Watch A Fistful of Dollars For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

Simply Perfect

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Just a copy of Akira's work. No wonder they lost the lawsuit Shame! Shame! Shame!

A Fistful Of Dollars is the film that turned a television star who was wondering where his next bit of work would be coming from after his TV series Rawhide would end into an international film icon. Clint Eastwood gets the break of his life in starring in this European western produced and directed by Italians and shot in Spain.Clint's character is superficially like Shane, the gallant loner who rides into the area, settles all the troubles and rides into the sunset. But that's most superficially because there's light years between quiet soft spoken Alan Ladd and the bloody and explosive Mr. Eastwood who always lets his gun do his talking. There's more fatalities in the first 10 minutes of A Fistful Of Dollars than there are in all of Shane and any number of John Wayne westerns.In this story Clint rides into the border town of San Miguel where two factions of outlaws have just made the place there headquarters. When they're not killing each other they're terrorizing the citizens. To be sure Clint isn't responsible for all the deaths in the film, the bad guys do quite a bit to each other.I've never been a fan of anything other than American made westerns and think that all of Clint's westerns made this side of the pond are superior to his three with Sergio Leone. But I sure can't deny the lasting impact these films had on the culture and on Eastwood's career.And the career of composer Errico Morricone was certainly made with this film.Come see an icon and watch from whence he came.

What makes this movie work so well is that it is a good story to tell and it is told nicely and believably so that we get absorbed into it. It is interesting to note that the respect given to anyone that can wield a gun is acted out for us to see including how just having a gun is not enough. Everyone has a gun and men learned quickly to intimidate using gangs and numbers. However, what if someone came along who can fire a gun 5-6 times a second to another's draw? Enter the man with no name who is so good at what he does that he doesn't parade it but instead uses it when needed. It doesn't take long for the word to get out and a reputation is born. Clint Eastwood gives us someone to believe in and we do! Great supporting cast and stories within stories which when done right makes it a must see again and again. This movie is a comeback experience. I have seen it so many times and will see it again. Look for the classic scene where we learn not to insult Clint's mule. If one doesn't apologize for the slight, there is no second chance. LOL This is a good movie to snack with while watching with a tasty drink. It also makes you wonder too. There was a lot of money back then to be made but would you live to spend it? Find out when you go for your own "Fistful of Dollars...Enjoy

RELEASED IN 1964 and directed by Sergio Leone, "A Fistful of Dollars" stars Clint Eastwood as an expert gunman who drifts into a Mexican town where he finds himself in the middle of a war between two factions, the gun-running gringo Baxters and the firewater-running Hispanic Rojos. The story's based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai flick, "Yojimbo," which was patterned after the work of John Ford, so "A Fistful of Dollars" is an Itala copy of a Jap imitation of an American Western (!). Interestingly, Kurosawa sued Leone, but it never went to court. It ended with a settlement of $100,000 and 15% of the revenue of "Fistful" for Kurosawa.Speaking of ripping off (or homages), Ennio Morricone's excellent score (as usual) features a moving piece obviously inspired by Dimitri Tiomkin's outstanding "El Degüello" from "Rio Bravo" (1959). Compare the two.The opening act is great and is probably why so many people fondly remember this movie, but the middle act is weak. It starts with a thrilling massacre of dozens of Mexican soldiers, albeit curiously bloodless, carried out by a machine gun the likes of which the Earth has never seen (until this movie). For instance, it has multiple muzzles, like a Gatling gun, yet nothing revolves. I could go on, but I'll have mercy.This sequence is followed by a gunfight near a graveyard where members of the factions are absurdly fooled by two motionless corpses placed there earlier by Joe (Eastwood). Why sure! The final act is marred by another unbelievable scene where Joe boldly faces the main antagonist in a showdown. He has total faith in something that protects him with zero concern that any other part of his body besides his central torso might be hit. Why sure! Someone might argue that Joe KNEW Ramón Rojo would only aim for the heart, but there were several other lethal heavies present. How did he know they weren't going to shoot? Speaking of Ramón, Gian Maria Volontè is charismatic in the role, but he's even better in the follow-up, "For a Few Dollars More" (1965), as a wholly different character.Other problems include bad English dubbing, cartoony gore, the camera's curious infatuation with close-ups of sweaty, maniacal countenances and no female character of much note, although Marianne Koch and Margarita Lozano appear in small roles.There's this myth going around that Leone's Dollars trilogy introduced the concept of the antihero, otherwise known as the "good (or likable) bad man." Actually, the antihero had been around for decades when "Fistful" was released in '64. Take, for example, John Wayne's Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach" (1939) or Richard Widmark's Comanche Todd in "The Last Wagon" (1956) or Anthony Quinn's Bob Kallen in "The Ride Back" (1957) and, particularly, Brando's Kid Rio in "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961). These are just off the top of my head.The difference with Eastwood's antihero in Leone's so-called Man With No Name trilogy is that, unlike the antiheroes above, he is without personality, unless squinting, shooting, killing and smoking cheroots are taken as profound marks of character. In Short, Leone introduced the antihero CARICATURE as opposed to the antihero CHARACTER. Cool caricatures with superhuman bravery & abilities work just fine when you're in your teens or early 20s, but after you mature a bit you naturally desire more three-dimensional and believable characters."A Fistful of Dollars" is worth checking out for its engaging first act and its iconic place in Western history, but there are superior Eastwood Westerns, such as the two Leone non-sequels (1965 & 1966 respectively), "Hang 'em High" (1968), "Two Mules for Sister Sara" (1970), "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976), "Pale Rider" (1985) and "Unforgiven" (1992).THE MOVIE RUNS 99 minutes and was shot in Almería, Andalucía, & Madrid, Spain; and Rome, Italy.GRADE: C