...it seemed he had invented a new genre in cinema. These low-budget westerns filmed in Europe featuring mainly European actors, with their propensity for theatrical violence were seen by the fans of the traditional western as a cheap tawdry imitation of a classic film genre.
BACKGROUND
Sergio Leone cut his teeth in cinema by making the so-called 'sword and sandal' epics in Italy in the late fifties and early 60's along with other future 'spaghetti' ... ...turn they were part of a long tradition of 'epic' films going back to the silent era such as Cabiria (1913) and Quo Vadis (1912). The style and attitude of the filmmaking involved in these films was to clearly influence the later Leone westerns. Leone was not the first person to make European Westerns, As far back as 1925 the French novelist Blaise Cendars had written a novel based on the California gold rush and the early pioneer John Sutter. The ...
Mauri 27.07.2000 (16.10.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: Good enjoyable film Disadvantages: ends too soon
...in mostly Spain as are a lot of the spaghetti westerns.
Has with most dvds that have films from the older films the dvd menu is pretty basic and admittedly not much of a selling point, but trust me you do not need gimmicks when the film is this good. Shown in widescreen along with my home cinema system it is just like watching at the cinema ( without the expensive refreshments).
Brief background.
Fistful of dollars was the first film within the ... ...man with no name. But a close friend suggested he try a little known actor called Clint Eastwood. Most of the production team gave themselves English and Americanised names so as to make it more appealing to an American audience. The main cast and crew. Director Sergio Leone - Changed his name to Bob Robertson for the American release and made all his crew do the same. Used a lot of his trade marks in this film such as the extreme close up and periods ...
cityskyblue 15.03.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: great character, cult film Disadvantages: cheesy music
...say that I have been a Clint Eastwood fan for years and I love nothing better than relaxing in front of an old Western on TVs. Fistful of Dollars was "the big one" in Clint Eastwood's career. It put him on the map as a cult hero figure. Lots of action, good short to the point lines and a plot you can follow. He was able to give the audience a true grit-eating, swearing, smoking, bad guy shooting, tough guy - 'the Man with no Name'. He did everything ... ...he went on to play a similiar character in his other 'Spaghetti-westerns', of course and you can even see where 'Dirty Harry' came from. Anyway the famous trilogy Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and 'Half a Sixpence' were all..(sorry just couldn't resist that last one - could you really see Clint starring opposite Tommy Steele ????)..made Eastwood the huge box office star he still is to this day ...
flashpointz 09.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: The whole thing Disadvantages: nothing
...the best westerns ever made. A Fistful of Dollars sees Clint Eastwood take on the role as the man with no name for the first time. He rides into a town that has been torn apart by two warring families, the Baxter’s and the Rojo’s, instead of making a sharp exit he plays the two families against each other and attempts to get rich into the bargain.
Directed by Sergio Leone this movie is a classic and even makes you forget about the dubbing. ... ...the film, feeling the character was better not saying a great deal. I for one most certainly have to agree with him, Eastwood’s screen presence in this picture is awesome.
A Fistful of Dollars – A Classic Western that deserves to be watched time and time again.
Wemstalker. ...
wemstalker 24.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: Sergio leones stylish direction,atmospheric music and Eastwoods cool persona Disadvantages: Dialogue little bit raw in places
A fistfull of dollars was released way back in 1964 and at the time was unlike any western before it.It was shot in Italy and featured a tv actor Clint eastwood[RAWHIDE] in the lead role supported by a cast of italian actors led by Gia mario Volanta.The film was directed by then unknown Italian director Sergio leone.Not a lot was expected of the film and it opened to poor reviews with crictics calling it violent,immoral and a shoddy western.However ... ...that it was to launch a new style of western and cinema.This was where style and action with minimalist dialogue,would become the norm in many films.Upon its release it caused a sensation in Europe,for its style and pacing,Eastwoods cool antihero and became a surprise success.It was to be followed by two hugely successful followups in For a few dollars more [1965] and good bad ugly[1966].
The plot of Fistfull is heavily inspired by the japanese ...
harj123 06.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: CLassic Stuff Disadvantages: Not enough extra stuff
...some films that are only a couple of years old can look. After the opening sequences, when the actors started to speak for the first time, I found their accents difficult to understand at first but soon adapted to their 'Mexican' accents. Originally the film used only one American actor, Clint Eastwood, and all the other members of the cast were Italian and their voices were dubbed over so that 'English' speakers could understand. The Dubbing process ... ...is likely to have seen before! In conclusion, a Fistful of Dollars has comedy, tension and gun slinging action, if you enjoy Westerns, then this film is a must have classic, and if you just want to see a classic film then I would also recommend you watch it to! ...
glwgardner 09.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
Advantages: original format Disadvantages: letterbox size
The first proper spaghetti Western, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS follows a nameless drifter who plays two feuding families off each other to his own reward. As members of each family are put in the ground, the stash in his pockets gets heavier and heavier. this violent remake of akira kurosawa's joyimbo made clint eastwood a star and not before time. this is one of leone's first outings as director, who later went on to direct the masterpiece once upon a ...
name47 14.06.2007 (22.07.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of A Fistful Of Dollars (DVD)
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The First of the Spaghetti Westerns, A Fistful Of Dolars became an instant cult hit. It ... more
also launched the film careers of Italian Writer-Director Sergio Leone, and a little known American television actor named Clint Eastwood. As the lean, cold-eyed co...
The first of the "spaghetti westerns" A Fistful Of Dollars became an instant cult hit. It ... more
also launched the film careers of Italian Writer-Director Sergio Leone and a little known American television actor named Clint Eastwood. As the lean cold-eye ...
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This is the movie that launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to ... more
stardom. Before director Sergio Leone picked him out, Clint had played only a few bit parts in features plus his role as Rowdy Yates in the TV Western seriesRawhide....
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This is the movie that launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to ... more
stardom. Before director Sergio Leone picked him out, Clint had played only a few bit parts in features plus his role as Rowdy Yates in the TV Western seriesRawhide....
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 2 to 4 weeks...
Production Year: 1965 - Westerns - Director: Sergio Leone - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Klaus Kinski, Mario Brega, Gian Maria Volonte, Mara Krup, Luigi Pistilli
Production Year: 1971 - Westerns - Director: Richard Benedict, Douglas Heyes, Leslie Martinson - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Ben Murphy, Pete Duel