The whole picture is superb, but the closing twenty minutes or so are simply breathtaking. From when the dust clears after the bridge blows, the movie develops a momentum that doesn't let up until the very last shot.
The dying soldier; Tuco being blasted from the horse and crashing into the gravestone; Tuco running round and round the graveyard (how was that shot?); the way the three protagonists come together; the shootout; Tuco and Blondie playing out their last confrontation; and then a final wail,the guitars come in one more time and Clint just rides hell for leather out across the desert.
It's cliché to say "they don't make 'em like they used to" but not only don't "they", "they" wouldn't have a clue how to make a movie like this any more.
The dying soldier; Tuco being blasted from the horse and crashing into the gravestone; Tuco running round and round the graveyard (how was that shot?); the way the three protagonists come together; the shootout; Tuco and Blondie playing out their last confrontation; and then a final wail,the guitars come in one more time and Clint just rides hell for leather out across the desert.
It's cliché to say "they don't make 'em like they used to" but not only don't "they", "they" wouldn't have a clue how to make a movie like this any more.