Abstract
Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) became a regular fixture on British television screens from the mid-1970s onwards. The film has also enjoyed wide distribution in the UK via a variety of VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray releases. However, these different home video releases have resulted in the film undergoing several formal changes over the years—prompting fans to purchase multiple copies on multiple formats. As such, the story of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on British home video has been one of ongoing “restoration”, be it via the re-insertion of BBFC-enforced cuts; widescreen re-masters; the restoration of scenes from the original Italian version (complete with newly dubbed English voices); the addition of new sound effects; or the introduction of exaggerated colour timings. This chapter charts these changes while considering the reactions of fans and consumers to these alterations.
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Broughton, L. (2017). Restoration, Restoration, Restoration: Charting the Changing Appearance of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on British Home Video. In: Wroot, J., Willis, A. (eds) Cult Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63679-5_5
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