I finally watched the two movies that come before The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I loved them. They were exciting and dramatic and had some decent storytelling.
What I liked most was they don’t spoon feed you everything. If you’re not paying attention and are on your phone you’re not going to know what’s going on. For example, I was on my phone, looked up, and saw that the hero was doing terribly at target practice. I had to rewind to see that they broke his right hand and was learning to shoot with his left. I swear modern movies just have actors narrating and renarrating what they’re doing because they know you’re on your phone not really paying attention.
Also, I realized that when a cowboy does a super quick draw and shoots 3 men before they can draw it’s just like an anime when there is a flash and the hero sheathes their sword, with enemies falling over dead.
If you’re looking for suggestions, I really liked “My Name is Nobody”.
With obvious exceptions like “Blazing Saddles”, I had figured that most of the old Westerns were the same sort of tense, action-fests. While those are great, I was surprised to find “My Name is Nobody” to be a legitimately funny comedy and also intriguing.
If you just stick with Clint Eastwood flicks for a while, you’re in for a treat.
“Two Mules for Sister Sara” was another great one.
There have also been some more contemporary westerns that “get it”.
I think the opening to "The Harder They Fall’ is an homage of sorts to Van Cleef’s introduction as Angle Eyes in “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.
“The Old Way” is a Nicholas Cage romp that’s also interesting.
Two Mules is such a great movie. Saw it as a kid, and many times since. Each time I pickup some new nuance, as I’ve learned more about life and the history of Mexico.
If you like My Name Is Nobody, you may also enjoy They Call Me Trinity. I haven’t seen My Name Is Nobody, so I can’t compare them, but they are both Western comedies co-starring Terence Hill, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they have some similarities. Trinity also has a sequel, but I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet.