The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Blu-ray)

By far the most ambitious, unflinchingly graphic and stylistically influential western ever mounted, the Good, the bad and the ugly is an engrossing action flick shot through with a volatile mix of myth and realism. Clint Eastwood returns as the quot man with No Name, quot; this time teaming with two gunslingers (Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef) to pursue a cache of $200,000 and letting no one, not even warring factions in a civil war, stand in their way. From sun-drenched panoramas to bold, hard close-ups, exceptional camera work captures the beauty and cruelty of the barren landscape and the hardened characters who stride unwaveringly through it. With a Classic Ennio Morricone soundtrack. Forging a vibrant and yet detached style of action that had not been seen before, and has never been matched since, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly shatters the western mold in true Clint Eastwood style.