For A Few Dollars More

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Summary: For a Few Dollars More
Review: The Good - Lee van Cleef and Clint Eastwood are at the top of their form as a pair of bounty hunters on the trail marihuana huffing baddie El Indio (Gian Maria Volonte.) Volonte as the baddie who always laughs at the most inappropriate times. Klaus Kinski as Wild, the hunchback (and occasional matchbox flint.) Lots of gunfights.

The Bad - As director Sergio Leone is wont to do, the erstwhile heroes, in this case van Cleef and Eastwood, are woefully underdrawn. Not much to them beyond scowl and shoot, really. Whatever he left out of them he dumps into the El Indio character, who falls apart all over the place. Some scenes go on much too long, lingering over some mood or other that isn't always there.

The Ugly - The original was so poorly dubbed it seems that this dvd transfer is at fault. It's not. The sound track IS in sync with the projected images. The reason the words don't always come out in time with the lip movements is because they screwed it up in 1965, not during the video transfer.



Rating:
Summary: the best film of the 'man with no name' trilogy
Review: the man with no name movies are all about attitude and style.

for viewers used to new action movies (if one agent smith is cool in the matrix, 50,000 agent smiths will be 50,000 times cooler)you might not appreciate the slow, methodical display of machismo in 'for a few dollars more'. for those who do the time will be well spent.

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Summary: Bounty Hunting Is Tough Business In Leone's Wild Wild West
Review: Sergio Leone's second installment of 'The Man With No Name' trilogy returns in this 1967 film. As with his previous 'Fistful of Dollars', Leone makes few distinctions between his protagonists and antagonists. Once again, the audience in this film is saturated with Leone's exotic images of a Wild Wild West where lawlessness rules the day.

In this film, Joe Manco a.k.a. The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) is a full-time bounty hunter instead of being a solitary opportunist helping a small pueblo against rival factions. There are a lot of outlaws in the West to bring back dead or alive for a living and our anonymous hero isn't the only one out to make a buck. Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cliff) makes his appearance as the sharp-shooting bounty hunter who wants more than just a reward when bringing in the infamous El Indio (Gian Maria Volonté)and his gang of bank robbers: he's out for blood to avenge a past wrong. Willing to compromise, both of our heroes join together to bring in the bandit posse: will they succeed?

As with his other westerns, Leone presents our heroes as shady characters with vague morals. Leone's trademark is of course the bullfight-like scenes in which the characters meet for the final showdown. Slow and detailed camera shots revolve around the characters while Morricone's brilliant brass symphonic arrangements make the audience feel as if they're watching a matador preparing to run his sword through a ferocious snarling bull. All of this is presented through close shots of the twitching eyes, dripping sweat, and nervous hands hovering over the grip of a Peacemaker.

There no continuity in plot between any of the three films or even in the characters: each movie can be viewed independently. In 'Fist Full of Dollars' one can see that the story is set at least in 1873 by the date on one of the cemetary's tombstones. While there's no precise date given for 'A Few Dollars More', 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' is clearly set in 1865 or before as our characters take part in a US Civil War battle. Although Lee Van Cliff's Colonel Mortimer is similar to his Angel Eyes in 'The Good...', the characters are completely different people. Angel Eyes in 'The Good...' is an assassin named Setenza who has no relationship to Colonel Mortimer in this film: their only relationship is that they're both played by Lee Van Cleef. Although both Colonel Mortimer and Angel Eyes wear dark clothing, they have very different temperaments. Angel Eyes is a complete sociopath with no conscience whatsoever whereas Colonel Mortimer has a clear sense or right and wrong: he's also a person who values cooperation over confrontation. Finally, Colonel Mortimer is a sharphshooting bountyhunter who prefers using a revolver fixed with a rifle butt and always carries an arsenal of rifles: Angel Eyes on the other hand is a paid assassin who seemingly has no particular preference in weapons.

This is yet another of the greatest westerns ever made. Leone's unique vision of the Wild West as being a badland of amoral characters is amplified by his unique vision of the final gunfight. Instead of being a brief shootout to end the story, Leone turns these scenes into stories of their own. This is another western that should be in every western lover's collection.

Rating:
Summary: 3 out of 10
Review: Coming into this film with high expectations after watching A Fistful of Dollars, I was gravely disappointed in For A Few Dollars More. It seemed the film was trying too hard to copy the feel and the look of the previous film with the same formula. Apparently, the result was a painfully slow film. Distorted parts. Weak characters. Lack of a good story. No intelligence. I often had to wonder about those shooting at clothes and leaving those clothes without holes in them, especially that bedroom scene when the guy got all shot up and looks like nothing had entered his body. I didn't like this Colonel character and thought it was useless to bring him in to assist Eastwood. It is obvious that this should be about Eastwood, the one and the only. It doesn't matter anymore. In the end, the film was a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: A Few Bucks
Review: Best of the Leone trilogy; however, all are worth purchasing as long as the dvd is in widescreen format. Quite possibly the BEST trilogy ever created, irregardless of format.

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Summary: Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef are on the same trail.
Review: This is the sequel to A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964).
Lee Van Cleef is a bounty hunter. He comes to town looking for a man. Nothing will stop him, not even a lady in a bathtub. He got his man. Now he is after the bad guy, "Baby Red Cavanaugh". The reward is $2,000. There is also another man in search of Cavanaugh. It's Clint Eastwood. The Man With No Name now has a name. It's "Manko".
The next film is: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966). The follow-up film, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968).
Sergio Leone produced the best western ever made. For a lighter western with a sense of humor, in honor of the MAN WITH NO NAME, MY NAME IS NOBODY (1973), starring Terence Hill and Henry Fonda.