Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The (UK Import) (4K UHD Review)

• Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
• Review Date: Aug 18, 2025
• Format: 4K Ultra HD
• 

Director

Sergio Leone

Release Date(s)

1966 (August 11, 2025)

Studio(s)

Produzioni Europee Associate/Arturo González Producciones Cinematográficas/Constantin Film (Arrow Video)

• Film/Program Grade: See Below
• Video Grade: See Below
• Audio Grade: See Below
• Extras Grade: A+
• Overall Grade: A+

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Review

[Editor's Note: This is a Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD British import.]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (aka Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) didn’t really introduce the concept of an Unholy Trinity of what critic Danny Peary called a race of “mythic superwarriors” into Sergio Leone’s Westerns, but it did end up codifying that structure for Leone and for audiences as well. While Leone’s first Western A Fistful of Dollars had told a much simpler kind of story (one that was borrowed/stolen from Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo), his follow-up For a Few Dollars More had already teased the triumvirate structure that he would end up using for the rest of his career (and not just in his Westerns, either). The difference is that Lee Van Cleef’s Col. Mortimer was the ostensible Good character, while Indio (Gian Maria Volonté) was the Bad one and Manco (Clint Eastwood) was the Ugly, or flawed superwarrior. He was younger and more ambitious than Col. Mortimer, but he lacked the older man’s experience.

That structure appealed to Leone so much that he used it as the central motif for his third Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but with Eastwood graduating into the Good role as Blondie (yes, The Man with No Name always had a name in Leone’s films, even if it was just a nickname), while Van Cleef switched sides into the Bad as the sadistic Angel Eyes. The Ugly was represented this time by Eli Wallach as the impulsively talkative Tuco (who ironically lectures another gunman that “When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk,” but doesn’t always heed his own advice). Leone would further refine his concept of an Unholy Trinity in Once Upon a Time in the West and play with it a bit more ambiguously in Duck, You Sucker!, but it’s here that the structure is made the most manifest. After all, it’s right there in the title, and Leone even added helpful identifying labels at the beginning to make sure that no one in the audience could possibly miss the point—and he repeated those labels at the end, to make damned sure that no one would ever forget it.

To be fair, it’s easy to get a little confused, because in Leone’s west, good, bad, and ugly are relative terms, and the lines between them may seem blurry to an impartial observer. Leone’s Westerns were paradoxical in the way that they demythologized the traditional Western genre while simultaneously introducing a new mythology of his own—and not just in terms of the Unholy Trinity, either. Leone’s West is a harsh and unromantic place, completely devoid of the moral principles common in classic Westerns. Violence and greed are the only two rules of the day, and both of them intertwine into a particularly caustic view of capitalistic exploitation. Killing equals profit, nowhere more memorably so than in the final scene from For a Few Dollars More where Manco counts his victims by adding up the dollar value of their bounties. In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco are all after $200,000 in illicit gold, and they’re not about to let any illusions of morality stand in the way of making a buck.

In Leone’s deglamorized vision of the Old West, morality is largely defined by who his killers choose to victimize, and little else. The nominally Good characters generally kill the Bad ones only (although they’re only too happy to turn the lives of the Ugly into a living hell, as exemplified by Blondie’s treatment of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). The Bad characters, on the other hand, take genuine delight in killing anyone: good, bad, or ugly, it makes no difference to them. Killing isn’t just the means to an end for Leone’s Bad; it’s also an end unto itself.

Yet Leone was still fascinated by the traditional Western gunfighter, and he did indeed romanticize them in his own way by turning them into a race of superwarriors from the ancient past, long predating even his own mythopoeic Western milieu. In his next film Once Upon a Time in the West, he openly voiced that concept by having Harmonica (Charles Bronson) refer to themselves as being part of an “ancient race.” In that film, these superwarriors are being pushed aside by the encroachment of civilization that’s represented by the westward expansion of the railroad. Yet in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the ancient race is still thriving thanks to the Civil War setting. If killing is your business, then business is very good when a nation is tearing itself apart at the seams.

Of course, even the idea of the Good is relative, and Blondie is really only a good person when compared to Tuco and Angel Eyes. He doesn’t have a righteous cause like Col. Mortimer did. He’s just trying to make a buck, and he’s only too happy to swindle innocent victims in the process. Yet he does show a few signs of humanity along the way, especially in how he provides small comfort to a dying soldier. The lines may be blurred in Leone’s West, but sometimes it’s the smallest of gestures that can help distinguish one end of the spectrum from the other. Tuco would have walked by on the other side of the road, and Angel Eyes would have stopped to take some personal satisfaction in watching the man die. Blondie could hardly be called compassionate, and yet he still took the time to ease the soldier’s suffering. He may not be fully Good in the normal sense of the term, but at least he’s willing to act like a Good Samaritan—once in a while, anyway.

It’s often just a matter of degrees. All three gunfighters in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are cheerfully amoral, but Angel Eyes is more than willing to ignore lines that even Tuco wouldn’t cross, let alone Blondie. That’s why it’s perfectly appropriate that the film ends with a three-way shootout, instead of a simple faceoff between the Good and the Bad like in For a Few Dollars More. Morality is fluid in Leone’s West, and in this film, its entire scale is represented symbolically in his flawlessly staged tableau at the center of Sad Hill Cemetery. (Flawlessly scored as well by the late great Ennio Morricone.) Even the results of this shootout align with what each of the characters represents. The Bad is punished, the Good walks away unscathed, and the Ugly ends up suffering a bit in the process. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly may not be the best of Leone’s Westerns, but it’s still the Platonic ideal of what a Leone Western represents. Once again, it’s all right there in the title.

Still, nothing was quite so simple where the release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was concerned. It had a long, strange journey to reach Italian screens in 1966 and an even longer one to reach international screens in 1967 (and the journey didn’t end there, either). The original Italian premiere version clocked in at 181 minutes, but there were further cuts before its wide release in Italy, with the so-called “grotto scene” being removed at Leone’s request. Leone also produced a shortened 162-minute version for international release. That was the most widely-seen cut of the film outside of Italy until 2003, when MGM and American Movie Classics collaborated on a reconstruction of a 179-minute extended cut that added back the grotto scene and several other moments throughout the film. Since the extra footage was never dubbed into English, Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and a Lee Van Cleef impersonator recorded new dialogue to replace it (with very little being done to cover the fact that Eastwood and Wallach’s voices had changed drastically over the decades).

For this version, Arrow is including both the 1967 international cut and the 2003 English-language extended cut. Yet they’ve added a few new wrinkles. To begin with, the extended cut can be played with or without the grotto scene that Leone deleted after the Italian premiere. Then, they’ve added back in the full uncut version of the scene where Corporal Wallace tortures Tuco, and this extended-extended version can also be played with or without the grotto scene. (The extended cut with the uncut torture scene but without the grotto scene is essentially an English-language version of the final Italian theatrical cut, although even that isn’t quite so simple since it was tweaked a bit later.)

But wait, there’s more! There’s also a hidden “kitchen sink” cut that adds back a few extra shots during the first scene with Angel Eyes, as well as the moment in the desert when Blondie tries to grab a bone to defend himself from Tuco. So, it’s an extended-extended-extended cut that closely approximates the original Italian premiere version minus any of the later deletions and alternations. (Note that one brief line of dialogue is missing, but it’s been replaced with subtitles.) That means there’s a whopping six different variations of The Good, the Bag and the Ugly in this set. The only thing that’s missing is the actual Italian theatrical cut with its Italian-language dialogue and titles, but Arrow couldn’t secure the rights to the Italian language tracks, although the titles themselves are still included as an extra.

Still with us? Here’s a breakdown with the running times as they appear on the discs:

• International Cut (161:46)
• Extended Cut with Grotto Scene (178:43)
• Extended Cut without Grotto Scene (175:25)
• Extended Cut with Uncut Torture Scene and Grotto Scene (180:32)
• Extended Cut with Uncut Torture Scene but without Grotto Scene (177:15)
• Extended Cut with Everything Including the Missing Shots (181:57)

Since Leone was involved with the entire editorial process including the shortened international cut, everything but the 2003 extended cut (or cuts, in this case) can be fairly considered as being director’s cuts—with one small caveat, anyway: he only supervised English-language dubbing for the international version. Still, it’s clear that he did ultimately reject the grotto scene, and it’s equally clear that he prepared the shortened international cut only because the distributors demanded it. So, the Italian theatrical cut is probably the closest thing to his final intentions, but since none of the additional footage from that was ever dubbed into English while he was alive, this English-language version of it isn’t quite what he had in mind. Still, if you’re looking for a final “director’s cut” in English, it’s probably the closest thing to one. Yet the reality is that all of these cuts are perfectly valid, so it’s wonderful that they’re all included here. The choice is yours. (As a result of all the possible permutations here, I’m rating the extended cut with an N/A since there’s no definitive way to watch it.)

Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli shot The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on 35mm film in 2-perf Techniscope using Arriflex 35 IIC cameras with spherical lenses. The resulting flat negative was blown up optically for anamorphic release prints that were framed at 2.39:1. This version is based on the 16-bit 4K scans of the original camera negative that were done by L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, but with additional digital restoration work and new grades for SDR, Dolby Vision, and HDR10 handled by Silver Salt Restoration in London. (L’Immagine Ritrovata’s notorious yellow grading was discarded completely in favor of going back to the ungraded scans.) Missing footage came from a 35mm print that was scanned in 4K by the Cinetecca Nazionale in Rome, and a dye-transfer 35mm Technicolor print from the Cinema Museum in London was used as a reference for grading.

Grading The Good, the Bad and the Ugly has been every bit as controversial as determining what Leone’s editorial intentions for the film really were, so everyone is going to have their own opinions regarding what is “best.” Yet the fact that Arrow used an unfaded IB Tech print as a reference weighs heavily in their favor, and while I don’t have any such references of my own in order to judge what is or isn’t accurate, this new HDR grade seems like an improvement across the board. It has neither the yellow tint that L’Immagine Ritrovata created nor the slightly too saturated colors of Kino Lorber’s 4K version; it seems to split the difference in the best possible way. Everything is still dominated by those familiar weatherbeaten browns, but there’s far more depth to the range of colors that are still on display. More depth to the contrast, too; Kino’s version lacked an HDR grade, and a significant amount of detail was crushed in the shadow areas. Arrow’s HDR grade isn’t necessarily any brighter, but they’ve brought up much more shadow detail, sometimes dramatically so. The black levels are still deep when they should be, but not at the expense of pictorial information that should be present. It’s like a veil has been lifted.

Aside from a few small hairs at the bottom edge of the frame, there’s no significant damage to report. There is the expected drop in quality with any optical work that was derived from dupe elements, and the added footage from the print also looks noticeably weaker in comparison to the surrounding material. Given the length of the film (especially in the extended versions), the bitrate doesn’t run quite as high as it might have otherwise, but thanks to the usual rock-solid encoding by David Mackenzie at Fidelity in Motion, there aren’t any issues with compression artifacts or smeared textures (let’s just say that this ain’t no Once Upon a Time in the West and leave it at that). Is this the perfect The Good, The Bad and the Ugly? No, but it’s a major step up from any and all previous home video versions—although once again, someone will probably disagree with that assertion, so judge for yourself.

Audio for both the international and extended cuts are offered in what Arrow calls “newly restored” English 1.0 mono and “newly remixed” English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English SDH subtitles. Audio restoration work for the original mono mix was completed by Bad Princess Productions, while the 5.1 mix was handled by Þorsteinn Gíslason. MGM’s original 5.1 remix for the extended version was notorious for having replaced many of the original sound effects like the gunfire, so it’s important to note that this isn’t that mix. Instead, it relies on those original effects and just gives them a very, very gentle amount of stereo spread. (The only point where the added sound effects may have been retained is with the cannon fire during the titles.) Practically speaking, the dialogue and effects still sound mono in 5.1. The biggest advantage is that Ennio Morricone’s score is in full stereo, and that’s no small thing. It also sounds cleaner than the mono version, without the distortion that mars the first three statements of the main riff at the beginning of the opening titles. This is really the best possible way to remix an older mono soundtrack: let the music breathe, but leave the original dialogue and effects alone as much as possible.

Note that selecting any of the variations of the extended cut with the uncut torture scene (including the Easter egg version) locks the audio to mono even though the 5.1 option remains on the menu, so only the international cut and the 2003 extended cut (with or without the grotto scene) allows access to the 5.1 track. That’s not an issue if you insist on listening to the original mono only, but your mileage may vary if you like the remix. Fortunately, the mono track is no slouch, with strong dynamics and plenty of punch. Personally, I still prefer the 5.1, so I ended up watching the extended version without the grotto scene until Blondie and Tuco end up prisoners, switched to the extended version with the uncut torture scene, and then switched back once it was over. (I also watched the additional footage in the Easter egg cut separately.) Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

INTERNATIONAL CUT (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): A-/A/A-
EXTENDED CUTS (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO) N/A/A-/A-

Arrow’s Region-Free Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a four-disc set that includes the original 162-minute international cut on one UHD and the new versions of the extended cut on another. It also includes one Region B-locked Blu-ray with additional extras and a second Blu-ray with the 2017 documentary Sad Hill Unearthed (note that while it’s also labeled as also being Region B, it’s actually Region-Free). The insert is reversible, featuring new artwork by Tony Stella on one side and original U.S. theatrical poster artwork on the other. It also includes a double-sided foldout poster with both artworks, as well as a 60-page booklet featuring essays by Anton Bitel, Howard Hughes, Tambay Obenson, Abbey Bender, and James Flower. (Flower’s essay is an invaluable dive into the history of the various cuts and the process that Arrow went through to create this new edition of the film.) Everything comes housed in a rigid keepcase with the Stella artwork, and there’s also an oversized slipcover to match. While this version has sold out at this point, Arrow is taking pre-orders for a standard edition that will omit the Sad Hill Unearthed disc, the booklet, the poster, and the slipcover/keepcase combo.

The following extras are included:

DISC ONE: INTERNATIONAL CUT (UHD)

• Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas
• Trailer Gallery:
  • German Theatrical Trailer (UHD – 6:05)
  • French Theatrical Trailer (UHD – 3:28)
  • U.S. Theatrical Trailer (HD – 3:23)
  • U.K. Theatrical Trailer (HD – 3:01)
  • U.S. TV Spots (HD – 2:21, 3 in all)
  • U.S. Radio Spot (HD – :36)

The international cut commentary with the inimitable Video Watchdog guru Tim Lucas was originally recorded for Kino Lorber’s 2017 50th Anniversary Blu-ray. It’s one of Lucas’ patented scripted commentaries, which means that it’s well-organized, thorough, and fairly exhaustive. He still had to pick and choose what interested him, of course, so there’s plenty of breathing room for the other commentaries included in the set. But he offers a wealth of good information about the making of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, its cast & crew, and its legacy. (Lucas does acknowledge his debt to Sir Christopher Frayling as a source for some of that information, which is a nice touch.)

Note that the German and French trailers are the only available source of any footage for two missing scenes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly that are long lost at this point. So, the German Theatrical Trailer includes a breakdown of those scenes and identifies the footage that slipped through in the trailers (it’s information that was taken from The Sorocco Sequence: A Reconstruction in the Archival Extras.) There’s also at least one Easter Egg on the first disc:

• Outtakes (HD – :40)

It’s a brief set of raw alternate takes of Tuco’s reaction to being shot down from the noose for the final time, with the slates included.

DISC TWO: EXTENDED CUT (UHD)

• Commentaries:
  • Sir Christopher Frayling
  • Richard Schickel
• Play Film with Uncut Torture Scene:
  • Play without "Grotto" Scene
  • Play with "Grotto" Scene
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes:
  • Italian Opening Credits (UHD – 3:30)
  • Il Bruto (UHD – :26)
  • Angel Eyes Arrives (Extended) (UHD – :37)
  • Il Cattivo (UHD – :23)
  • Il Buono (No Music) (UHD – :50)
  • Bones in the Desert (UHD – 2:52)
  • Original Intermission Cards (UHD – :46)
  • Extended Freeze Frames/Tuco’s Final Line (UHD – 3:08)

The extended cut commentary with Leone guru Sir Christopher Frayling was recorded for the 2009 MGM Blu-ray, while the one with Eastwood stan Richard Schickel dates back to MGM’s original 2004 DVD release of the longer version. Frayling wrote the book on Leone—multiple books, actually—and his commentaries are always a treat, less pre-planned than the ones that Lucas does, but no less full of great information. Some of it naturally tends to duplicate details that Lucas provides, but always from his own perspective and with his own unique flavor. The biggest difference, of course, is that Frayling was able to discuss the added scenes from the extended cut in more detail. As did Richard Schickel, who offers some much more laid-back perspectives. It’s a matter of taste, but Frayling and Lucas are definitely the best starting points for anyone who wants to dive into the minutiae of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Note that it requires some digging to access all the different variations of the extended cut that Arrow is offering on this disc. Selecting “Play” from the main menu gives the option to play the original extended version with or without the grotto scene. The uncut torture scene can only be accessed from the extras menu, and as noted above, it can also be played with or without the grotto scene. Finally, the 181-minute “kitchen sink” re-creation of the original Italian premiere cut is an Easter Egg that’s also accessible from the Play Film with Uncut Torture Scene sub-menu.

DISC THREE: EXTRAS (BD)

• A Circular Trilogy (HD – 19:00)
• The Laughter Behind the Epic (HD – 28:35)
• Three Colors (HD – 22:21)
• Sergio and Sergio (HD – 27:01)
• The Hand That Drew the West (HD – 5:41)
• They Called Him Angel Eyes (HD – 11:44)
• From Falls to Fame (HD – 13:33)
• The Man, The Cut, The Masterpiece (HD – 28:12)
• Frames of Glory (HD – 28:23)
• That Magic Sound (HD – 7:51)
• The Voice Behind the Gold (HD – 13:50)
• Call of the Coyote (HD – 28:21)
• The Good, the Great and the Moody (HD – 28:47)
• MGM Archive Extras:
  • Leone’s West (Upscaled SD – 20:04)
  • The Leone Style (Upscaled SD – 23:48)
  • Reconstructing the Film (Upscaled SD – 11:08)
  • Il Maestro: Part One (Upscaled SD – 7:48)
  • Il Maestro: Part Two (Upscaled SD – 12:28)
  • The Sorocco Sequence: A Reconstruction (Upscaled SD – 3:00)
  • The Man Who Lost the Civil War (Upscaled SD – 14:25)
  • Vignettes (Easter Eggs) (Upscaled SD – 2:42, 4 in all)
• Alternate Credits Sequences:
  • Alternate French Credits (HD – 3:34)
  • Alternate Spanish Credits (Upscaled SD – 2:43)
• Image Galleries:
  • GBU in Pictures Part 1 (HD – 8:56)
  • GBU in Pictures Part 2 (HD – 11:16)
  • On the Set (HD – 8:13)
  • Promoting GBU (HD – 9:06)

Befitting a Western as epic as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Arrow has added a whopping 13 new interviews for this set, some of which are taken from the same sessions that they conducted for their releases of A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. A Circular Trilogy is with film historian Fabio Melelli, who does indeed bring his overviews of the first two films full circle with his examination of the third one. The Laughter Behind the Epic is with screenwriter Giacomo Scarpelli, son of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly co-writer Furio Scarpelli, who relates some memories of his father’s work on the film. Three Colors is with writer Stefano Delli Colli, son of cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, who does the same thing regarding his own father. Sergio and Sergio is with frequent Lucio Fulci cinematographer Sergio Salvati, who served as a camera assistant on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Hand that Drew the West is with Giuditta Simi, daughter of production and costume designer Carlo Simi. She shows off some of the artwork that her father created for the film. They Call Him Angel Eyes is with Mike Malloy, author of Lee Van Cleef: A Biographical, Film and Television Reference, who points out how some of the differences between the Italian and international versions of the film affect that nature of Angel Eyes. He also looks at Van Cleef’s shift from hero in For a Few Dollars More to villain in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. From Falls to Fame is with stuntperson Fabio Testi, who talks about his own career and how he ended up working for Leone. The Man, The Cut, The Masterpiece is with editor Eugenio Alabiso, who breaks down the different contributions from Leone, co-editor Nino Baragli, and himself. Fames of Glory is with post-production supervisor Enzo Ocone, who further breaks down that process, including the evolution of the different cuts.

The rest of the new interviews revolve around Ennio Morricone and his score from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. That Magic Sound is with guitarist Bruno Battisti D’Amario, who played the iconic electric and acoustic guitar parts on many Morricone scores. The Voice Behind the Gold is with singer Edda Dell’Orso, who contributed the soaring lead vocals for The Ecstasy of Gold (among other memorable moments). Call of the Coyote is with Morricone biographer Alessandro De Rosa, who continues his breakdown of the scores in all three films. (He relates the legend that Morricone was inspired by the sound of a coyote when devising the main theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Finally, The Good, the Great and the Moody is another visual essay by musician Lovely Jon, who breaks down not just the score itself, but also the soundtrack album releases.

The MGM Archive Extras collect the rest of the extras from the MGM DVD and Blu-ray releases of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Leone’s West is a making of-documentary featuring interviews with Richard Schickel, Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Alberto Grimaldi, and original English translator Micky Knox. The same group returns for The Leone Style, which focuses more narrowly on just that. Reconstructing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a look at the creation of the extended cut, with Paul Rutan, Jr. at Triage Labs and John Kirk at MGM joining the other usual suspects. Il Maestro: Part One and Part Two are both interviews with film music historian John Burlingame (note that Part Two is audio only). The Man Who Lost the Civil War is a chronicle of Henry Hopkins Sibley and the real Civil War conflicts that lay behind Leone’s story. It’s narrated by Morgan Sheppard. The Vignettes are Easter eggs that were on MGM’s Blu-ray, all of them brief interviews with Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood. MGM also included two Deleted Scenes, one of which was the uncut torture scene that Arrow has added back to the body of the film itself, so it’s not included here. But MGM’s reconstruction of the still missing Sorocco Sequence is.

Finally, in addition to porting over the Image Galleries that were originally included on Kino’s 2017 Blu-ray release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, there are also two different Alternate Credit Sequences. That’s all of the previous extras from MGM and Kino Lorber save for the Trailers from Hell with Ernest Dickerson. Kino Lorber did add the “skeletons in the desert” deleted scene for their 2021 UHD, but like the uncut torture scene, Arrow has included it here as a part of the extended cuts. The same thing is true of the optical flip from Tuco gloating to Tuco in a noose that was omitted from the 2003 extended cut but included as an extra—Arrow has re-incorporated it into the body of the film. So, aside from the Trailers from Hell, it’s a comprehensive collection of all the previous extras. But wait—there’s still more, at least as far as this Limited Edition is concerned:

DISC FOUR: SAD HILL UNEARTHED (BD)

• Sad Hill Unearthed (HD – 86:35)
• Lost in the Editing Room (HD – 15:55)
• The Making of the Film (HD – 16:25)
• The Making of the Original Soundtrack (HD – 14:58)
• World Premiere (HD – 36:01)
• Sad Hill in January 2020 (HD – 3:03)

Sad Hill Unearthed is a 2017 documentary that traces the rediscovery and reconstruction of the Sad Hill Cemetery location from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. As hard as it may be to believe, the massive location with thousands of graves wasn’t a real cemetery, but rather one that was constructed from scratch for the film—with the assistance of the Spanish Army, no less. It was abandoned after that, but decades later, a dedicated group of fans uncovered it and began the painstaking process of reconstructing it (with a few modern additions). Written and directed by Guillermo de Oliveira and featuring interviews with Ennio Morricone, Joe Dante, Clint Eastwood, and James Hetfield (Metallica fans will understand why), Sad Hill Unearthed is a surprisingly affecting look at the profound effect that a love of film can have on people’s lives. (It’s presented here in Spanish 2.0 LPCM and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English and English SDH subtitles.)

That would be an impressive enough extra on its own, but Sad Hill Unearthed also includes extras of its own: three different featurettes on the making of the film, footage from the world premiere, and footage showing how the reconstructed cemetery looked three years after the film was released. If the extended versions have extended versions in Arrow’s 4K release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, then it makes perfect sense that that the extras have extras as well.

It’s a pretty overwhelming pile of extras, too: 15 hours and 48 minutes’ worth, to be precise—and yes, I’m insane enough to have actually done the math on that, and no, I’m not including any of the extended cuts themselves (or the footage in them that was included as extras on previous editions). That’s just a tally of the commentary tracks and the 48 other “official” extras. Now, L’Immagine Ritrovata’s scans are getting long in the tooth at this point, and scanning technology has improved since then, so it’s always possible that someone will do fresh scans in the future that may result in visual improvements. It’s also possible that someone might eventually straighten out the rights to the Italian-language audio. None of that is likely, however, so it’s fair to say that Arrow’s set is the best-looking, best-sounding, most comprehensive 4K version of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly that we’re ever going to get. It’s the one TGTBATU to rule them all, and it’s also one of the best, if not the very best, physical media release of 2025 so far. Is it worth dealing with scalper prices in order to track down this Limited Edition version, or are you better off waiting for the standard one? Let’s just say that it’s probably not a good idea to ask a person who actually wasted their time to create a spreadsheet for adding up the running times of all the extras...

-Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).