For a Few dollars More is a master-pupil western with a twist, but I wouldn't have expected otherwise from Leone.
Day of Anger, Death Rides a Horse, Pistoleros, In a Colt’s shadow all have the master-pupil premise - and I think they’re all better than L’Ultimo Killer (well, In a Colt’s Shadow is at the same level)
Some of these are not exactly Master-Pupil films. they show an old man- young man relationship, but in FAFDM there is nothing that Eastwood could learn from van Cleef.
In the others the theme is present, but again the younger one isn’t one who really needs teaching. In a Colt’s Shadow is set after the teaching.
But anyway, compared with these films The Last Killer is by far the best for me. I liked it immediately, but at first only in a 6/10 area. But I watched it meanwhile 4 times, and it got better and better, while the 4 you mentioned don’t change with repeated viewings.
Day of Anger is very close storywise, but in direct comparison The Last Killer is in nearly every respect superior for me. Directing and acting is much better, and the story is more complex with an ambivalent, perhaps even an disillusioning ending.
In a Colt’s Shadow is for me definitely a lesser film than the others. It has a strong SW like beginning, and a somehow lusty ending. But in-between, and that is most of its runtime, it is a very simplistic film full of US B-picture cliches. Watchable.
Pistoleros is one I like, but here is TLK more mature in a positive way.
I’ve gone through the thread so far and made a list of films you’ve suggested that I haven’t yet seen. Even if I wind up disagreeing with you about their merits, there still is surely something of quality about all of these. Twenty new spaghettis / Eurowesterns for me to track down! This thread has been very beneficial to me, and I hope you’re enjoying it as well.
Antes llega la muerte
Lemonade Joe
Among Vultures
God in Heaven… Arizona on Earth
Dust in the Sun
Tres Hombres Buenos
Mestizo
Der Schatz im Sibersee,
Tierra Brutal
Der Letzte Rit nach Santa Cruz
Gli Uomini dal Passo Pesante
El Precio de un Hombre
Valdez, il mezzosangue
Blue Gang
Why Go On Killing
Too Much Gold For One Gringo
Joko invoca Dio… e muori
Tex E Il Signore Degli Abissi
Scalps
Une corde, un colt
1971
It is interesting to note that in this year the serious SWs are still predominant (Lo chiamavano Trinità… was released on December 22, 1970), although the general level begins to drop significantly.
Giù la testa
Blindman
Soleil rouge
Anda muchacho, spara
Prega il morto e ammazza il vivo
Other titles: Il lungo giorno della violenza, I corvi ti scaveranno la fossa, Condenados a vivir, W Django!, Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità
Testa t’ammazo, croce … sei morto, mi chiamano Alleluja
It definitely went downhill rather fast after 1970, with only an occasional bright moment and a short upswing of the Twilight Spaghettis. I therefore see it as one period. A few other movies were watchable, but films like The Grand Duel, Four of the Apocalypse and Mannaja feel too much like bastard sons to me to really enjoy them, they don’t give me the right feeling.
From 1972 to the ending of the genre we are even in Post-Fidani era (with the exception of an inappropriate encroachment in the spreading comedy subgenre)!
