characters getting a few scenes in the spotlight. Although Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name is the hero of the movie’s final showdown, the last scene belongs to Tuco. The audience fears as Tuco nearly chokes and laughs with relief when he survives but, like Tuco, are left with no idea where Blondie goes.

How The Good, The Bad, and The Uglys Ending Explains The Title

Sergio Leones Classic Spaghetti Western Has An Ironic Name

In The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’s vision of the Old West, cunning and ruthlessness win out over everything else. While Angel Eyes is defeated since he is much worse than either Tuco or Blondie, Blondie’s amoral taunting of Tuco proves he is scarcely more heroic than his collaborator. This is reinforced earlier in the movie when Eastwood’s hero leaves Tuco to die in the desert simply because he annoyed him. It is also underlined when Tuco’s brother, a priest, briefly appears. Their interaction proves that no one is innocent in Leone’s vision of the West, despite the title.

The Real Meaning Of The Good, The Bad, and The Uglys Ending

Leones Western Complicated The Traditional Western Story

In classic Technicolor Westerns, heroic sheriffs and cowboys saved small towns and upheld the rule of law. In the endlessly re-watchable The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, three pitiless criminals double-cross each other until one is dead, one is rich, and one is left stranded with his fortune. Thus, Leone’s movie effectively ushered in an era of revisionist Westerns where the protagonists were no longer unambiguous heroes. This made room for the likes of The Wild Bunch, El Topo, McCabe and Ms. Miller, and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia, all of which were even darker stories.

Viewers who hope for a heartwarming affirmation of the value that built America instead get a brutal deconstruction of the Western mythos built by earlier movies

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’s ending proves that, while the title might try to designate a role for each of them, none of the movie’s main characters are traditional heroes. Angel Eyes is definitely the most villainous and, as a result, he is left dead in the dirt at the movie’s conclusion. However, viewers who hope for a heartwarming affirmation of the value that built America instead get a brutal deconstruction of the Western mythos built by earlier movies. In The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’s West, the quickest gun wins regardless of who pulls the trigger.