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What does overrated mean?
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I wouldn’t say overrated, but I would understand if some thought it was too easy a choice to go with as either Best SW Ever Made and The Quintessential SW. GBU for me in recent years has evolved into its own thing, even going beyond the realm of the SW genre itself. It still paved the way for many films in the genre to come and will always have a place. There’s almost this mythic status to GBU that I love very much as the passion and love Sergio Leone (who has become more myth than man himself in the last 20 years) went into it with is quite clear. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if there are people now who don’t think a film like this could’ve gotten made back then, much less today, especially with the intricacies and detail Leone put into it, not to mention the money being spent. GBU in essence has inspired and gained that status and reputation that it and Leone can’t even live up to.
I think it’s very overrated. It’s the 10th highest rated movie ever on IMDB, let that sink in. It’s not as overrated as some other massively overrated movies like the dark knight, but it definitely is overrated. Likely because of its historic significance, it is undeniably a movie of great historic significance.
I think most of the civil war related stuff in the movie is not great, or even good. The production values are amazing, and the movie still delivers that action blockbuster spectacle despite being a 1966 movie, but i think it relies too heavily on that. The first 40 minutes or so of the film is amazing but after that I feel it depends heavily on the explosions and war scenes as opposed to focusing on a well written storyline like in FFDM, FOD and UOATITW. In a lot of ways it feels like a war adventure film more than a western. Cleef and Eastwood’s characters are also not as well written as in FFDM by a large degree, and Tuco is too dumb and predictable. I was never a big fan of the civil war theme either, I always felt it was out of place in a spaghetti western and somewhat boring, especially when they’re still using a lot of spanish mexico-ey buildings for filming locations, but that’s entirely personal taste.
To me, the sergio leone western trilogy always was FOD, FFDM and OUATITW, with GBU and duck you sucker being different war-set adventure films.
…but overrated doesn’t mean bad, I still give it a 7/10 because it has some really high high points.
What does overrated mean?
When something is rated too highly overall and considered better by most than it really is
If it isn’t in the number 1 spot then to me it is underrated.
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GBU is a treasure hunt set against the backdrop of the civil war, not quite a war adventure film, as hammerfist says. The German title in English means “Two Glorious Scoundrels”, perhaps a better title, the film is primarily about Blondie and Tuco.
The civil war stuff is maybe too “american” and not spaghetti-esque enough, but it doesn’t matter. Also I think Stanton on this forum was of the opinion that Leone wasn’t so good at staging bigger battle scenes, and maybe he is right about this?
The relationship between a cool gringo and a more flamboyant mehicano is very spaghetti-esque though and became a recurring theme in SWs. GBU is one of the most operatic of all SWs and the score is one of Morricone’s finest.
GBU also the most well-known SW by far. Some people seem to regard it just as a western, they don’t know much about the SW genre.
I certainly discovered it and loved it to pieces long before I knew what the f#ck a “spaghetti western” was.
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I think the whole searching for gold plot is what makes it an adventure film actually, anyway that’s just semantics. Arguing over semantics is not productive, but i think we can all agree that it deviates a lot stylistically from previous Sergio Leone films.
A big part of the movie is literally a war film too. To break down the 2hr 42 min cut of the film, I think the first 45 minutes of the movie are amazing and are classic spaghetti western stuff but what follows is an overlong scene of Eastwood walking in sand for 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of (good) character development for Tuco, followed by roughly 1 hour 15 minutes worth of a war film with the occasional western part, then you have the final duel.
After the first 45 minutes and before the final duel, I don’t think its a particularly good movie. Both GBU and Duck, You Sucker were only partially a western with a big part of the film being a war film, and I don’t think Leone is as effective at making a war film as he is a western.
I agree on the soundtrack though, the soundtrack is masterful. Not as good as FFDM, but definitely second place for me.
GBU was my first spaghetti western, it’s what made me fall in love with the genre, but I think its overrated.
hammerfist have you seen the international cut or the extended cut, or both?
both… haven’t seen the extended cut in a while tho, i remember liking it less.
Absolutely not. In my top 5 all time favorite films. You can watch it over and over and it never gets old. Great plot with so much style and talent involved. So many people love this movie that have no clue what a SW is… it transends the genre.
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“I don’t like something as much as most people, therefore it’s objectively not as good as they say it is”
who said that? No such thing as objective quality in art.
Well you did say:
“When something is rated too highly overall and considered better by most than it really is”
That sounds a bit like you think there is some objective quality.
nah, don’t put words into my mouth man. Never said or even indicated anything like that. It’s still an opinion, never said otherwise. You can think something is of poor quality without thinking it’s an objective fact.
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By the way, I have had my doubts but only when watching the extended version of the film. I think that the international cut is one of the best films of all time.
Great 
Just semi-bad wording then.
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haha, i guess i was misunderstood, but i never said anything that relates to objectivity or subjectivity. One may think something is objectively overrated or subjectively overrated, and both would fit my definition, so it is correct 
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