Board 8 > Board 8 Ranks: Westerns! The Official Results Topic

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#5. The Hateful Eight 63 points

Johnbobb 2
Karo 3
Inviso 4
Stifled 11
CoolCly 12
Poke 15
KBM 16

Very poor plot synopsis:
Do you remember how everyone was trapped together in a stagecoach inStagecoach? Well now imagine that in a cabin with more violence and racial slurs.

Why it was included:
Popular demand. I had left this off the first draft of the list, and multiple folks requested I add it. So here you go. Becauseperusing the internet, I didnt find much about The Hateful Eight that really stood out, outside of the usual controversy a Quentin Tarantino flick brings to the table. I think the main (and really cool) thing is that Ennio Morricone FINALLY won an Academy Award for best original score. The fact it took that long in his career to be recognized by the Academy is absolutely criminal. But then again, they do have a bad habit of waiting too long on a lot of folks.

What Stifled thinks:
Admittedly, I hated this the first time I saw it. I thought it was entirely too long, I didnt like many of the characters, and I just felt bored overall. But looking back, I think I was just having a bad day. I wont get into it, but Ill simply say my life was very stressful at the time and a movie such as this was not what my brain wanted. Now fast forward to the rewatch. I was able to calmly sit down and give this one more of a chance. And you know what? I actually quite enjoyed it! I enjoyed everyone interacting. The setting was both pretty and suffocating. The resulting tension due to the close proximity of everyone was well presented. And it was appropriately murdery when it needed it be. Now the one aspect I enjoyed both times I watched this was the performance of motherfucking Sam Jackson. Hilariously take no prisoners, Jackson was very much in charge the whole time, whether everyone (particularly Kurt Russels character) wanted to admit it or not. Additionally, I enjoyed the Lincoln Letter plot device. It was unclear the entire time as to whether it was legit or not, and I have my suspicions the complete truth still wasnt told.
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Johnbobb: I put off watching this for a while after not seeing it in theaters, partially due to the 3.5 hour runtime. Then I saw that Netflix had uploaded a 4-hour cut, broken into much more serviceable 1-hour segments, like a miniseries. So, I sat down, watched one, and then immediately watched the next 3 because I got so hooked on the characters, the plot, and the mystery of this desolate little shack in the middle of nowhere. Four hours goes by faster than most 2 hour films do.

Karo: Eight of the most despicable people in the civil war era end up trapped together in a small house during a blizzard in this filming of Big Brother: The Old West. Everyone is a total shitlord and it is a miracle we make it halfway through the movie before someone gets murdered.
This is the kind of thing only Tarantino could make work, and make it work he does as the blood begins to flow freely and the typical narrative weirdness ensues.
The scenario somewhat bares in mind Agatha's Christie's 'And Then There Were None' and much like that story the bodies pile up until everyone is dead and that is probably what is best for the world.
It is a very very Tarantino movie and if you like his stuff you will probably like this. I myself am lukewarm on many of his movies but this is okay I guess and at least he knows what he is fucking doing as a director.

Inviso: This is a good movie, and the only thing that holds it back from being higher than the movies Ive ranked above it is that theres a LITTLE too much downtime. Dont get me wrong, I know Tarantino is big on building atmosphere and tension, and theres a lot of good stuff of that variety in this film. But for such a largely character-driven piece, I feel like the stretched tension was a LITTLE too often superfluous to the plot. Namely the stuff with Bruce Derns general, who was himself superfluous to the plot. I think hes the real part of the movie that feels like an unnecessary addition, and thats the one piece that kinda hobbles the film for me, just a little bit. I do love the character development of Walton Goggins character over the course of the movie though, and hes probably the best character. Hes a typical Confederate asshole, but even from the beginning, hes trying to turn over a new leaf as a sheriff. And over the course of the film, while hes still quite racist, he acknowledges Marquis skills, and the two of them die as friends, having outlasted the bushwacking attempt. That balances out Bruce Dern, Id say.

CoolCly: This is an interesting movie. It puts a lot of thought and effort into setting up who everyone is and why the are there, and why events are going to unfold as they are. But. It failed at a lot of those tasks.

The Major baiting the old man to draw on him was good, but just doesn't seem to make sense to do in the middle of this house of people who are already mostly hostile towards him.

The narration of what came after is very strange and out of place. This feels like they couldn't figure out a good way to handle this transition and just did the lazily voice over explanation possible, which seems so unusual for Tarantino.

The Major playing detective on who poisoned the coffee and how Senor Bob doesn't belong is great, but killing Bob after giving his conclusions without trying to get any information out of Bob is just dumb.

I didn't like the flashback to how things to where they were. The way it all went down doesn't even make sense - there'd be blood and mess everywhere that they wouldn't have had time to clean up, and handwaving the old man playing along because he's actually in the main movie makes no sense. It feels like they wanted a brutal scene but rushed the actual planning of it and it really hurts the movie. It's all just to justify an extra person being in the house but it's the opposite of clever.

It's especially not good because Gage and Oswaldo are the least developed and justified members of the eight anyways, so to use this to justify adding a ninth person to their gang sucks. Bob's gruff and terse answers was enough to justify him, but not the others.

Having half of the eight all being in cahoots as a "side" makes this a worse set up than eight strangers falling into chaos as is the premise says. Seeing why eight strangers would tear each other apart is interesting. Finding out that half of the game was mafia all along isnt. All in all - bad twist.
It's strange that this movie just fell off a cliff on how to keep things on track, which should be crucial in this type of movie.

I also don't care at all for Tarantino's penchant for really over the top violence - gunshots causing big blood explosions and heads popping.

Walton Goggins in the end game was awesome. It was great how he, and the Major, who hated each other perhaps the most, ended up as comrades enjoying the letter together. That was a great ending.

The best performance is Daisy who seems crazy and patient at the same time.

7.3/10

Poke: Not as bombastic as other Tarantino works, but the witty dialogue and tension between characters is ever present and thoroughly enjoying.

KBM: One of Tarantino's lesser films, yet still a really good one overall. The man is a master of dialogue, which is good because that's most of what this is. Though it's not necessarily one that sticks with you as strongly as his other movies do, it does feature an unforgettable performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh. It's also a testament to Tarantino's skill with dialogue and the chemistry of the cast that it doesn't feel as long as it is (though I can't speak to the Longer Version that's out there now; I had hoped I would find the time to check that version out and see how it is, but I ran out of time).
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OUTLIER

Poke 185
CoolCly 177
Inviso 151
Stifled 136
KBM 135
Johnbobb 127
Karo 117

The Rancorous Rankers shot CoolCly dead as he tried steal the outlier bounty money from Poke.
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Figured this would do well just by being a Tarantino film, but pleasantly surprised it actually made the top 5!

This really is basically Stagecoach but better. Say what you want about that being a classic but the difference in skill from a writing and character perspective is nearly undeniable. The direction is on par but from a visual perspective there's obviously just so much more that is possible in filmmaking than nearly 100 years earlier.

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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was directed by Chinatown's villain.

The Hateful Eight interests me mostly for its cast. I'm not a HUGE Kurt Russell fan or anything but the more movies of his I see the more he grows on me. I felt like his performance in Big Trouble in Little China (itself a pseudo-Western) was good enough to transcend being just a John Wayne impression even though the influence was clear. And then Samuel L. Jackson is Samuel L. Jackson, 'nuff said.

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#4. 3:10 to Yuma 53 points

Pokewars 3
CoolCly 4
Karo 5
KBM 6
Stifled 7
Johnbobb 11
Inviso 17

Very poor plot synopsis:
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINEDin the west?

Why it was included:
I was interested in including both original and remake on the list as I did with other such combos, but alas, 3:10 to Yuma the elder is being used in another project. For the record, the original is actually quite good, so you should check it out. So what does the remake bring to the table? It was nominated for some awards and brought in a tidy sum at the box office, but that isnt why its here. 3:10 to Yuma is just a down and dirty wild west tale that provides a solid blend of modernization and classic western aesthetics. I didnt think twice about including such a film.

What Stifled thinks:
Sometimes in life you just need a nice action flick to enjoy. Kick back, relax, and watch a bunch of dudes try to kill each other. And 3:10 to Yuma delivers on that goal. Take some outstanding performances from the cast, build up some tension and storyline between them at the beginning, and basically push a detonator button to blow it all to bits. Once the action starts, it doesnt let up. Its a hell of a ride until the very end of the film and its quite exhilarating. Its some of the finest western pew pew I have seen so far. But hey, lets rewind a bit here. What about those performances? Well the dynamic between Bale and Crowe is an attention grabber. They play off each other so well, you wonder if they forgot it was a movie. Bale is the serious business war veteran crack shot farmer that is putting it all on the line for his family and his land. Crowe simply does not give a fuck and treats life as a non-stop thrill ride. They are both adversaries and teachers to each other. During their experiences together, their eyes are opened to worlds they did not see before. And in the final moments of the film, you even see that the nefarious outlaw has come to care about his captor. I feel that many movies attempt this type of relationship and cant quite pull it off. But 3:10 to Yuma delivers.
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Poke: Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Im instantly sold. Russell is having the time of his life playing Ben. Nothing like playing a charismatic, charming cut-throat. Riveting from start to end, this was top tier for sure.

CoolCly: Many of these westerns live or die by how charismatic a few key performance are.
Russell Crowe *nails* it here as Ben Wade. He is very intimidating. The way he stares at people kind of terrifies me. My imagination of the things he's capable of outweigh anything they could actually show him doing. His charisma when he gets talking to someone is also incredible.

I find Christian Bale's character a bit too wooden though. The intent is for him to be rather cautious before making moves combined with having smoldering anger over the hand life has dealt him, which are both fine characteristics, but the result is that he feels like a piece of the background rather than the central character.

But overall, their chemistry together throughout the movie works and leads us to the final sequence, which I immensely enjoyed. Some brief looking around has a lot of people saying the ending of the movie is the worst part. Which I find perplexing. I enjoyed the whole movie, but it all felt in service of getting us to the point that Ben Wade was willing to play along with everything happening at the end. If you take that away, most of the movie feels pointless.

I should check out the original some day maybe if its on Westerns 2.

9.5/10

Karo: A rancher needing a quick buck tries to deliver a wanted outlaw to the titular train to Yuma at precisely ten after three. (or the title might be referring to the average high temperature in Yuma AZ which is in that ballpark)
Wade is a good character and he tends to steal the scenes and even draw empathy from the audience despite basically being one of the villains of the film.
It is a decent film with a focused plot and a clear goal for every character. I shouldn't need to explicitly state this about a movie but by god this project is rough.

KBM: I am not always a huge fan of Russell Crowe... but he is absolutely brilliant in this. His chemistry with Christian Bale here is superb as is underrated character actor Ben Foster as his scene-stealing second-in-command who will stop at nothing to get him out of the law's clutches. One of those movies on this list that just sucks you in and stays super engaging all the way through. Amazing soundtrack, too.

Johnbobb: I don't ever want to see Russell Crowe in an intimate setting again. I don't care that this was mid-2000s Crowe that was still popular and not digesting a toad, but it's still uncomfortable. Otherwise, solid picture. Decent acting (even if most of the cast never truly blends into their roles, which I suppose is inevitable to an extent when you've got big names like these leading men. James Mangold is good at what he does.

Inviso: Honestly? What holds this film back is just how slow and boring it is for most of its run. It just takes itself far too seriously, and I feel like they couldve a couple sequences out of the film without hindering the narrative being told. Christian Bales steadfast character is pretty standard, but doing a whole info-dump as to why hes behaving the way he is, all in the final portion of the movie, does very little for me. However, what keeps the movie from landing way down lower on the list is the fact that Russell Crowes Ben Wade CARRIES this film on his back. He is the wild west equivalent of a gentleman thief, and his Im not really a bad guy, but you should probably let me go all the same attitude makes a lot of the film work much better than it does. Hell, no one else wouldve given a fuck about what Christian Bale is sacrificing or trying to prove, but Ben Wade respects the hustle and goes along with his plans to the bitter end. THAT made for an interesting narrative, even if the rest of the movie dragged a bit too much.
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OUTLIER

Poke 186
CoolCly 177
Inviso 164
Stifled 139
KBM 137
Johnbobb 134
Karo 118

Cly Evans attempts to bring Poke Wade to the 3:10 to Ranker. But as is always the case, Poke gets away again.
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Am I going to get laughed at for saying I like Christian Bale for his portrayal of Batman?

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Am I going to get laughed at for saying I like Christian Bale for his portrayal of Batman?

Not that Id laugh no matter who you said you liked, but Im pretty sure liking Bale as Batman is a common occurrence.
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The original 3:10 to Yuma is very good too. Been a long time since I watched either but I saw the remake first, so I was skeptical that the original would hold up to modern sensibilities. I was wrong.

I remember it having a bit of a different feel. Maybe not as action-y (which seems obvious)? Certainly I remember a difference in the performance of the villain.

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Despite being the only film on the list unanimously in everyone's top ten, we have ourselves a bronze medalist:

#3. For a Few Dollars More 40 points

Pokewars 2
CoolCly 3
KBM 5
Karo 6
Inviso 8
Johnbobb 8
Stifled 8

Very poor plot synopsis:
Two bad motherfuckers attempt to out-bad motherfucker each other in various displays of bad motherfuckery.

Why it was included:
When you have your fists full of dollars, its only natural that you will want a few more dollars. And speaking of a few more dollars, this movie brought in a shitload of them. In Italy and Spain, For a Few Dollars more became each countrys highest grossing film of all time. Naturally it has since been eclipsed, but that is an impressive feat, particularly for a western. For Americans, this was a harder movie to watch. Both this and A Fistful of Dollars came out in the US a mere four months apart. In fact, before Clint Eastwood agreed to reprise his role in the sequel, he requested to actually be able to see A Fistful of Dollars to make sure he liked the final product. He had not yet been able to see his own film until then! So Leone shipped him out the Italian version to watch and the rest is history.

What Stifled thinks:
Mild list spoilers, but this one was my favorite of the Dollars Trilogy by a country mile. I felt Clint and Van Cleef were both at the tops of their game, particularly in how they interacted with each other. The scene where they trick shoot each others hats is one of my favorite scenes of the entire project. And when they finally work together? Theyre completely unstoppable. And thats a good thing because the villain in this film is also the best of the trilogy. Tuco is wonderful, but I dont consider him the villain of the story so much as an antagonizing protagonist. Indio, on the other hand, is bad through and through and I ADORE the pocket watch song gimmick. It adds so much extra tension to gun battles hes involved in because while you have a definite start time for the bullets to fly, youre still left waiting.

Unfortunately, I have one complaint that cost For a Few Dollars More a few spots on my list. They rehashed a bit. Everything was great until they decided to toss the infiltrate the enemy gang shtick back into the mix. Now I will admit they 100% did it better here than in Fistful, but all the same, I also believe rehashing is lame. But for as outstanding as everything else in this movie was, especially the final duel, I am more than willing to let that slide.
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Poke: Eastwood and van Cleef, who later see themselves on opposite sides in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, team up for this one, and its awesome. Lees revenge arc is the most compelling and satisfying when it reaches its end. Awesome tag-team action from the two legends.

CoolCly: I really loved this movie. I felt like it took what a Fistful of Dollars did and created a more complete movie. A fully complete movie.

The villain feels like a more fleshed out version of Ramone from the first movie (and I think its played by the same actor).

I REALLY liked the other bounty hunter. The same actor plays the villain in the third movie but I like him a lot better here. They set him up with his own style with his specialty guns, and I love it.

The standoff of bounty hunters in the street could be the coolest thing ive ever seen.

I felt like they got a bit too cute with the shenanigans they played talking to each other and chatting with the bad guys of course it led to them getting caught and beat up.

But the final music box shoot out was phenomenal. I loved this movie.

10/10

KBM: After being underwhelmed by the first installment of Leone's Dollars trilogy, I was more than pleasantly surprised by For a Few Dollars More, which gave me much more of a plot and character development to latch onto, and felt like a very natural stepping stone between that and the operatic epic that was The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Gian Maria Volont's talents are put to much better use here than in A Fistful of Dollars he is incredibly menacing here and the flashbacks and the pocketwatch as a plot device are all very effective. It's all so unflinching and far more interesting than that first installment managed to be with its story of petty smuggler squabbles. If the final showdown feels a bit anticlimactic, it's only by comparison with what came immediately afterwards in the Leone oeuvre.

Karo: The further adventures of the lone cowboy searching for his name. He and a rival bounty hunter go after the same bandit who is planning the biggest bank heist the west has ever seen.
It is a big improvement on the previous dollars outing in pretty much every regard, the characterization is much better, and the effects while still not great at least no longer scrape the bottom of the barrel.
The villain is somewhat memorable, which on this list goes a long way. He is a complicated and slightly crazy character, and he and his gang crumble from being a bunch of greedy bastards, rather then from being just too stupid to live like the bad guys from the first movie.
Looks like all it took to have Sergio make a decent movie was giving him, well, a few dollars more.

Inviso: This was an interesting one for me, because you can definitely see some of the same plot points being hit as occurred in A Fistful of Dollars, but this film manages to be its own thing. For starts, the introduction of a second, overpowered protagonist allowed for some unique storytelling. Not only do you have Clint Eastwood as a clever rogue in his own right, but suddenly hes dueling with Lee Van Cleef as a similarly-clever bounty hunter, out for a big score himself. While they butt heads and try to backstab each other on multiple occasions, its interesting to see them come together to take out an entire bank robbery gang with only two men. And the level of planning involved in them not only securing their bounties, but also MAKING OFF WITH THE SPOILS OF A BANK ROBBERY, is amazing to me. Throw in Indio as a slowly-degenerating villain who is overpowered and treacherous in his own right (seriously, the double-crosses in the movies climax are wonderful to watch), and this was a solid second entry in the trilogy.

Johnbobb: For a Few Dollars More exists in a weird spot. Not as fresh as A Fistful of Dollars, but not as wide-scale or refined as The Good the Bad and the Dollars. Eastwood's character changes very little dollars throughout the three, which I was expecting, but what I didn't expect was how much overlap the three dollars have. This one got the short dollar for my taste, Volente was better as the cleverly evil family man in Fistful, while Van Cleef was better as the shadowy merc in Good/Bad/Dollars. That's not to say anything here is bad; Leone and Morricone are still top dollar, particularly compared to anyone else in their field at the time, this was just a slight step down from the other two dollars.
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OUTLIER

Poke 187
CoolCly 177
Inviso 169
Stifled 144
Johnbobb 139
KBM 139
Karo 121

The Poke with No Name extends his lead by a single point. With only two movies left, can he hold the lead or will Cool Van Clyyf be able to outsmart him?
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Sweet. My top two are the top two.

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Inviso posted...

Sweet. My top two are the top two.

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StifledSilence posted...

Not that Id laugh no matter who you said you liked, but Im pretty sure liking Bale as Batman is a common occurrence.

I was under the impression people like mocking his Batman voice. Which is goofy, yeah, but it isn't THAT big of a deal-breaker.

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

I was under the impression people like mocking his Batman voice. Which is goofy, yeah, but it isn't THAT big of a deal-breaker.

I think people just like mocking it for fun, not because they dislike him. Like South Park got a mileage out of it, for example.
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actually, i legitimately think bale's batman voice is horrific and i also think he's the worst batman ever (yes, worse than west and clooney).

batman begins is still one of my favorite movies of all time so it's not a "dealbreaker" but god, that voice is impossible to take seriously.

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Was hoping for it to join top 2 but alas.

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Did some numbers.

Stifled, mah boi.........how? Or more accurately...why? ;_;

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looks like pokewars has finally realized the thing I figured out yesterday

edit: nm this is something different.. ouch

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The Dark Knight left me interested in seeing more of Bale. I still haven't rectified that.

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Bale will always be Patrick Bateman to me

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There are a whole lot of things being figured out. Detective skillz.
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I used my SKILLLLS....that I learned in the mountains.

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American Psycho seems to be Bale's other best-known role and also has Willem Dafoe and Jared Leto. Seems like as good a place to start as any.

Was also thinking Public Enemies. I saw the same director's film Heat for the first time a few years ago and loved it.

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american psycho is ok.

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Howl is my favorite Bale role.
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American Psycho is so entertaining, most people probably don't listen to the message.

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As a reminder, the final two were TIED at 30 points. To break the tie, the lowest ranking of each film was dropped. I also tested using the method of dropping the lowest AND highest score. The results were the same in both instances.

We have a winner, which will be revealed momentarily.

First, I would like to give a big thank you to everyone who participated in the ranking. Westerns are not for everyone, and I appreciate you all sticking it out and watching the whole list. I saw in the writeups that you all seemed to broaden some sort of horizon, for better or worse, and I couldn't be happier.

Second, I would like to thank everyone who chatted it up in the topic. It kept things lively, so much appreciated.

And lastly, there will be a Westerns 2 some day. Maybe Westerns 3? I dunno. We'll see.

But yeah, never mind that shit. Here comes Mongo! Err...the final two!
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#2. Django Unchained 30 points

Inviso 1
Johnbobb 1
Karo 1
Stifled 1
KBM 4
CoolCly 10
Pokewars 12

Very poor plot synopsis:
A German man, a black man, and a redneck man walk into a bar

Why it was included:
It won Academy Awards. It won Golden Globes. It won BAFTA Awards. Christoph Waltz won all three! It was on a shitload of critic top ten lists for the year 2012, including the American Film Institute. It also made a shitload of other critics uncomfortable, proving its ability to make people have important conversations about racial inequality and violence, regardless of where they thought the movie stood on them. It paid homage to another movie on this list, down to using some of the music. Franco Nero even made a cameo! I dont think its a stretch to say Django Unchained is a modern masterpiece.

What Stifled thinks:
Forget westerns, Django Unchained is one of my favorite movies of any genre. It takes something awful like slavery and punches it right in its little bitch face with a pair of brass knuckles. It shows you just how awful it was with excellent and convincing performances as well as brutal violence from all of the various slave owner/lackey characters. It has equally as excellent performances from the sympathetic characters such as Doc Shultz and Brunhilda. And most importantly, Jamie Foxx provides an incredible performance of a man that began as a slave and transformed slowly over time into an ace bounty hunter. His progression is impressive to watch and feels accurately staggered over time instead of one montage teaching him everything. Doc trains him not only in combat, but also educationally. Django learns how to read, how to talk more clearly, and how to properly carry himself when playing a character. More importantly, Doc becomes a father figure to Django and their relationship is heartwarming.

There is not a single thing I dislike about this movie. In fact, there is not a single thing about this movie that isnt exceptional. The soundtrack, the acting, the gunplay, the way the characters interact with each other, the emotional weight the story creates, EVERYTHING. 5/5, 10/10, 100/100, whatever metric you want me to grade this on, I give it a perfect score.
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Inviso: Quentin Tarantino is just a genius when it comes to crafting action movies, but also crafting characters when hes in charge of writing the stories hes directing. It would be so easy for a nearly three-hour long movie to drag on, yet at no point during Django Unchained did this film ever feel like it was taking too long, or like it was lingering on a scene more than necessary. The character work, at least for the four characters I would consider main characters, was exceptionally good. Calvin Candie is odious, yet unnecessarily arrogant, in a way coming across like an older version of Game of Thrones Joffrey. Likewise, Steven is vile in his own way, cold and calculating after years of building up a good life in the main house. Meanwhile, Schultz is a delightful bounty hunter who manages to be both extremely skilled, yet kind-hearted all the same, ultimately to his detriment. And then Django himself is just such a cool, calm and collected character, slowly building himself up as this masterful hero, even going so far as to prove his wiles in the films climactic escape. In the end, everything about Django Unchained was brilliantly-executed, and I really enjoyed it.

Johnbobb: I knew going in that short of one of these films being miraculously impressive, the Tarantinos were going to end up on top. Tarantino was already one of my favorite directors prior to his western doublepack, but they just further cemented. Django Unchained might honestly be my favorite of his (though last year's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is close). Finally getting to see the original Django as part of this list only made me appreciate that one this much more. Every character is memorable, and either infinitely lovable or despicably hateable with no in-between. Kerry Washington covering her ears as she watches the mansion explode with glee is one of my favorite movie moments of the last decade.

Karo: A former slave teams up with a bounty hunter in an attempt to break the record for the most uses of the n-word in a single film.
Django stands out among Tarantino's protagonists in that he isnt an asshole scumbag nor has the sociopathic need to paint the walls red with the blood of everyone who wronged him (yes Django does get revenge on the slavemasters in this movie, but it wasnt what he was primarily after and that is an important distinction).
As a result Django is a real and compelling character who goes from bondage for being the fastest gun in the west in a manner the is believable and relatable. That isn't even getting to Dr. Schultz, who steals every scene in the movie up until his untimely demise following some of the most badass final words ever.
This film avoids falling into the rut of Tarantino's worst attributes, and indeed it is his best movie by far. It mercifully has almost nothing to do with the old Django movie despite the title because fuck that shit.

KBM: Now this is one of my favorite Tarantino movies. All of his tendencies his brilliant ear for dialogue, his penchant for over-the-top violence, his general unflinching approach to everything he does all of it is basically perfect for this film. Leo DiCaprio is the one who really steals the show here, and it is of course one of the most obvious in a long line of movies he really SHOULD have won an Oscar for before he finally got it for The Revenant. That being said, it also includes one of Jamie Foxx's best performances since Ray, as well as an underrated turn from Kerry Washington. Undoubtedly controversial (like many of Tarantino's films), in this case more than perhaps any of his other films, the over-the-top-ness feels totally justified and earned to me partially because of the obvious satire of it all, though of course with a markedly different satirical tone than, say, Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles.

CoolCly: Dr Shulz had a great intro. From this alone I knew that despite being inspired by Django, which I hated, that this would be a much better movie.

Django here is great character here though with a great purpose. Its fun seeing him learn and grow throughout the movie. He has a lot of skill, cunning, and talent, the only thing hes missing is knowledge and education, which Shulz is happy to provide.

There are some downsides though I just didn't want to watch a lot of the stuff happening with slaves a lot of the time, though Samuel L Jackson did a GREAT job portraying a very bad guy who perpetrates the abuse against those below him.

I liked the way Shulz finally took out Leo, but it felt like that scene felt awkward and rushed. Once Candie revealed that he know what they were up to and owned them, it felt like the movie didnt know quite how to move forward, so it just rushed into the handshake, then it was suddenly a video game with tons and tons of armed men crawling out of the walls, which had A TON of what I dont like in Tarantino movies the completely over the top blood explosions whenever someone is shot.

Django coming back "unchained" was pretty fun and satisfying though

8/10

Poke: Solid performances from Leo, Samuel, and Christoph. Entertaining, funny, stylish. Its Tarantino doing Tarantino things.
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And your winner!

#1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 30 points (won the tiebreaker over Django Unchained)

CoolCly 1
Pokewars 1
Inviso 2
Karo 2
KBM 3
Johnbobb 4
Stifled 17

Very poor plot synopsis:
Its the same two guys from the previous movie, except one of them actually isnt the same, but they dont really come out and tell you hes not the same, but then you eventually figure out hes not the same.

Why it was included:
Many consider this THE Spaghetti Western. In some ways, this cant be denied. Many elements, including the music, the legendary standoff at the end of the film, and even the wardrobe of The Man with No Name are iconic. In fact, as far as the Dollars Trilogy is concerned, these elements are iconic of westerns in general. Any accolades and money pale in comparison to that importance.

What Stifled thinks:
75% of this movie is excellent. Blondie and Tucos scam operation and subsequent falling out are the highlights of the movie. Tuco torturing Blondie in the desert is hilarious. Tuco holding up the gun store is hilarious. Tuco is just a fucking joy and hes wonderful. Angel Eyes is great too, but I didnt appreciate being thoroughly confused by him not being the same character from For a Few Dollars More. Anything involving two or more of the three titular characters interacting with each other is excellent. And if the movie was JUST them and the treasure hunting element, Id have ranked it right below For a Few Dollars More on my list. HoweverLeone couldnt just keep it simple.

Amidst all of the good character work and fun, Leone decided to toss in a lengthy war scene in order to show the absurdity of war. For another movie, this would have been perfectly fine. But here? It took me right out of the movie. I was annoyed and bored because all it managed to do was pad the runtime. This entire section could have been and should have been cut out to preserve the pacing. I mentioned in writeups for other movies the cutting room floor should have been better utilized, but I feel this section of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is the worst offender of the entire project. Perhaps my expectations were too high going in, but I dunno man. It really pissed me off when I watched it. I do plan on watching the entire Dollars Trilogy again at some point so perhaps I will lighten up on it during the rewatch. But for now, I docked it some spots.
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CoolCly: When I was a teenager, my brother got a DVD of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. He watched it many times, and it was all he could talk about. Somehow, I managed to avoid watching *any* of it and didnt care about it at all. I told him to shut up about his dumb western movie.
But I suppose that was a big mistake. This movie is a masterpiece.

For A Few Dollars more built upon A fistful of Paintbulls and made a complete movie. This movie evolved the concept further and created a master piece. The triad of characters are great, and the freeze frame on Tuco at the beginning tells you what kind of movie this is going to be.

Despite being the good, Eastwoods character is certainly a bad guy, the worst hes been in this trilogy of movies, but hes still alright compared to the other two.

I wish the Bad had more time to be developed. He has some good scenes, but I dont think hes as well set up as The Good and the Ugly. I liked his role in For A Few Dollars more a lot more.

In any case, it was a thrilling ride all the way through, with a very fun conclusion.

Great movie!

10/10

Poke: The peak in western cinematic history and film in general. The music is legendary, the dynamic between characters is super. And the film has probably the best ending of all time. No dialogue, just three men in a cemetery eyeing each other while the best music is blaring. Iconic film that could be discussed at length, but Ill take a page from Tuco and say When you have to rank, rank, dont talk.

Inviso: From a cinematic perspective, this film does a ton of things right, and its easy to see how it may have inspired people like Quentin Tarantino. The editing is amazing, with long, slowly-building tension in scenes like the introduction of Angel Eyes (sitting down and eating dinner while his prey is forced to play along, lest he incur the inevitable wrath of a coiled viper), or especially the final showdown. Just quick cuts from eyes to hands to eyes to hands, around and around and around, never quite sure who would succeed, and in what fashion. The score is amazing and iconic as well, adding to the tension and the atmosphere. And of course, the three main characters carry the film well, bringing different personalities to their respective roles. Blondie is a lovable rogue who winds up having a sense of morality, even if hes willing to bend the rules to an extent. Angel Eyes is sadistic and enjoys killing, and he manages to stay cool, calm and collected right up until the end. And Tuco is enjoyable comics relief, who still manages to demonstrate intelligence when not up against the other two. This dynamic, and all aspects of the films design, make it an extremely enjoyable watch. The three-hour runtime FLIES by, as a result.

Karo: The quintessential western movie, and for good reason. We finally get to see what Sergio Leone can do with a passable budget and he does not disappoint, as he gives us not one, not two, but THREE compelling gunslingers, one of which is a rare mexican character who isnt a sidekick or a villain. Though for some reason they recast one of the principal actors from A Few Dollars More as a new character who looks exactly the same as Colonel Mortimer and it is just really fucking confusing to anyone watching the whole trilogy through.
Despite the film's length no part of it feels tacked on or unnecessary, other than the random detour to make a point about the futility of war right before the grand finale.
In a project lacking in quality like this it is certainly one of the bettAYEEAEEYAH.... WAH-WAH-WAH

KBM: So I can't say that when I went into this list, I expected The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to be this low on my list. Like the two movies above it, this is a stone-cold classic, that not only earns every second of its lengthy three-hour runtime, but also features one of the best third acts ever put to film. That shoot-out, that music, those performances, just GOD everything about that ending is all so good, and pays things off in epic, operatic fashion. This is just the ultimate Spaghetti Western film in so many ways even just the ultimate Western in so many ways. It almost feels silly to talk about it in too much detail, as everything there is to be said about this movie has been said countless times, and it's earned all the accolades it's gotten over the years.

Johnbobb: "This is considered one of the definitive spaghetti westerns for a reason. This definitely isn't a perfect movie; they probably could've shaved a good half hour off the runtime without really losing much of anything, but goddamn Sergio Leone is a hell of a director. The jumps between incredibly long shots and incredibly close shots is such a distinct and impressive move, and you can see how much Tarantino was later inspired by this very thing. The soundtrack is intense and distinct. Eastwood's performance was solid, but it was really Eli Wallach as Tuco, who, despite being a white Jewish man cast as a Mexican bandit in a choice that is admittably detestable, was just incredible throughout the film, putting Eastwood to shame in what he thought was supposed to be his own movie (in other news, it's nice to know that Clint Eastwood has ALWAYS been an asshole, rather than it just being a recent thing).

Fun fact: upon researching this movie, I stumbled upon a 2005 New York Times opinion article in which Rob Schneider compares Wallach playing a Mexican in TGTBATU to himself playing a Hawaiian in 50 First Dates, saying ""I also believe that Hollywood should give roles to the most talented person irrespective of ethnicity."" Gross."
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OUTLIER

Poke 197
CoolCly 185
Inviso 171
Stifled 161
Johnbobb 143
KBM 143
Karo 123

In the end, it came down to The Poke, the Cly, and the Inviso. But only The Poke with No Name walked away with the outlier gold.
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See in this world there's two kinds of rankers, my friend. Those with good opinions. And those who rank GBU 17th.

But great project, Stifled. Glad I got to watch some other epic westerns along the way.

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Thanks for hosting, Stifled. I would say I enjoyed watching a majority of these movies but that would be a lie.

So what is next in the cards for this topic series? Well folks, we are gonna get re-animated, and rank even more animated movies!

details can be found in this topic:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79645120


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Aww I missed that you didn't do an Unchained outlier blurb. It's too much of a lay-up to compare me to Candie.

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nanananana

woooow woooow wooow

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PrinceKaro posted...

we are gonna get re-animated

oh sweet is it 80s horror?

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Pokewars posted...

Aww I missed that you didn't do an Unchained outlier blurb. It's too much of a lay-up to compare me to Candie.

CoolCly: DPokewarrrrrrrs!

DPoke: The d is silent, outlier.

Pew pew
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In case anyone hasn't seen this:

https://youtu.be/enuOArEfqGo

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Yay a 60s movie won!


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Thanks for hosting btw! Handful of impressive surprises in here

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I loved The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly after my first watch, but my opinion plunged for personal reasons when I rewatched the Dollars trilogy in the lead-up to this topic. Even I can't deny that it does many things right, though.

I definitely enjoyed following along through this topic - thank you to Stifled for hosting it and the rankers for making it work.

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Youre quite welcome, everyone. Bumping this for anyone that still wants to read any write ups or whatever.
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Re-watched a good chunk of GBU today (fell asleep right when I turned it on, but caught the last hour), still soooo good.

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Thanks for hosting this project! I've been meaning to make time to watch more movies since I feel like I've really seen barely any, and westerns is a genre I've written off in the past as not interesting. This really turned around my opinion on the genre and genuinely liked or even loved a lot of movies on this list!

That one guy seemed to think that this project is pointless since we "hate movies" or whatever and were doing this wrong, but this is really what art like films are all about - exposing people to new things that they haven't seen before. Whether we like what we see will vary based on our own preferences, but if you go in with a somewhat open mind there's bound to be something worthwhile! I found this list to be very worth my while.

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i wouldn't say this project was pointless because you guys hate movies. but i do agree that there's not much of a point to this, since it's obvious that there has been very little thought was put into many of these movies and writeups (which is also the case for every other gauntlet crew movie ranking topic that i've seen). yeah, it's cool that you're getting exposed to movies you wouldn't normally see, but what exactly do i get out of reading your little blurb completely bashing stagecoach?

btw, it's utterly ridiculous that people criticizing this topic got bombarded with "WELL, WHERE WAS YOUR RANKING, HUH?" responses. just because i didn't (re)watch 30 movies and didn't submit a ranking and writeups for them doesn't mean i not allowed to cricize anything about this topic on a public forum. this is like if i complain that the food is too salty at a restaurant, and the chef responds "WELL, WHERE'S YOUR FOOD, HUH? OH, YOU DIDN'T COOK ANY? SHUT UP THEN!"

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