Rating: 
Summary: The Man With No Name comes to town....
Review: Clint Eastwood steps into his first action-packed western film. His character, a dusty gunman, enters a town which is trapped between two rival bands of smugglers. Where there seems to be nothing but danger he sees dollar signs. Soon he is accepting jobs from both sides and, like a candle which is lite on both sides, may end up being burned. Yet this gunslinger is both fast on the draw and swift on the take.
Who will win? You have to watch it to see!
Rating: 
Summary: Brutality Mixed With Humanity
Review: "A Fistful of Dollars" was released in Italy in 1964, but didn't make it to the U.S. until 1967. From its James Bond-like graphics on the opening to that incredible music, this is a minimalist example of less is more. The scenes of brutality are still startling. Gian Maria Volonte who plays bad guy Ramon Rojo is incredibly violent and merciless. His beating of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name also makes us wince. The thing that is so endearing about the movie is how the brutality is mixed with humanity. Marianne Koch plays Marisol who has been abducted from her husband and son that must watch as she is made to be the imprisoned sex slave of Ramon. Eastwood's character is touched by this, endures an incredible beating, and explains this act of kindness as he arranges their escape by saying that he once knew someone like her. Equally wonderful are the smaller characters such as the grizzled undertaker who delights in the killings because he can build another casket. Eastwood turns to him after escaping the beatings and is hauled out of town in a casket. The acts of goodness of the tavern owner who keeps advising Eastwood to leave are also touching. We see the great love of the husband and son for Marisol as they embrace in the street despite being at gunpoint. Director Sergio Leone does a nice job of splicing in as much humor as possible such as Clint Eastwood explaining how his mule has been offended. Yes, the DVD version doesn't offer many extras, but being released 35 years after the original, more is not realistic. This was a landmark film, well photographed and remarkably fresh almost 40 years later. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: He Called It Macaroni
Review: Clint Eastwood was a far better actor during his "Rawhide" days, but in 1967 the director Sergio Leone poured him into a zombie mold and Curt hasn't quite broke out of it since. This is a western for semi-literates who can't connect with real people or the world around them and so prefer to inhabit a place like Leone Land. Nobody you know lives there, just a race of moronic stereotypes; there's the constant scream of ersatz opera in your ears from the crazy soundtrack; and the director rubs your nose in endless closeups of his repellant cast and dares you to find some plot in their aimless comings and goings. To his credit, Eastwood fulfilled his three picture deal with Leone and never worked with him again. Anybody with a taste for good films will quickly see why the actor was sick of the clam sauce.
Rating:
Summary: "New Breed of Western......New Breed of Hero"
Review: In the small dusty border town of San Miguel, two gangs of "criminals and smugglers" are both trying to take over the town and be the "bosses". Out of nowhere enters our hero, the very dangerous(but very cute) gunman with no name(Clint Eastwood). In this first of the trilogy directed by Sergio Leone
Clint decides to play the rival gangs against each other, first working for one then the other. Why? Because there's money to made here. In the process, there are deadly shootouts, Clint saves a family,gets his face bashed in (I hated that part) and well I wont give away the end.
This film was followed by "A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". All three a must see's for the Eastwood fan. This one was based on the Japaneese film "Yojimbo" and was also the basis for the more recent "Last Man Standing" starring Bruce Willis.
Billed as "A New Breed of Western" (more commonly called spaghetti westerns, although it was shot in Spain), it is a cinematic treat you wont want to miss. The actors performances are terrific and the scenery stunning.
The DVD(by MGM) is a must have. The picture is crisp, the colors are sharp and the widescreen excellent. The sound is Mono,(only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) but it still sounds good, the horses and guns are crisp and the dialouge is fine.(The film is nearly 40 years old )
Not a whole lot of extras, but for me This movie was the extra!
What the DVD has is the Original Theatrical Trailer, Scene Selection, and a very informative booklet that talks about the making of the film. It also has subtitles, English and French which could be helpful for hearing impaired viewers, and a standard film format on the other side for those who might prefer it to the widescreen.
If you have never seen it and you like westerns, you'll love it. If you have already seen it and know you love it, you will enjoy the DVD.
thanx-Laurie
Rating:
Summary: Better than YOJIMBO by far...
Review: ... in my opinion. I am, of course, grateful that Kurosawa made his film, it's a good one. But Leone took that story and really made it MYTHICAL. Eastwood's three best performances were in The Man With No Name trilogy. He was good int he toehr Westerns, too, but these take the brass ring.Fistful Of Dollars is a FUN movie. The story is good, the acting is good, and the Morricone soundtrack, well, of course that's great! The sound on this dvd isn't the greatest, but then the sound on the original print isn't great either. This movie earns its five stars on the virtue of the mule scene alone. if you don't remember that scene, or if you've never seen this flick, get off the internet and go get this movie NOW!!! If you're disappointed, well, I just don't know if there's any hope at all. Seriously, this is a fine piece of work from Leone. His best, without doubt, is ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, but you can see him laying the groundwork here. The Spaghetti Western is a sadly overlooked genre and if you enjoy the Leone movies you should also check out THE GREAT SILENCE; A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL; DJANGO; and KEOMA. All at least as good as Fistful, some even better.
Rating:
Summary: "My mule don't take kindly to laughin' "
Review: This is one of Eastwood's best westerns. It is very action packed and the DVD is super. If you like this also try Hang Em' High, Eastwood's first american western after the Dollars trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: shoddy job
Review: i am sick of DVDS that fail to exploit their potential as a superior format. This one is just plain poor.
I don't have the VHS to compare it to, but I don't believe it can be worse than this DVD version.
The film itself is damned good... engrossing and great fun. It is extremely well contructed; somthing an audience may fail to analyse as such, but nevertheless appreciates greatly.
All the more reason to be furios at these fools who care so little about their product. You can always hope that someday a better visual and audio presentation of this classic western will be made available.
Rating:
Summary: A enjoyable and memorable film
Review: This is the first of "The Man With No Name" films and it has some good scenes (The scene were the local gunfighters, the Baxters shoot at the mule that Clint Eastwood is riding and Eastwood walks up to them and asks them for an apology, and the ensuing gunfight when he doesn't get it. This is a good film, but it doesn't rate as highly as the other two films in the trilogy. This is because it does not feature Lee Van Cleef, and he is one of the key parts in For A Few Dollars More. Although Van Cleef features in both For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, he doesn't have as much of a spectacular role in the latter of these two films.
Rating:
Summary: This is what a re-working should be
Review: Often times when I watch a film that has been "reimagined" from a previous one, I lose interest within the first few scenes. That was not the case with "Fistful of Dollars". Having "Yojimbo" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" as two of my favorite films, I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. I was nicely rewarded with my expectations being met, as well as pleased by how FoD kept my interest throughout. The styling of Sergio Leone that I love so much was present throughout the film. The story from Akira Korusawa's film was changed in such a way that it both held my interest and I didn't feel put off or disjointed by the changes. There are far more in depth reviews available here, so I'll simply end by saying that if you like the Clint Westerns, I highly recommend this film. Also, of course, you MUST see "Yojimbo"...preferably first.
Rating: 
Summary: SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Review: I bought the DVD version to replace the widescreen video I owned and I have to say several things disappoint me.First,I find it disappointing when major studios release classic movies and don't make full use of DVD technology-why isn't it anamorphic?Second,the sound is supposed to have been re-mastered but there is lots of distortion-especially in the latter part of the film.Third,thanks for all the extras!The original trailer and chapter access-wow!!Fourth,the DVD has an annoying habit of automatically starting the film if you leave the disc in for a few minutes.Overall,I think we Italian Western fans have been poorly served-it's just another money-spinner folks.
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