MovieChat Forums > Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1967) Discussion > I think Tuco was "The Bad" (or at least ...

I think Tuco was "The Bad" (or at least he should have been)

posted 9 years ago by h-oates
8 replies | jump to latest

In one of the trailers for the film, Tuco is incorrectly listed as "The Bad", and Angel Eyes as "The Ugly". In the actual film, of course, it's the other way around. However, upon rewatching this movie last night, I'm starting to think that they got it right in the trailer. I think Tuco is "The Bad". Why? Because he's more flawed than Angel Eyes. Yep, you read that right. You see, while Tuco may be amusing to watch on the screen, he is in fact an evil character. I'm not saying that Angel Eyes isn't evil as well, but Tuco is more cruel. For example, the scene where Tuco marches Blondie through the desert. If he wanted Blondie dead for revenge then fine, shoot him in the head, but he chooses to let him die slowly in the scorching desert. He does this just for laughs, basically. Angel Eyes, on the other hand, kills all his victims quickly. Yes, he had Tuco tortured for information, but he only did this because he had to, he needed the info, whereas Tuco tortured Blondie just for laughs... Also, Tuco's list of crimes are far worse then Angel Eyes'. Listed among them is "raping a virgin of the white race", and "statutory rape of a minor of the black race". This is truly deplorable. Yes, we don't know all of Angel Eyes crimes, but I can't see him raping a minor. Maybe it's just me, but I think Tuco was worse then Angel Eyes, and should be classed as "The Bad".

[–] alexmoviefreak 9 years ago

Tuco is the Ugly.
The english trailer translation is wrong because the original italian titles from the original trailer are "Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo" which means "The Good, the Ugly and the Bad".
They were lazy and didn't swap Wallach with Van Cleef for the US trailer.

[–] h-oates 9 years ago

Yes, I'm aware of the mistake. I'm merely suggesting that Tuco SHOULD have been "The Bad". So, ironically, the trailer was right while the film was wrong. Do you see what I mean? I know in the movie Tuco is "The Ugly", but I don't think he should have been. In many ways, he's worse than Angel Eyes.

[–] Slaterson14 9 years ago

How is him marching blondie through the desert any different than Blondie leaving him out in the desert earlier without any provocation at that point with no water when he says its 70 miles to the nearest town? He was clearly thinking it would kill him and Tuco wanted to put him through the same thing which makes Tuco no worse for what he did. I think the only thing Tuco did that was really bad was when he told Blondie "No" when Blonde asked "what about Shortie?" and Tuco wouldn't let him shoot him down from the rope. Other than that they all had a bit of bad in them.

[–] h-oates 9 years ago

Well, first of all, Blondie abandoned Tuco. This was, of course, a nasty act, but nothing like as bad as what Tuco did in revenge. Why? Because Tuco remained with Blondie throughout their desert walk, therefore giving Blondie absolutely no chance of survival. If it hadn't of been for the miraculous intervention of the runaway carriage, Blondie would have been dead. When Tuco was deserted in the middle of nowhere, he had a fighting chance (as Blondie pointed out). Tuco most likely jogged most of the way in order to shorten his time without water. Blondie, though, couldn't do this, as Tuco was constantly monitoring him. Also, Blondie never taunted Tuco with water that was just out of reach. That was truly cruel of Tuco, and something I just cannot imagine Blondie doing to him. Finally, I believe Tuco was deliberately sabotaging the trip by walking around in circles, leading Blondie to nowhere but his doom... I find it curious why that's the only thing you're focusing on, though. What about Tuco been a rapist and pedophile?

[–] Slaterson14 9 years ago

They never said he was a pedophile they said "raping a virgin of the white race" which doesn't mean its a child necessarily and since we never see it for all the viewer knows thats just some BS trumped up charge to justify hanging him, it just as well could be true just saying. Though if it is true it still has absolutely nothing to do with what blondie did to him. I'm sure he did want to kill blonde but again because he was screwed over first for no reason it makes the act worse IMO.

Either way I would not call him the bad anymore than Angel eyes killing a father in child in the beginning even after he was given information and a 1000$ and then he goes and kills the poor old man who hired him because of a BS reason I can't remember something about never carrying out a job that he was paid for when the guy who gave him the 1000$ never said anything about paying him to kill the guy. Angel eyes also has tuco beaten mercilessly by that big fat ogre at the POW camp and then sends him off to be killed all over $. Its a great movie either way and the fact that the characters are all pretty despicable yet you still want to root for them makes it even better than if it was some "here he comes to save the day" hero character thats all too common and boring.

[–] mmserrano4 9 years ago

He killed the old man because of the $1000. He said (after he killed the father and son and is meeting up with the man who hired him) "he gave me $1000. I believe his intention was I kill you". That scene is to be all "yeah he's just in it for the money, he's greedy he'll kill anyone for money"

[–] Forlorn_Rage 8 years ago

They never said he was a pedophile they said "raping a virgin of the white race" which doesn't mean its a child necessarily and since we never see it for all the viewer knows thats just some BS trumped up charge to justify hanging him, it just as well could be true just saying.

I agree with most of what you said, but you're forgetting that Tuco was also charged with the statutory rape of a young, black girl.

[–] sparker21 9 years ago

Two thoughts. Angel Eyes was the only one of the three that really seamed to enjoy inflicting pain on others. He was "bad" as in evil.

Years ago a poster who claimed to speak Italian said that the word translated as ugly referred to ugly in the sense of mean or beastly rather than appearance, which certainly fits Tuco's personality.