Which Sergio Leone's films do you find to be the most impressive?

[RuthScott]

I love Sergio Leone's blockbuster, especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly very much. I'm here to find out what people's opinions are of this movie. Let's exchange feelings on this movie together!

[cigar joe]

I love Sergio Leone's blockbuster, especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly very much. I'm here to find out what people's opinions are of this movie. Let's exchange feelings on this movie together!

For a Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, Once Upon A Time in the West are my favs

[dave jenkins]

CJ, this exchange is in the wrong sub-forum. Please moderate.

[noodles_leone]

CJ, this exchange is in the wrong sub-forum. Please moderate.

Snitch.

[noodles_leone]

So everybody knows the correct order is:


The best of the best, probably ever:

1. OUATIA
OUATIA is out of this world. It is messier, more flawed than OUTITW and GBU, but it really transcends, not only its own genre, but cinema itself. Actually it's so out of this world that I'm having a lot of trouble arguying for that movie. It's just above anything else while maintaining a strong mystery (not about its plot, about the movie itself and the secret of his huge power).
2. OUATITW
OUATITW is one of the very few absolutely perfect movies ever made. That movie is the first Leone I saw and also the movie that dictated me my career. It's also the most beautiful movie to look at, literally. Nobody's filmed Monument Valley or the human face better than Leone and Delli Colli here. The sound design is also the very best in any Leone movie and the argument could be made it's still the blueprint for the sound design of 90% of Hollywood flicks to this day. Last but not least, in a filmography filled up with incredible, unrivaled original soundtracks, OUATITW has the very best of the bunch.


Incredible works of art but not "best movie ever" material:

3. GBU (tie)
GBU is another of the very few absolutely perfect movies ever made, but less ambitious than what came afterward. I know people are often ranking it higher than OUATITW "for entertainment value", but boy, OUATITW is ridiculously entertaining. Also, first Tonino Delli Colli/Sergio Leone collaboration and that cinematography is stunning.
3. DYS (tie)
DYS is the most flawed of Leone's masterpieces but also the one that has the most direct link to the human heart. Just like GBU (eventhough it's less often said), it also features some of the very best Leone scenes. The bromance is of course terrific and can only be rivaled, in Leone's movies, by the relationship between Blondie and Tuco.


Very good effort:

5. FFDM
I like that one a lot, but I admit getting bored here and there. That movie looks a lot like a first draft for GBU and OUATITW. The cinematography didn't age well and many dialogues are witty but too on the nose. Drinkanddestroy usually pintpoints it's the grittier Leone movie, and not only is he right but it's also a great strentgh of FFDM. Also there are very little actually great scenes. Imagine this film if Leone had done it post GBU... could have been the real missing link between GBU and OUATITW.


Actually pretty boring, I only watch them for historical value at this point:

6. FOD
Still has some great scenes, but why would you watch this one in a world where all of the above exist?
7. COR
Not much to say about it.





Funny thing about this ranking: any other Leone ranking is wrong.

[dave jenkins]

My favorite film is GBU.

OUATITW is also my favorite film.

So is DYS.

OUATIA: cinema in its highest form.

FAFDM: Almost in the same league with Leone's 4 masterpieces.

The Yojimbo remake: Not bad.

CoR: Uh . . . .

MNIN: My second favorite Henry Fonda appearance in a Leone film.

noodles_leone's summary: 500 words for a simple list? Who else here thinks if we look up the term "graphomania" in the dictionary we'll see n_L's photo?

[stanton]

Funny thing about this ranking: any other Leone ranking is wrong.

Anyway, lists without MNIN are utter shit ...

... apart from that Leone made only 2 really great films (guess which), and lists with more than these 2 have the awkward smell of cringy fanboy affectation.

[T.H.]

A+++ Tier: GBU & OUATITW - These are two of the very best movies ever made. Perfection.

A+ Tier: OUTIA - It's too flawed to be considered one of the greatest movies ever, but it's a great achievement. It's a better Irishman.

A Tier: FAFDM - The plot sort of doesn't make sense after a while, but it's arguably the first modern buddy action movie. I didn't love it as much on my last watch though. Still a great western.

A- Tier: DYS & AFOD - DYS is a great flawed movie, but you can see the troubled production in the final product. AFOD is a great exploitation movie, and its score was so inventive and it basically created a subgenre. Or at the very least, made the subgenre relevant. It could also be seen as the first modern action movie of sorts. The day-for-night sucks, but its limitations and grit add to the movie.

B+ Tier: MNIN - I do not care for slapstick, but this movie has its moments. It's been too long since I've last seen it.

C- Tier: COR - I would probably like this movie a lot more if it were 90 mins instead of 130+.

[noodles_leone]

I take it Stanton is asking for another round of undisputable truths, DJ is trying to lure me into going deeper into my own addiction and TH and CJ don't give a damn. I'll make the first two of these guys happy:

1. Anybody posting on this board is a cringy fanboy. One could say we're toxic to each other. Praise be to Groggy, who broke his chains and managed to leave us to our codependant state.
2. MNIN would sit right above FFDM but it's only a Leone film for about 50%. I'll leave you guys to your dispute about it being 51% or 49% Leone.
3. At some point, CJ had The Lord of the Rings in his favorite movies list.

[T.H.]

I take it Stanton is asking for another round of undisputable truths, DJ is trying to lure me into going deeper into my own addiction and TH and CJ don't give a damn. I'll make the first two of these guys happy:

1. Anybody posting on this board is a cringy fanboy. One could say we're toxic to each other. Praise be to Groggy, who broke his chains and managed to leave us to our codependant state.
2. MNIN would sit right above FFDM but it's only a Leone film for about 50%. I'll leave you guys to your dispute about it being 51% or 49% Leone.
3. At some point, CJ had The Lord of the Rings in his favorite movies list.

Wrong. I slightly care that you incorrectly have DYS on GBU's level, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest movies ever made. Whatever short list there is, GBU is on it.

[Lil Brutto]

GBU is the most impressive.

[noodles_leone]

It's interesting to note the Leone film that gathers the most admiration among his hardcore fans is also his most popular work among regular moviesgoers in 2022.

[dave jenkins]

2. MNIN would sit right above FFDM but it's only a Leone film for about 50%. I'll leave you guys to your dispute about it being 51% or 49% Leone.

MNIN is 100% Leone. It's very simple: half the film was directed by Valerii, half by SL himself. The stuff Leone directed (the slapstick) was an attempt by him to do something that didn't have his usual signature. Needless to say, non-Leone looking stuff directed by Leone is still Leone material. Valerii's stuff all looks like Leone shot it. Needless to say, non-Valerii looking stuff directed by Valerii to look like Leone becomes, in a Leone production, Leone material (by definition). Directors are sometimes auteurs; producers are sometimes auteurs. The auteur of MNIN is Sergio Leone.

Funny thing about this argument: anything noodles_leone offers in rebuttal is wrong.

[dave jenkins]

3. At some point, CJ had The Lord of the Rings in his favorite movies list.

You better be able to corroborate this, or you'll be in for a serious ass-kicking.

[T.H.]

It's interesting to note the Leone film that gathers the most admiration among his hardcore fans is also his most popular work among regular moviesgoers in 2022.

Those dipshits have to be right every now and again. Broken clock.

Though it's tied with OUATITW for me.