Here is a gloriously greasy, sweaty, hairy, bloody and violent Western. It is delicious.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
rotten:
The fact that this film is constructed to endorse the exercise of murderers, to emphasize killer bravado and generate glee in frantic manifestations of death is, to my mind, a sharp indictment of it as so-called entertainment in this day.
– Bosley Crowther,
New York Times,
9 May 2005
fresh:
A significant step forward from A Fistful of Dollars, with the usual terrific compositions, Morricone score, and taciturn performances, not to mention the ubiquitous flashback disease.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
fresh:
A hard-hitting western with upper-case values out of the busy Italo stable, this is a topnotch action entry.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
fresh:
Leone's artful editing of close-ups to communicate the characters' spatial relationships is always a pleasure.