Per un pugno di dollari (1964) Reviews

• Sergio Leone's first classic spaghetti western masterpiece and the best one of Clint Eastwood!

  ivo-cobra82016-02-15

  A Fistful of Dollars (1964) in my opinion is the second best one in the spaghetti western series, that is Sergio Leone's first best masterpiece in "Dollars Trilogy", that started all. It is my personal favorite western movie of all time. I love this movie to death and I will always cherish it. A lot of people are going for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West and of course Eastwood's Unforgiven as their best favorite western films. But no one talks about this one: A Fistful of Dollars, which in my opinion is a classic & Sergio Leone's first masterpiece! This was the third Clint Eastwood's western film that I saw as a kid and I loved it every since. What can I say? Except I love this movie and it is my second favorite Clint Eastwood western movie. This one is in my top 5 Eastwood western films. I just love this movie to death and I love the story and the actors that it is in this film. This movie is shorter for only an hour and 39 minutes long, which is not boring, it is fast paced and it is filled with classic moments. A Fistful of Dollars is a classic and I can always watch and enjoy it, without been bored. Clint Eastwood stars as the greatest Western character of all time, ever created - "The Man With No Name" in the greatest Western of all time. The story is an unofficial reworking of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo from 1961. What I love about this film is Clint Eastwood's character who helps out a young family, who is torn apart from the Rojo's gang, he make sure that the kid goes in to his mom's arms, Eastwood was a heart in this movie. Also you have nice shootouts, Eastwood wears a boiler plate as a bullet proof vest, while Ramón Rojo (Gian Maria Volontè) fires his Winchester '92 rifle at "The Man With No Name" brilliant! Than "The Man With No Name" kills them all with his colt, excellent! Ramón fires the Mitrailleuse machine gun, killing dozen of Mexican Soldiers, awesome! Gian Maria Volontè as Ramón Rojo was a terrific villain and he did awesome job. The plot start's faster and it is a stone cold classic that started all. Clint Eastwood is the coolest actor in the role playing the famous character of all time, that made him an icon. Every second on screen, he chews up the scenery and even today remains as bad ass as ever. Eastwood's character has been mimicked and copied numerous times over the years and yet he still stands up to modern scrutiny. Despite the character being so cool, there is still humor to be found, like the fact that he ALWAYS has that cigar in his mouth even when he's lying in bed. You also have the classic "Mule" scene which manages to be bad ass and funny at the same time. Sergio Leone directs everything to perfection and considering the film is from 1964, it's extremely well paced with plenty of action. The score was provided by Ennio Morricone, who for some reason is credited as Dan Savio. The music is another element that has been copied by practically every other Western since. It set the standard of what a Western could be and once you watch the film, the tune will go through your head for hours. Not only that this movie is a classic but two movies ripped off the story from this film: Bruce Willis's Last Man Standing (1996) which completely ripped off the story from this film and Sukiyaki Western Django (2007). This is the beginning of the Man With No Name series. The visuals are beautiful, the character of the Man With No Name menacing and mysterious, the score is brilliant and the action is a blast. The greatest "spaghetti" western ever. The one that launched a thousand copycat versions, even the wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. A Fistful of Dollars is a legendary, with bullets, as loud as the explosions and close ups extreme. The plot is simple (though not as much as the sequel, A Few Dollars More) but that is what enables Sergio to weave a masterpiece. Iconic score. A Fistful of Dollars gets a perfect 10 by me and remains my all time best favorite Eastwood Western movie in the series that I absolutely love to death and I love Clint Eastwood's character. It's a genre that doesn't get enough love and it really should as it deals with all the familiar elements of action films, like this one is.

• "My mistake. Four coffins"

  Wulfstan102005-10-31

  ALthough in many respects this film pales in comparison with Leone's later films, it is itself a brilliant cinematic achievement. In part, this is because its failings primarily appear to be due to constraints of budget (very small and highly uncertain) and time more than anything else. Even to the extent that the skills of Leone, Morricone, and others hadn't fully flowered yet, this film is incredible at how brilliantly it is handled for what is really a first-time go. Leone had worked on, and even directed, films before, but this is his first real foray in his own direction, and into a genre that he revolutionised and with which he became forever synonymous. Who can imagine westerns without at least thinking of Leone's films, while who can think of Leone without thinking of westerns (even though his last, and arguably greatest, film was a sort of gangster film)? Similarly, one should not criticize this film for being based on Yojimbo, for that film itself was based on an American story while A Fistful of Dollars really is very different in many key respects, not least of all Leone's visual style or his own sense of irony and symbolism derived from Italian precedents and Hollywood westerns. We also see the nascent Leone visual style here, with the close-up style and contrast of close-ups and long shots appearing. This alone sets it apart from previous films, westerns and non-westerns alike, and still provides for great visual treats that one can appreciate today. This film also ushered in Leone's obsession with details, hard faces, grungy people, etc., that also revolutionsed the genre. This films also marks the first brilliant score of Ennio Morricone. It is here that he introduced the lonely whistling, guitar music, chorus, and unusual combinations and styles that developed into the music that has become in the U.S. synonymous with westerns and duels in the same way that Leone's visuals and themes have. Despite its minor flaws, this is still a great film that is not only revolutionary but still great and fun to watch even today. Like Leone's other films, it is timeless. One must also admit that it is amazing that in the U.S. an Italian film maker basing his films partly in Italian culture and an Italian composer could come to so define and be synonymous with this genre that Americans had considered so uniquely American, and highlight its underlying universality. That alone reveals the greatness of the films, of which this is the first.

• A western classic and the movie that launched the careers of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood.

  Infofreak2003-05-31

  'A Fistful Of Dollars' is a wonderful movie which, despite having an enormous following of fans around the world, sometimes gets unfairly dismissed in my opinion. For two reasons - firstly because the second and third movie in Leone/Eastwood "Man With No Name" trilogy ('For A Few Dollars More' and 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly') are so damn good it's easy to overlook this one. Despite being made on a much tighter budget and being less ambitious than the sequels to follow, it's still one of the greatest westerns ever made in my opinion. The second reason is the Yojimbo thing. Now movie buffs frequently slam 'A Fistful Of Dollars' as being a rip off of Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', which I think is extremely misleading. I'm not disputing that Leone was familiar with Kurosawa (I have no idea one way or the other), but one name I rarely hear ANYONE mention is Dashiel Hammett. Hammett's hard boiled crime classic 'Red Harvest' was published THIRTY YEARS before 'Yojimbo' and features the same central premise of an anti-hero playing two rival groups off against each other. So if anyone deserves acknowledgement as uncredited inspiration for Leone (AND Kurosawa) it's Hammett. Anyway, this is an absolutely brilliant movie and it launched Clint Eastwood, a popular TV actor, into being a major movie star, and likewise put Sergio Leone on the map. I can't recommend 'A Fistful Of Dollars' highly enough, it's pure entertainment, and very, very cool!

• 'The Man With No Name' rides into town for the first time...

  Nazi_Fighter_David2005-08-28

  Sergio Leone shared a rebellious desire to tumble the old values and present the audience with a new, more mystifying piece of storytelling... The violence, the speed of action in his film announced a totally new European style... Leone placed the poncho on Eastwood's shoulders to give his character a veil of mystery... The cigar acted as a sort of pendant to those ice-cold eyes... He creates a quite unique character, with no name, no horse and no money, a cynical bounty hunter whose impassivity is his main attraction, an ultra-cool gunslinger who leaves us impressed by his exceptionally swift draw... He is a mysterious 'gunman with green eyes' who comes from nowhere and returns there, a cult hero (set against a dry and dead landscape) entering a noisy violent world where evil competes with evil... "A Fistful of Dollars" is distinguished by Sergio Leone's visual gift, and convincing fashion in handling violence, rape and torture... He presents his sadistic killers, invariably unshaven, sweating and bleeding in frequent big close-ups... Both the real and the unreal invincibility of his 'Stranger' are never better illustrated than in the final scene when the trembling Ramon fills the gunfighter's heart with bullets... Leone's very dark brand of humor stands out when Eastwood walks past a coffin-maker: "Gets three coffins ready" he orders... The town heavies make fun of him, asking where his old mule is... "You see, my mule don't like people laughing, gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him!" All four heavies get their just punishment for such mockery and as Eastwood returns past the old man, he corrects his miscalculations: "My mistake, four coffins." The film is strong on passionate emotions, and bloody violence... This aspect is completely foreign to the American tradition based on John Ford concepts of honor, bravery and romantic adventure... Sergio Leone's film deeply influenced the future of the Western in general and the Italian 'spaghetti' Western in particular...

• The first of the three

  rbverhoef2003-11-02

  'A Fistful of Dollars' is the first from Sergio Leone's trilogy about "The Man with No Name". The other two movies are 'For a Few Dollars More' and the famous 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. Although 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is considered the best this one comes pretty close. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo' and it comes also pretty close to that movie. It was also the first real Spaghetti Western. Clint Eastwood is "The Man with No Name" who comes to a small town where two families run the place. Both families hate each other and he thinks he can make a lot of money with playing both parties against each other. This is basically the main story. There are some sub-plots, one of them involves Marisol (Marianne Koch) who is taken by a leader of one of the families. Her husband and child still live in the town. For me it was not the story that made this movie interesting. It was the whole atmosphere. I like all Leone's westerns for that reason. Of course some are better than others, but they are never boring. The way we see Eastwood kill four man early in the movie is simply spectacular. This no 'Once Upon a Time in the West' or even 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' but we have the same atmosphere, the same kind of score by Ennio Morricone and a Clint Eastwood at the beginning of a great career.