I just watched this film again (uncut) and noticed, that I like Fafdm better. But anyways. As much as it’s just a western copy of Yojimbo, it is such a great film that quickly passes by and doesn’t get boring. I especially dig Joseph Egger (the austrian playing the gravedigger).
Database linkhttp://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Per_un_pugno_di_dollari
Yes, FAFDM is better, and GBU is the best. But still… I mean he had hardly a budget to work with on this one. And this film is pretty much solely guilty of resurrecting the spaghetti western genre. That’s quite a testament to a little low budget film.
Yeah the film has great moments but doesn’t keep my attention as well as the other 2.
I used to like it a lot but after watching “Yojimbo” again recently i am kind of disappointed with it…nonetheless a great SW
I much prefer Yojimbo, but FOD is way better than Last Man Standing. Remakes rarely seem to be as good as the originals. At least the success of FOD allowed Leone to go on to bigger and better things.
I like Last Man Standing though, i am a sucker for those prohibition-era things (the tommy guns, the cars…)…
for me the three versions of this film are perfect.
A Samurai-movie, a SW and a prohibition age film. perfect.
yeah i like all three versions
but the best for me is Yojimbo
then Fistful Of Dollars (i gave 4 stars)
it’s good, but not as other Leone westerns
oh, i didn’t see A Fistful Of Dynamite aka Duck You Sucker yet
I gave it a 4. This is my favorite western next to The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.
This was the first spaghetti I ever saw. I happened to catch the beginning credits on TV. The animated titles and Morricone score grabbed my attention. I hadn’t planned on watching a movie but I was hooked. After that, I was tracking down anything by Leone. My favorite line in the film is when he rescues Marisol and makes the comment about knowing someone like her in the past and there not being anyone to help. The film could have included an elaborit history for Joe with flashbacks and all sorts of crap, but instead, we get one mysterious line and it’s all we need. Wonderful actors, great dialog, good score - it gets a 5.
It is surely a nice flick by Leone but as you already mentioned is FAFDM a little better. But techniques used in the movie are as good as the other two. So nevertheless 5!
This was the first spaghetti I ever saw. I happened to catch the beginning credits on TV. The animated titles and Morricone score grabbed my attention. I hadn't planned on watching a movie but I was hooked. After that, I was tracking down anything by Leone
Pretty much the same happened to me also. Although back then I didn’t even know there were such sub-genre as spaghetti westerns. Just pure awesomeness.
I saw it after For A Few Dollars More, so it seemed a bit lower in production values. But the plate armor duel at the end is great.
The film that the whole spaghettiwestern-genre originated from, it doesn’t matter if the story comes from Jojimbo, the style, mood and atmosphere is Leone’s, and together with Morricone’s music, this film was totally groundbreaking in 1964. Of course it gets a 5 !!
The only reason for which I appreciate more the sequel (FafoD), is incarnated in the interpretation of Lee Van Cleef in its Douglas Mortimer… For the rest, creed that in this film is the BEST Clint in the trilogy of the dollar… the film turns all around he.
5/5
Dare I say this is the best out of the trilogy? I thought this was the most tightly directed and best executed of the three. Sure, the story is originally from Yojimbo, but I saw it as a positive, as Leone just has to focus on transferring the basic storyline to a western setting. In the other two movies in the trilogy I felt he was juggling with too many different storylines and character motivations at once, resulting in an uneven pace. The characters even felt parodies of themselves at times. Someone said they have trouble watching A Fistful of Dollars from beginning to end, but the other movies in the trilogy are the ones that put me to sleep. They don’t have the same gritty feeling that a Fistful of Dollars has, nor the emotional impact that the revenge in A Fistful of Dollars has. What better feeling then to watch a mentally and physically tortured Clint Eastwood practicing his gunshots and making his secret defense for revenge the next day, while in a graveyard, in the middle of the night, and with the Morricone soundtrack playing in the background?
I don’t know, to me afod feells like Leone just trying out the ground. of the “trilogy” I think it’s not the worst, but it’s also the least Leone-ish film, not because Leone improved, but Leone didn’t dare as much yet…
I feel that both of you are correct in what you’re saying!
A Fistful Of Dollars was perfect in it’s execution, and the Yojimbo-story lended itself very well into a western setting. This is the film that started an entire cinematic genre!
In his subsequent films Leone always had an inclination of making the stories overlong. He also added a lot of burlesque humour to the two Dollars follow-ups. This was not entirely positive.
To me For A Few Dollars More is the least succesful of the Dollars films, it lacks real depth and has too much silly humour. Leone is just playing with all his cinematic visuals. This film feels a bit immature actually!
But it’s obvious that he wanted to expand his style from the first film, and The Good, the Bad & the Ugly became near perfect, maybe just a little too long. It has a better balance between humour and seriousness. The character of Tuco is wildly over-the-top, but this is the whole point!
It’s an epic adventure-film with both action, humour, drama, pathos. Someone called it a “comic nightmare of existence”, and this is an apt description I think ;D
I just watched it for the first time and Its a really great piece of western cinema. I didnt like at as some of the other leone movies and its definitely not my favorite but still worth a watch. I have not yet seen Yojimbo but Im gonna try to see it soon. I give Fistful of dollars 7 out of 10