A Fistful Of Dollars [1967]

The film was based on Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, but Leone had forgotten to clear the copyright. Eventually a deal was done, but A Fistful of Dollars was not released in the USA until 1967. It scored an equally resounding success, as did its sequels in the Dollar Trilogy, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character, laconic, amoral, dangerous, as The Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the film's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children (women are virtually absent from the Trilogy). Instead it's every man for himself. Striking too was a new emphasis on violence, with stylised, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armoured breastplate. The popularity of the Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western, for example Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, but its most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself, still in action at the age of 70. --Edward Buscombe

Anyone who sees 'For a Fistful of Dollars' will be unable to deny that Clint Eastwood was born to star in this film. He makes the entire film become not only believable but alive with pure style. The dialogue is excellent and well presented throughout erasing any doubt that this is one of the great westerns of all time. From the moment this film begins till the time the final showdown takes place you won't be able to look away making this film a very worthy buy on DVD.

In conclusion there can only be two reasons to not buy this product. Either you already own the DVD or you intend to buy the box set of the entire series. If neither of these apply then but this film now.


Flawed template for Leone's later western epics   July 31, 2000
7 out of 14 found this review helpful

From the opening gun battle (get three coffins ready) - (my mistake, four coffins) to the final showdown with Ramone, this movie rattles along, never losing pace. It serves as a prequel to "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and its status as a prototype shows in the way that Leone has yet to perfect his extended set-piece battles and the build up of scenes to such an extent that they only just fall short of the ludicrous. This serves as the (very good)opening chapter, the later installments being near perfect. Without the later films, this would be the bottom line in western adventures. It is through no fault of this film that it is overshadowed by its own sequels, but it is, and it suffers because of it. If you own the others, buy this to complete the set. If you don't, buy them first.


Classic Clint   January 12, 2002
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Made in 1964, 'A Fistful of Dollars' together with 'For a Few Dollars More' and 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', introduced a new kind of hero, in a new type of setting. From the moment The Man With No Name rode into the small town of San Miguel on his mule, it was clear to audiences all over the world that a new style of western had been created. Directed by Sergio Leone, and adapted from the samurai film 'Yojimbo', this film would influence generations to come.


The first spaghetti western..   July 13, 2003
Denis Cadogan (Harrow,London)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful

Although I believe this important film is inferior to the two other movies in Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy,I can still truly respect it's groundbreaking effect on cinema.It made stars out of the director,former tv actor Clint Eastwood and of course Ennio Morricone,one of the most influential men in film soundtracks to this day.Its a basic enough plot-rehashed in thousands of latter day imitations-Clint's anti-hero (the man with no name) rides into town to get rid of a bunch of bad guys. That's when you start to mine gold-featuring unremitting violence for it's era,it is a taut and exciting operation with dark humour-startling shoot-outs directed with style and considerable panache aided by a gritty Eastwood performance,accented by Morricone's haunting,quirky score.