Those who see this movie as a milestone in film need to do a little research. This is perhaps the least original movie since Van Sant's Psycho rehash. In fact, the entire story, plot, even some dialogue, is completely taken from Kurosawa's classic earlier work, Yojimbo. Not that a Yojimbo rework is a bad thing, but credit where it's due. Any praise heaped on this very watchable film should be passed along to Akira.It's tough not to enjoy Fistul Of Dollars, regardless of it's origins. Eastwood was still a young pup with squinty eyes (my dad wanted to be him so bad), was just learning the swanky walk and the era of the spaghetti western was just beginning to pick up pace. Bud Spencer and Terence Hill were making big box office cash doing their 'Trinity' schtick and when Eastwood's 'Man WIth No Name' strolled onto the scene it was an extreme case of right place, right time.
A drifter rolls into a dying town. No law, no commerce, just two evenly matched warlords using the little town as their battlefield. So what does a drifter see in such a situation? A way to make profit off both, by making each think he's working for them.
"Get three coffins ready." BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM "My mistake. Make that four."
There's not a lot of dialogue, but even in this relative silence, there's a whole lot more coming from Eastwood in this film than in the films that came after it. Sometimes the events require a healthy state of disbelief and the acting is often of a standard that a Mexican TV soap opera would be ashamed of, but the story and the lead are interesting enough to make for a film you just can't turn off.If Eastwood gives you a buzz, by all means lap this up. It's a lot of fun, without a lot of thought required. But if you're more a fan of a good classic story, cinematography and acting, hunt down a video copy of Yojimbo. While Fistul Of Dollars is good, Yojimbo is vastly superior on almost every level.
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