Mexican standoff 1966 Western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", where the titular characters played by Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach face each other at gunpoint. Director John Woo, considered a major influence on the action genre, is known for his highly chaotic action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and frequent use of slow motion. Director Quentin Tarantino (who has cited Woo as an influence) has featured Mexican standoff scenes in his films like "Pulp Fiction" (restaurant sequence); "Inglourious Basterds" (the tavern scene features multiple Mexican standoffs including meta-discussion); and the climactic scene of "Reservoir Dogs", which depicts a standoff
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Ugly" received criticism for its depiction of violence. Leone explains that "the killings in my films are exaggerated because I wanted to make a tongue-in-cheek satire on run-of-the-mill westerns... The west was made by violent, uncomplicated men, and it is this strength and simplicity that I try to recapture in my pictures." To this day, Leone's effort to reinvigorate the timeworn Western is widely acknowledged. Critical opinion of the film on initial release was mixed, as many reviewers at that time looked down on "spaghetti westerns". In a negative review in "The New York Times", critic Renata Adler said that