A Fistful of Dollars (Per un Pugno di Dollari)
(R, 1:40:04, Released 1964)
| Genres: | Western, Art House & International, Action & Adventure, Classics |
| Release Date: | Sep 12, 1964 |
| DVD Release Date: | Jun 19, 2001 |
| Starring: | Antonio Prieto, Benito Stefanelli, Bruno Carotenuto, Clint Eastwood, Daniel Martin, Gian Maria Volonté, Joseph Egger, José Calvo, Margarita Lozano, Marianne Koch |
| Directed by: | Sergio Leone |
| Synopsis: | A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. |
| Full movie details |
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Other Top Reviews
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December 24, 2009
another great movie from clint
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December 19, 2009
The first in Leone's spaghetti western trilogy. Not the best of the three I have to say.
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December 11, 2009
While this film is a good one, a really good one in fact, it is not a great one. It's gets the extra half star due to the historical, cinematic, and aesthetic significance, and because it's just so damn stylish and influential. This is the only remake of Yojimbo that is worth existing. It's not as good as Yojimbo, but it's pretty solid. The only real drawback to this movie is that it's a little rough and unpolished. The story is not a bad one, but it could be a little better. Still though, it's hard to dislike a film which features Clint Eastwood in his breakthrough role, Sergio Leone kicking off the spaghetti western subgenre, and the haunting and memorable music of Ennio Morricone.
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December 11, 2009
this is a very good film
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December 9, 2009
Excellent film, excellent score, excellent story. Enough said. A classic.
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December 3, 2009
Great script and Clint Eastwood. You can't ask for more than that.
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November 28, 2009
de nuevo, muy buen pelicula del oeste... la historia me aburre un poquito de vez en cuando pero aparte de eso, exelente
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November 28, 2009
Eastwood is a young dude in this flick. A good watch with plenty of colorful characters to fill the screen.
It plays out well and the story is easy to follow and keeps the attention of the viewer. One thing I like is that the hero is smart and skilled and usually keeps the upper hand on the bad guys at all times but does reveal himself as human when things don't go as planned and mistakes are made. -
November 25, 2009
A brilliant Western remake of Yojimbo, a samurai film made by Akira Kurosawa, who was heavily influenced by old cowboy movies. Quite fitting eh! This is a brilliant film, almost as good as the original, it's a crime Sergio Leone didn't direct more films.
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November 23, 2009
This story's been made a couple of times, and there all good. Check out Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken in "Last Man Standing" for a decent re-telling of this classic story, which is itself a re-telling of the Akira Kurosawa film "Yojimbo"
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November 17, 2009
NOT BAD AT ALL. I ALWAYS LIKE THE FASHION OF THESE MOVIES.
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November 15, 2009
leone's remake of yojimbo is possible one of the greatest remakes ever,if you can call it that... it was based on yojimbo but i personally consider it a remake.. simply put he takes what kurosawa did with yojimbo and expanded on it and brought it to the old west...plus adding the leone style (camera angles, close -ups, long drawn out edge of your seat gun fights).....
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November 14, 2009
Stylish! Suspenseful! I get such a kick out of the idea of the Spaghetti Western. There was Italian, Spanish, and German money in this picture. It was produced and directed by Italians, adapted from Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and filmed mainly in Spain. The Italians were still continuing the tradition of post-dubbing all the audio, that's all the sound effects too, which are as recognizable to a Leone picture as the extreme close-ups on faces. So the dialog was spoken in whatever languages the actors spoke and then dubbed by voice over artists or the principle actors when possible in whatever languages were necessary to release the movie in various countries. So, you have Clint Eastwood (who wasn't a star yet) as the only American actor. Koch and Lukschy were from Germany. Volonte was a classic actor from Italy. Rupp and Egger were from Austria. Prieto was originally from Chile. And Calvo and Lozano were Spanish. Sergio Leone could only speak Italian, so he had a translator with him on set at all times. The Italians were also evidently notorious for losing their records that show what dialog the actors actually spoke (because some improvisation would inevitably happen off the script) or the original audio recording of the scenes. Eastwood stated in one special feature that it was because he kept his own notes about the changes he made for each scene that he was able to authentically dub himself later for the American version.
The first of The Man With No Name trilogy has a skillfully written story, well thanks to Yojimbo for that. It injects an exciting youthful energy into the Western. The Man With No Name, who actually is given the name Joe, pits two rotten families from this small Mexican town against each other. They've been warring for power for years. Joe befriends the saloon keeper and the undertaker. And basically it looks as if no one is alive in the town except for these two when he leaves at the end. However he does reunite a family and he looks so cool as he outsmarts both gangs, especially the Rojos led by the expert rifle man Ramon. -
November 10, 2009
Insane... always has been. Hard to peal yourself away from this film. Tons of action, mostly comprised of impossible shots and rediculous escapes, but tons of fun.
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November 5, 2009
Clint Eastwood at his best
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November 3, 2009
I don't have to compare, but the original one "Yojmbo" has more organized scripts and tension-packed scenes than this movie. It's a great movie though.
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October 22, 2009
Leone's first film in the Dollar Trilogy, though not as great and visually fantastic as the following two, already lays the grounds for his unique directing style and introduces Eastwood's unforgettable sullen anti-hero, The Man With No Name.
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October 20, 2009
Isnt this movie from 64?
great stuff anyway -
October 16, 2009
de la maniere que c'est tournée on dirait le dernier de la trilogie
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October 12, 2009
This is an excellent movie.The action scenes are very well done.This movie is yet another Clint Eastwood classic.
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September 20, 2009
I've finally decided to sit down with these in their proper order and give them another look.
This first film in the trilogy was one that kept refreshing my memory as it went along, but I was surprised to find myself almost viewing it for the first time, which is a nice way to go into a film as well made as this one is.
Leone & Eastwood's unofficial Yojimbo re-make is very engaging and makes you root for his charismatic anti-hero from the first moment he encounters the two feuding factions in the small town.
Highly recommended. -
September 16, 2009
To quote Biff from Back to the Future 2: "Bullet proof vest! Great flick! Great friggin' flick! The guy is brilliant!"
This movie was pretty damn good, I always hear that the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best but that seems like a tough bill.
It should be illegal to be as badass as Clint Eastwood. -
September 12, 2009
Per un Pugno di Dollari is the first entrance of the spaghetti western series of Leone. Watch this for yourself, it is spectacular. Leone owns some credit to Kurosawa, of course...
93/100 -
September 10, 2009
With out a doubt a classic among other western flicks
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September 8, 2009
An excellent movie. One of the greatest westerns of all time.
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September 7, 2009
Oh, Clint Eastwood, you are amazing. 'Thank you. Good job.
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September 7, 2009
I'm not a huge western fan but this film kept my interest from the beginning to the end. The blood looked pretty fake but what could one expect back in 1964.
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September 3, 2009
The weakest of the 'Dollars' trilogy, 'A Fistful of Dollars' may have revolutionalised the western genre, but that doesn't mean it's a particularly good film. In comparison to the best film of the trilogy, 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly', this film isn't as much fun (there is less humour), yet at the same time it isn't as believable (there appears to be only one woman and one child in the entire town where the film is set, for instance), which is partly the case because of the tiny budget (£100,000 - equivalent to just under a million dollars in 2009 money). The story is also less enthralling than the plot of 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly'. However, the music is great and it is still amazing what they were able to do with the budget - it is filmed with a 35mm Technicolor camera, with some impressive pyrotechnics and some good sets.
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September 1, 2009
first film in the trilogy gret sountrack
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August 13, 2009
Quando un uomo con la pistola incontra un uomo col fucile, quello con la pistola è un uomo morto!
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August 10, 2009
Clint Eastwood. A talented director and reputable actor. He's also a man that can make you shit your pants with the squint of an eye. Sergio Leone figured this out, and perhaps that's why a predominant part of his style in the first spaghetti western he would direct would include ample closeups highlighting Eastwood's eyes. Neither Leone or Eastwood had much of a name before Fistful of Dollars. By the time the trilogy of pictures that this film kicked off came to a close, both would be world famous. It's no secret why. Eastwood plays the "Man With No Name", a man who is actually given a different name for every film he appears in, but a man with no real name none the less. The walks into town one day, looking for work, to get caught in the middle of a war of mercenaries and villains. Fistful took a lot of heat for being based on Yojimbo. Kurosawa claimed "It is a very fine film, but it is my film." Leone on the other hand claims they both took inspiration from the same sources. Whatever. The film is at least partially inspired by Kurosawa's samurai-defining picture Yojimbo. But for the same reason Kurosawa had an affinity for adapting Shakespeare tales to the Japenese screen, American directors, especially those of westerns, love adapting Kurosawa stories. They're incredibly universal, incredibly simple, but yet incredibly powerful. The lone wolf character of either Yojimbo or Fistful, the theme of one against many, and a world enveloped by treachery is a relateable and powerful theme. Leone had a vision for it, and that is what makes this first of his western films a truly remarkable film. It's not just Eastwood and his iconic performance. It's not just Ennio Morricone doing one of his first legendary scores, which takes the inner turmoil of our title character and develops it into a theme that sprawls across the film, growing from a lonely downtrodden melody into an epic delivery of musical emotion. Leone knows where to put the camera, and he knows how to block a shot, and those are two very important things when it comes to a western. His style would develop and grow larger, as is evident in the next two films of the Dollars Trilogy, but in this one, a cut will lead into a tableau that will make your spine tingle. It's the little things. A line up of 6 men in which ever man takes a position indicating their own thoughts, their own back story even. The suspense of Eastwood and his enemies standing a perfect distance apart as the camera explores all of the space around them, emphasizing the feeling of there being no one else. Leone's westerns are masterpieces because he takes the time to explore the emotions of his scenes and his characters, and even if his characters are flat or simple, we feel them on the screen.
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August 8, 2009
not great in my opinion but it's still a classic and a must see
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August 6, 2009
For me this is the best of the 'Dollars' trilogy . Although a lot of people I know would disagree with me on this one choosing G,B,U over this but I still stand by my decision. Eastwood handles himself very well as the stranger, shaping a character strong enough to beg a sequel. Further plaudits go to title animation by Luigi Lardani, which sets the style of this film from the start. Also to music, somewhat redundant but effective in the western vein. . All the classic Leone ingredients were there - the atonal score, the graphic violence, the horrendous dubbing - and the film's Stateside success changed the face of a genre. For me, Leone only beat this with Once Upon A Time In The West, but fair to say he had a massive reputation then, here he is only a beginner but yet with this film he changed the Western genre and made it into a form of exploitation film known as 'Spaghetti Western' and therefore changed not only a genre, but film history.
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August 2, 2009
Grande Sergio Leone!
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July 31, 2009
Aim for the heart Ramone
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July 24, 2009
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed
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July 21, 2009
The weakest of the Dollars trilogy, but by no means a bad film. A clear remake of Yojimbo, the story of a lone gunslinger coming into town to play off two warring families against each other, is pretty simple in both concept and execution. However, the mysterioius Man With No Name (or Joe, as he's referred to in this film) makes the film darker and more violent than many westerns of the period. Recommended viewing.
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July 18, 2009
The first in the Dollars trilogy and the weakest of the three but only by a slight gap haha the fact that Van Cleef is not in it lets it down. Like the rest the soundtrack is superb and the characters and action, stunning. It just lacks that 100% punch, probably due to the fact its the first, the story is abit lacking but still quality.
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July 14, 2009
Eastwoods and Leones first collaboration which inevitably resulted in a western classic. The story, originally taken from Yojimbo, was beautifully illustrated in this Italian made landmark. Eastwoods scowling face and cigar chewing demenour was properly established in this film as he plays the quiet yet scheming gun for hire whilst he's surrounded by gun slingers that would rather shoot than ask questions. Morricone's score completes this western ballad perfectly.
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July 5, 2009
One Of My Favourite Films Of ALL Time
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June 29, 2009
CLINT. YOU KNOW IT'S GOOD.
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June 28, 2009
I'm not a fan of westerns but the trilogy of Sergio Leone was amazing. It's a classic nevertheless.
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June 24, 2009
Classic movie with Clint at one of his greatest performance the man with no name. It's a violent film for its time. Its also clever in parts. Recommend this one
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June 22, 2009
1st of classic trilogy
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June 18, 2009
This Sergio Leone directed spaghetti western changed westerns forever and made Clint Eastwood an international superstar. Ennio Morricone's music will last forever, too!
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June 17, 2009
Very effective - and Clint-cool - remake of Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo'. The story is, I guess, universal for frontier settlements where power is the only law. A Fistful shows how shrewd desperados can make some money off rivaling criminals, and become involuntary heroes in the process.
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June 16, 2009
Eastwood's first appearance as the gunslinger with no name has him playing two rival gangs against each other He even gets some money out of it. One of them make things personal though when they go after him and anyone that's hiding him.
A Fistful of Dollars is one of Eastwood's best westerns. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was the first one I saw. But I actually like this one more. -
June 11, 2009
Hell of a way to make Money
