Spaghetti Westerns (Box Set) (DVD)

This Spaghetti western box set comprises the three famous Clint Eastwood films, 'For a Fistful of Dollars', 'A Few Dollars More' and 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly'.

All three films were directed by Sergio Leone and have a similar style, building tension using dramatic close-ups (illustrated with the shot on the cover of the box) and a superb and now famous soundtrack. They were all filmed in Spain and some of the back drops and panoramic ...
...the unforgiving territories in which the tales unfold.

The violence in the films is gritty and frequent and you may be forgiven for thinking that law abiding citizens were few and far between. There are also brief examples of morality throughout the films however, and some scenes (of the civil war especially), show a very different side to the characters.

A fistful of Dollars centres on a small town controlled by two ... more

This Spaghetti western box set comprises the three famous Clint Eastwood films, 'For a Fistful of Dollars', 'A Few Dollars More' and 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly'.

All three films were directed by Sergio Leone and have a similar style, building tension using dramatic close-ups (illustrated with the shot on the cover of the box) and a superb and now famous soundtrack. They were all filmed in Spain and some of the back drops and panoramic landscapes are stunning and Leone uses them frequently to illustrate the unforgiving territories in which the tales unfold.

The violence in the films is gritty and frequent and you may be forgiven for thinking that law abiding citizens were few and far between. There are also brief examples of morality throughout the films however, and some scenes (of the civil war especially), show a very different side to the characters.

A fistful of Dollars centres on a small town controlled by two families. Clint Eastwood arrives and quickly grasps the opportunity to make himself 'a few dollars' by offering his services to each of the warring families - and plotting one against the other.

A Few Dollars More tells the story of two bounty hunters, played by Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef, who join forces to hunt down a wanted bandit. The subsequent journey involves jail breaks, robberies and gun fights.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is possibly the most famous of the three. Again, Clint Eastwood is joined by Lee Van Cleef but this time they are adversaries. The story follows 3 gunfighters hunting a buried chest of gold against the back drop of the american Civil war.

All three films are terrific in my opinion and I would recommend them to most movie fans. The 'Western' style may not be everyone's cup of tea however. Some may find that the lack of respect towards women throughout all 3 movies is not to their liking and for that reason I would suggest that men were more likely to enjoy them.

One word of caution before you rush out to buy the box set is the fact that you can sometimes find the individual films sold for a price that would make the box set more expensive. My box set contained some Clint Eastwood 'postcard' film shots (3 in total) but that is the only 'extra' that the box set contained, compared to the individual DVDs.

None of the DVDs have any real bonus features. There is some previously unseen footage and theatrical film trailers but by modern day DVD standards the features are sparse.

Any fan of the western genre should certainly add these films to their collection but do shop around to ensure you are paying as little as possible for the three films as anything advertised as an 'extra', be it a box set or a bonus feature, is not likely to add a great deal of value. When I purchased my box set, it did work out the cheapest option, but that is not always the case as individually, the DVDs will often turn up in the 'Sale' section. 

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