Here are some photos to compare the movie shots to the other Irish location at Howth castle:
and these
and here is a photo that I found onlne
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Coburn is thinking “Boy, I can’t wait until their next argument”
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I find there is a sense of melancholy that resonates throughout this film that is not present in Leone’s other westerns, especially with the music. The deaths that occur in the film somehow feel more real to me with more emotional resonance. The flashbacks also have a somber quality to them. There is some comedy interspersed throughout like the other films, obviously. But I find at the end of the film I’m left feeling for the main characters in a different way.There is obviously some very melancholic music and scenes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, though overall it still feels more “fun” I guess, for lack of a better term. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Duck, You Sucker is downright depressing, still there is definitely a somber feeling that I get from watching it.
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I agree, it’s much closer to Once Upon a Time in America than his previous films and it doesn’t really feel like a spaghetti western to me. It has elements of a spaghetti western in the first hour but I think this is more a wartime drama. I like Duck You Sucker much more than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and I know I’m definitely in the minority but I think this is one of his most underrated films. It’s in my top three Leone films next to Once Upon a Time in the West and For a Few Dollars More.
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Once Upon a Time in the West has the same feeling though. This one is just a bit darker, I guess?
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I was thinking about OUATITW when I was writing that post. The massacre of the McBain family in the beginning is definitely very dark. The scene where Morton is dying by the puddle feels very melancholy. It’s edgier than GBU for sure. I guess what I feel most from OUATITW is the beauty of the music and scenery that eclipses the darker aspects at certain points in the film. DYS feels darker both thematically and visually, to me. That’s not to say there isn’t any beauty to it. The beauty of the music and visuals is just more melancholic, I find. And the ending is pretty sad and dark. It’s an excellent film and I like that it stands out as somewhat different than the others.
You said it perfectly there. It doesn’t feel like a spaghetti western, but instead a wartime drama.
On the subject of Once Upon a Time in America, I have an embarrassing confession to make: I have never actually seen it yet. I need to get a copy of it or see if it’s on a streaming service. I have read a lot about it. Maybe I was a bit hesitant because it’s an extremely long film but does have one of my favourite actors: James Woods.
Has anyone managed to get close to Venta Canicas where Juan’s children stop the stagecoach?
I drove up the service road to the south of the site and then the service road to the north of the site but there is a steep ravine in the way. I also stopped briefly on the main road but there is a high fence parallel to the road and this is not a good place to stop.
Perhaps rock climbing is the answer?
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I’ve been there about 6 years back … we drove past the site, found a parking place off the road, but had to climb back along the side of the ravine to see the actual building - most of it is gone unfortunately … and it was very overcast and grey when I visited that day, so didn’t get a real Leone vibe.
PS: It’s also seen in Blindman and in ‘Ben & Charlie’ 
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Hey Aldo,
have you been to Turrillas Church by any chance or managed to get inside?
I went there but the Church was locked up and there seems to be an elderly population so unlikely to speak English and I do not like to intrude too much.
There is a great view from the town.
Perhaps I should check out the mass times the next time I visit and maybe see more!
That’s another on my ‘to do’ list.
I have a friend who visited, and saw the interior after asking for help at one of the cafes or shops. The church has a caretaker, so that’s the guy to see, if you can locate him.
Going to a mass service there would be truly surreal 
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So I have the following version of the film (see images), and I was wondering if this is a good copy. What I mean is: does it have all the scenes or did they cut some out?
Apparently it doesn’t include the 3 minute flashback at the end:
I agree with The_Man_With_a_Name : “I think this is more a wartime drama”
I watched Duck, You Sucker ! last year on Youtube and it was boring and not my idea of a very good SW. Also uninteresting subject.
I rate the first 4 Leone SWs respectively 9, 10, 9, 10 out of 10, and this one not more than 4.
Except that you think it’s boring! I think it’s Leone’s third best film. 5/5
If it wasn’t for Rod Steiger I’d like it even more.
If that’s the only thing that’s missing, it’s okay I guess. Thanks for your answer!
I would never consider watching any film on YouTube - it’s ok for short clips or trailers - but a 2 and a half hour epic from Leone … that’s idiotic. Why go to an art museum if you can see a picture of a painting online ? Same mentality 
I understand that many people dislike the film purely because it’s not one of the Dollar movies - that doesn’t make it a bad movie in itself! … sorry about your disappointment that the man wasn’t going to make the same movie over and over for the next 20 years … as though it were the James Bond franchise.
Ok, if you’ve watched the film without bias and it does nothing for you ? … well fair enough, it’s your opinion. But introducing this silly rating system for your own amusement is insulting to those of us who do appreciate the work of Leone.
I’m not a fan of his last film, ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ … but I’m not going to rate it 4 out of 10 because it didn’t fulfil my expectations. Many viewers see it as his greatest achievement. We all differ … but low rating a classic because you didn’t have the patience to give it a chance, seems a pointless exercise.
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If he’s watching it on his phone at the bus stop - agreed. But if he’s casting it from YouTube to his 60" telly, that’s fine, surely? We need more info here, @runner. If you’re watching one of the better-made movies in the spaghetti sub-genre on a phone/tablet screen, or even a laptop monitor then I agree with @aldo’s sentiments in that you can’t have given the picture the scope it requires.
If it’s a rating based on his own subjective opinion - which as you’ve rightly said is fair enough - and it’s purely for his own amusement, then, so what?
His own subjective opinion - telling us what he thinks - doesn’t insult anybody else. Now, if he’s imposing his ratings/opinion on everybody else - telling us what we should think - that’s different and I’d certainly agree that that’s insulting to everyone else’s opinion (we’ve had our fair share of contributors who’ve gone down that road of telling us what we’re supposed to think about this film or that, for sure). I’m not entirely convinced that that’s what’s happening here, though.
Why can’t you rate it 4/10 if you want to? Your opinion on OUaTiA is as valid as anybody else who ever saw the movie. I mean I absolutely understand that you don’t want to suggest that it’s an objectively poor movie because it just isn’t. I get that. I’m not especially keen on Once Upon a time in the West but I still wouldn’t say it’s a poor movie. Its a great movie. Its just that I’m not that into it. Personally, I’d give OUaTitW maybe a 6/10. That’s strictly for me, you understand. “IMHO” as they say. Objectively, it’s clearly a masterpiece (and, getting back to Duck, You Sucker for a second, the technical quality of that film is also obvious right from the off), but I’m entitled to feel however I like about it, and I feel it’s a 6/10 picture. For me.
To say that we have to rate certain works of art according to a general consensus because it’s an objective masterpiece… well, that’s just a cyclical, self-fulfilling prophecy, isn’t it? Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace comes out, we’re all told it’s a masterpiece because it’s the first Star Wars picture in 16 years so it has to be, right? So we rate it not on how we feel about it but on how we’re told we should be appreciating it, so it garners a 10/10 critical consensus across the board. So because of the 10/10s we maintain that, yes, it is a masterpiece, and then because its a masterpiece we have to rate it a 10/10, and because of that we have to call it a masterpiece, and because of that it gets 10/10, and so on and so on and around and around we go. It’s the emperors new clothes (or the Emperor’s new Death Star in that case, I guess 
).
Personally (using your OUaTiA example), I would say that, whilst you might readily concede that it’s an objectively well-made motion picture, you are perfectly entitled to subjectively rate it 4/10 if that’s how you feel about it. In fact I’ll go further and suggest that you have not just an entitlement, but a duty to your own integrity to rate it thus.
Just IMHO, like.
Some fair points there, but it’s not quite that black and white for me. There are some great films that are undoubtedly works of art, but they’re sometimes simply not to my taste … or perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood for that type of film at that time. Therefore, I’m not going to pop on ‘Citizen Kane’ or ‘The Battle for Algiers’ or ‘Raging Bull’, find them a bit of a chore and call them 3 out 10 movies because yours truly wasn’t in the mood … nor would I rate ‘Carry On Screaming’ 9 out of 10 just because I was in the mood for some smutty double entendre 
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