No Spaghetti Western Has Ever Topped This 97% RT Clint Eastwood Masterpiece's Final Scene

Comic Book Resources

By Ben Morganti

August 29, 2025

 

The 1960s was a groundbreaking decade for the Western genre, and not just because it deviated from Classical Hollywood-era Westerns, but because Hollywood itself was in a lull. However, Italian filmmakers like Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci were making some of the most riveting Westerns ever, with films like A Fistful of Dollars and Django giving rise to a new sub-genre. In order for the new "spaghetti Westerns" to have a big impact on wider markets, it became common for many of them to include big stars from across the globe. If these films could land a Hollywood name, it would be even better for their success. Sergio Leone succeeded in landing relatively unknown actor Clint Eastwood in 1964 for A Fistful of Dollars.

What started with A Fistful of Dollars culminated with the greatest Western ever made with 1966's The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. The 1966 classic is now considered to be a defining piece of cinema that had a big impact on the entire Western genre all across the world. In fact, a single scene in the film can be described as the definitive moment where everything changed for the genre, and no other Western has ever topped it.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Is Still the Greatest Western Ever Made

As stylish as it is thought-provoking, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is a reference point for many great filmmakers as well as audiences, critics, and cinephiles when thinking of the ways in which cinema has changed over the course of its history. Not only is the film a groundbreaking addition to the Western genre, but it is also a key achievement in director-driven cinema that would come to define filmmaking all across the world in the '60s and '70s. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly features Leone on full display with intricate uses of shots, angles, editing techniques, and music to exemplify character, build tension, and heighten plot elements. It is a reference point in how to film great action sequences, manipulate the audience's emotions, and entertain at the highest level.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is probably one of the most iconic films ever made in any country and for multiple reasons. Aside from the fact that it started Clint Eastwood's career, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly did a lot of things audiences weren't used to seeing in Westerns. Its length and scope made it a Western epic that explored the landscape portrayed as well as a Civil War American backdrop. Through three different characters, the story is told and eventually builds to a fateful confrontation between them.

What's beautiful about the film is how it makes a point of expressing what average people were dealing with during such a tumultuous time in America's history. The lawless landscape gave rise to specific kinds of people, who did whatever they had to do to survive. The 'man with no name' has been an anti-hero figure throughout multiple films, and fans come to connect with him most of all, but even as "good", he is still greedy and calculated. Leone stresses that, in such a devilish environment, he's the lesser of three evils, which is expressed through the characters that represent "bad" and "ugly." Each character embodies the kinds of archetypal figures the glorified American West produced but adds exponential realism to their portrayal.

This is the film's greatest impact on cinema, of course. Films in Hollywood especially didn't push boundaries and express realism like films in other countries. Therefore, spaghetti Westerns were notorious for being the most realistic portrayals of the West at the time. With hyper-stylized violence, challenging themes, and complex characters, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly was and remains one of the most visceral Westerns ever made. It inspired '70s revisionist Westerns in America as well as many Western eras moving forward. Finally, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is incredibly entertaining with exciting sequences, memorable one-liners, and jarring imagery. What makes it most iconic is the combination of elements, and the way scenes were crafted by Leone has stood out all these years.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Features The Most Iconic Scene In Western Movie History

When certain filmmakers discuss their influences, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly comes to mind for many of them. This is mainly because the film is Sergio Leone's directorial magnum opus and features his full arsenal of technical and creative talents. Crafting some of the most iconic character dynamics, editing techniques, and shot compositions, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly defined an entire generation of Westerns with various iconic elements mashed together. With easily Ennio Morricone's most memorable score, ambitious action sequences and Clint Eastwood's performance, Leone was able to make his masterpiece. While there are a number of famous scenes in the film, there is no scene more popular than the ending duel between the three titular characters.

The ending sequence as a whole has to be the best-directed final sequence in a movie ever. What starts with a battle in the local town turns into a cat-and-mouse game between the three main characters. As the sequence progresses, 'man with no name', Tuco and Angel Eyes are battling one another alongside a greater conflict. Thematically, the sequence is an expression of what average people fight for while the country is fighting a civil war. As the North and South battle, the outlaw figures use the situation to their advantage to continue their quest as they have a smaller, more personal battle over riches.

After the bridge is blown up and "the good, the bad and the ugly" find themselves in the middle of the conflict, they are then able to escape and continue to the cemetery where the treasure lies. Of course, the most iconic moment is the ending duel, which sees the 'man with no name' and Tuco caught off guard by Angel Eyes, and what plays out is cinema at its finest. With a pure expression of tension and climax, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly's final scene builds and builds as three outlaws slowly line up in a smaller three-way circle. At this time, Morricone's iconic score is also building and building with the tension. The scene gets even better because of Leone's direction and editing decisions. Starting wide, the scene slowly moves closer and closer with proceeding medium, close, and extreme close-up shots.

The editing matches the music as it jumps around from character to character, gauging their state of mind, focus, and nerves. With ease, two specific kinds of shots break the tension and resolve the moment: medium shots that show them drawing the guns, and the initial wide shot, which shows who won the duel. Of course, it's the 'man with no name' who wins not just by being quicker but smarter. Aware that Tuco's gun is empty, he focuses entirely on Angel Eyes and wins that battle outright. To officially resolve the moment, the 'man with no name' gets the upper hand on Tuco and rides off with the money. It remains the greatest final scene in Western movie history and maybe the greatest final scene in all cinema. All these years later, the scene not only defined the future of Western filmmaking, but it has never been topped.

Only a Few Westerns Come Close to the Greatness of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

What's probably even more impressive about The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, is that it has maintained its iconic impact all these years later. Since 1966, only a few Westerns (whether spaghetti or Hollywood) have come close to the greatness of Leone's masterpiece. Remarkably, three of the films that have are also from Leone. Obviously, Leone's other two films in the "Dollars Trilogy" are essential pieces of Western cinema. Other than A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, Leone also made one of the greatest Westerns ever, two years after The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, when he made Once Upon a Time in the West in 1968.