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Overall Rating
4.4

Awesome49.06%
Worth A Look: 45.28%
Average: 3.77%
Pretty Bad: 0%
Total Crap: 1.89%

2 reviews, 41 user ratings


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Fistful of Dollars
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by Chris Parry

"Unoriginal in the extreme, but damn tasty fun."
4 stars

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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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1388&reviewer=1
originally posted: 05/20/99 00:41:06
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User Comments

12/08/07 Screwball Awesome start to finish. 5 stars
9/28/07 mr.mike worth it mostly for historical value 4 stars
3/07/07 David Pollastrini not bad for a spaghetti western 4 stars
9/24/06 Franklin A. Changed the landscape not only for westerns but film as a whole. 5 stars
1/16/06 R.W.Welch Gritty, hyper-violent oater makes up in style what it lacks in believability. 4 stars
8/25/05 Eden Seems weak after GBU but a very good film 5 stars
3/25/05 Carolyn Rathburn Old west hero style, liked it, good guys don't always wear white 4 stars
3/22/05 Kevin Rose Another great Eastwood movie. 5 stars
3/20/05 Chris Stephens Clint rocks 5 stars
1/20/05 Eddie clint eastwoods legendary "Man With No Name" was powerfully carried on in this movie GREAT 5 stars
12/02/04 Reocka seltya Didn't like the movie 1 stars
4/09/04 kevin watts spagetti classic,good flick 4 stars
2/28/04 alien assasin Powerful stuff. Heaps better than Costner's "Dances with Wolves" extravaganza !!! 5 stars
2/22/04 john bale Starting the series of quality violent/humourous Westerns with cool gunslinger Clint 4 stars
12/20/03 Duck Alum More than a good movie ... an experience. 5 stars
12/04/03 Agent Sands (previously Mr. Hat) One of the very best westerns. Great heroes & nasty villains. 5 stars
11/29/03 john unbelievable for a no-budget movie - very stylish film 5 stars
11/14/03 Devon Beck Poses a different and intriguing perspective of the hero and movie violence 3 stars
10/18/03 JIMMIE GORDON A VERRY GOOD MOVIE 5 stars
1/24/03 Andy Bronson it's almost a shot for shot remake of yojimbo only yojimbo's better 3 stars
1/08/03 Seppo One of the best westerns! Great score 5 stars
12/28/02 spacecowboy-00x SWEEET! I LOVED IT! 5 stars
11/17/02 Soggy Bottom Boy Great atmosphere, overall quality spaghetti western. But not quite at the level of GB&U. 5 stars
10/24/02 Charles Tatum Dry but good 4 stars
9/27/02 Tom Fleeman Clint write the fucking book on old west tough guy movies. 5 stars
12/28/01 Jeff An awesome atmosphereic film with a great score. 5 stars
12/16/01 Jeff Ultra atmospheric, memorible music score, great action, and a great movie. 5 stars
11/03/01 R.W. Welch High body count Western, chiefly distinguished by Eastwood portrayal. Has a certain style. 4 stars
8/22/01 bdf20 top notch western 5 stars
7/29/01 Henry Ginsberg I don't like westerns much ,but this movie ruled . 5 stars
6/26/01 AgentX Do some research yourself - FOD was released in 1964. Trinity arrived in 1970. 5 stars
4/27/01 Dan The climax of Fistfull is infinetly better then Yojimbo's. A amazing western. 5 stars
3/29/01 fifu awsome movie Eastwood made the tough guy additude 5 stars
1/15/01 Harvey Colley The first of the Triology, and the 3rd best movie ever made. 5 stars
11/28/00 Cristopher Revilla good flick 4 stars
10/09/00 Mickey E. Suttle One of the best Westerns ever, cowhands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 stars
9/26/00 Terrie Smith Good version of the Japanese classic; Morricone's score a highlite. 4 stars
5/19/00 tank Fine remake of Yojimbo (1961) and the beginning of a legend. 4 stars
6/15/99 Dylan Best of the trilogy. 4 stars
5/26/99 JonnyAngel Damn it's gritty, you can almost taste the dust. 5 stars
11/28/98 Christ Monkey Fans of this film- join me in a letter writing campaign to have Warner put it back in print 5 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  02-Jan-1970 (PG-13)

UK
  N/A

Australia
  15-Feb-2004 (M)



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