Rating: 
Summary: A Fistful of Clint!
Review: Oh yea baby! Back when the west was Italian and Clint Eastwood scowled at the world between a flat brimmed hat and a two inch cigar! Those were the times and this is the DVD to immortalize them. These flicks are all great and you get some wonderful extras, like theatrical trailers and, in the case of "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" DELETED SCENES! I highly recommend this package because even though "For a Few Dollars More" is inferior to the other two of the trilogy you basicly get it for free when buying the set. Plus there is nothing like stereo surround sound to emphasize how truly great that wierd pounding italian guitar and trumpet soundtrack really is! Ah-EEEE-AH-EEE-AHHHHHH!
Rating:
Summary: Some of Sergio Leone's masterpieces
Review: Sergio Leone is definetely one of my favorit directors ever. The dollars trilogy revolves around the Clint Eastwood character the man with no name. The triology consists of the good the bad the ugly, fist ful of dollars and for a few dollars more, really show what great he can do. All three of the movies are really well done and written. Clint Eastwood gives perfect performances in all three.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest westerns ever made - all in one box set
Review: Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy is classic. It made both Leone and composer Ennio Morricone famous, elevated Clint Eastwood into stardom, and invented the "spaghetti western". Now western fans can own the entire series in one DVD set. The series begins with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, the classic western that introduced us to Morricone's rolling, whistling score that is now associated with the genre; Clint Eastwood's cool performance of the lone stranger who takes down two feuding small town gangs; and Leone's masterful direction. Then we move on to FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, in which Eastwood teams up with an old army colonel (Lee Van Cleef) to capture the bounty on an escaped prisoner. The series ends with THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, undoubtedly the greatest western film ever made. Eastwood is flawless, Morricone's score classic, the action terrific, and Leone's direction extraodinary; you are absolutely glued to the TV screen throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. Cinema lovers everywhere and anywhere will not want to miss out on this excellent collection of the greatest western masterpieces of all-time.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest westerns ever made - all in one box set
Review: Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy is classic. It made both Leone and composer Ennio Morricone famous, elevated Clint Eastwood into stardom, and invented the "spaghetti western". Now western fans can own the entire series in one DVD set. The series begins with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, the classic western that introduced us to Morricone's rolling, whistling score that is now associated with the genre; Clint Eastwood's cool performance of the lone stranger who takes down two feuding small town gangs; and Leone's masterful direction. Then we move on to FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, in which Eastwood teams up with an old army colonel (Lee Van Cleef) to capture the bounty on an escaped prisoner. The series ends with THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, undoubtedly the greatest western film ever made. Eastwood is flawless, Morricone's score classic, the action terrific, and Leone's direction extraodinary; you are absolutely glued to the TV screen throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. Cinema lovers everywhere and anywhere will not want to miss out on this excellent collection of the greatest western masterpieces of all-time.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest westerns ever made - all in one box set
Review: Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy is classic. It made both Leone and composer Ennio Morricone famous, elevated Clint Eastwood into stardom, and invented the "spaghetti western". Now western fans can own the entire series in one DVD set. The series begins with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, the classic western that introduced us to Morricone's rolling, whistling score that is now associated with the genre; Clint Eastwood's cool performance of the lone stranger who takes down two feuding small town gangs; and Leone's masterful direction. Then we move on to FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, in which Eastwood teams up with an old army colonel (Lee Van Cleef) to capture the bounty on an escaped prisoner. The series ends with THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, undoubtedly the greatest western film ever made. Eastwood is flawless, Morricone's score classic, the action terrific, and Leone's direction extraodinary; you are absolutely glued to the TV screen throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. Cinema lovers everywhere and anywhere will not want to miss out on this excellent collection of the greatest western masterpieces of all-time.
Rating:
Summary: "Just Like Old Times." Classic Clint Eastwood.
Review: Sergio Leone's ("Once Upon A Time In The West", "Once Upon A Time In America", etc) classic "The Man With No Name" trilogy is out on DVD. I'm not going to review them seperately, as they feature the same character in all three Westerns.
"A Fistful Of Dollars"
Clint Eastwood makes his first appearance as "The Man With No Name" in this first movie in the trilogy (more on that later). While not my favorite one, it's a good introduction to the character. Rated PG for violence.
"For A Few Dollars More"
Clint Eastwood is back for this 2nd film in the trilogy featuring legendary screen villain Lee Van Cleef ("High Noon", "The Magnificent Seven Ride", etc) in a surprise role as a good guy out for revenge against Indio (Gian Maria Volante, who had co-starred with Eastwood in the first film), the ruthless leader of a vicious bank-robbing gang. The plot was more character driven, but could've used some more fleshing out. It's good as it is, though. Rated PG for violence and brief partial nudity (pay close attention or you'll miss it).
"The Good, The Bad And The Ugly"
The best movie in the trilogy reteams Clint Eastwood for the final time with director/screenwriter Sergio Leone, along with Lee Van Cleef (not only in one of his best villainous turns, in the complete opposite of his role in "For A Few Dollars More", but in one of the best roles of his career) and Eli Wallach ("The Magnificent Seven", etc). The movie features the classic score by Ennio Morricone (who also wrote the music for the first two films, Franco Zefferelli's "Hamlet" and others). Shame I can't repeat Tuco's (Wallach) infamous lines on a family-friendly website, but this movie is without a doubt the BEST Western ever filmed. Rated PG-13 for violence and some language.
All that said, why was the real name of Eastwood's character always changed and in the third one, he was just called "Blondie"? In the cast list (in each collectible booklet) his character is named, but it changes in the second movie and in the third one, it doesn't appear at all. Another thing: why was Lee Van Cleef's character in the third one never called by his real name, as it appears in the booklet? I mean, sure, the name that was used could've been a code name, but his real name NEVER divulged? Lousy move on Mr. Leone's part (he co-wrote the script for the three films, but all in all, excellent films, but the third one stands out the most, mostly for the score written by Ennio Morricone (who also scored Franco Zefferelli's "Hamlet" starring Mel Gibson [Oscar-winner for "Braveheart" and director, co-screenwriter and producer of "The Passion Of The Christ"; see my review on it.]) My only gripe is that this isn't the Collector's Edition of "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly", with 18 minutes of never-before-seen footage, restored audio and so much more.
Average rating: 4/3/4/5
Rating:
Summary: The BEST WESTERN TRILOGY is released on DVD!
Review: Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns featuring Clint Eastwood.. Three classic westerns (the best in my opinion). Everyone knows the story of the films so I will just tell you my opinion about the product. The DVD box is excellent and I can say that I am completely satisfied with all 3 films. Video and sound quality is very good. This is the best versions I have seen (as far as quality is concerned). Get them right now! This is going to be one of your favorite DVD boxes!
Rating:
Summary: Legends of Spaghetti Westerns
Review: The love of Spaghetti Westerns has grown into somewhat of a cult activity. These three landmarks are packed into one package, a must-have. I would never grow tired of watching these movies, and listening to killer soundtracks by Ennio Morricone. My 13-year-old son has also developed a liking for them and watches them with a great interest. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and the rest of the figures here (including Klaus Kenski, the father of Nastasia Kenski, who appears as the hunchback in "For a few dollars more" the one who promises Lee Van Cleef: in ten minutes, you will be smoking in hell!) are amongst the coolest characters who successfully stood the test of time. Classical lines would never leave our memory for no time to come. All this comes in an excellent value pack, leaving little margin for the probability of going wrong with such a great deal, bargain priced.
This is one movie set that I treasure adoringly, and keep seeing its movies over and over again.
Rating: 
Summary: Man With No Name trilogy needs a make-over
Review: The trilogy of westerns made by Sergio Leone during the early to mid-60's are among the best of the so-called spaghetti westerns produced. Leone's unique cinematic vision and his unusual use of the camera (a bit of trivia Leone never storyboarded his films. Unlike Hitchcock and other major directors he had it all in his head)make these films unique and powerful. Leone was the first foreign film director to make self reflective movies; i.e., his westerns were really about the classic western films he grew up loving with a post-ironic twist. You can read about the plots elsewhere as I want to concentrate on the major drawback (and the benefits)of these DVDs; Both Fistful and more are presented in their widescreen aspect radio. Since Leone's films benefited from the widescreen format and vistas, seeing them in a pan and scan version doesn't do the films justice; it's like listening to a great piece of music through a portable radio with poor reception. You get the gist of the music and feel that's powerful but it lacks the full impact and range. The films exhibit a high amount of analog artifacts. Portions of More also look quite faded. Both films deserve and require a restoration similar to that performed for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (although the version included here is not the restored version). Both discs also include both pan and scan and widescreen versions of the films. There's also theatrical trailers and booklets with background on the making of both films. The soundtrack sounds flat and thin--given the way the original soundtracks were mixed and released that's not a surprise. Still, if the original elements still exist it would be worthwhile to revisit these films, restore and then remaster them with a commentary track (similar to that for Once Upon A Time in The West). They don't look horrible but it's clear that the negative is either in poor condition or the prints used were not pristine. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly looks and sounds better than the other two films in the series. It also benefited from a much larger budget and shooting time which is to the benefit of the film. The acting is stronger (Eastwood returns as does Van Cleef joined by the scene chewing Eli Wallach in a marvelous turn as "the ugly"). THis version features a number of scenes cut for both the International and US version. While the scenes aren't restored (and my copy didn't even had the advertised "Italian" dialogue track but was silent), they provide an interesting background as to the motivations of the characters. TGTBATU looks still has a fair amount of analog artifacts but not quite as bad as the first two. The sound is slightly better although still thin (again, it was recorded and shown in mono. Remember, this was the early 60's). Leone's direction and visual flair are more in evidence on the third film of the series. Here's hoping that MGM will get around to re-releasing the restored version that showed earlier in the year. Reportedly, Eastwood and Wallach re-recorded their dialogue (which might explain why the tracks are silent--it's clear that the dialogue tracks must be missing or incomplete)and they had a sound alike for the late Van Cleef. While all three films are essential western classics, all three are marred by a variety of analog flaws. Their still worth having but I'm hoping with the advent of reissues like Once Upon a Time in The West, that all three will get a face-lift and second chance on DVD. It also wouldn't hurt to provide some interesting background on the making of all three films. Eastwood and Wallach are still around as are various crew members/actors from the original productions. Let's hope it gets done! Oh, and by the way, the Man with No Name did have a name in at least two of the three films here. That Man With No Name aspect was a marketing ploy dreamed up by the original studio (United Artists) to sell the films later on down the line.
Rating:
Summary: In Like Clint
Review: The Trilogy Set of the "Man with no name" is, if not, the finest western set one could get. A definite "must have" to any Clint Eastwood fan. "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" is excellent with a fantastic cast of Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef. Get it!
|
