Watch Duck, You Sucker For Free

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Sergio Leone had come off four more or less brilliant westerns (the "Dollars Trilogy" and "Once Upon a Time in the West") and this looks like another, but it isn't. Set in 1913 we have motorcycles and automobiles alongside horse-drawn vehicles. In fact, if you take "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as chronologically (though not actually) his first western, one has a progression into the modern world. But while Leone's first four westerns were thoroughly groundbreaking; lyrical and both humorous and surpassingly brilliant in spots . . . this movie is a letdown. The stars, Rod Steiger an James Coburn, are nearly always watchable. Unfortunately, Coburn, while a fine actor, has problems with accents. Here he tries an Irish brogue (which is relatively more passable than his Australian accent in "The Great Escape"--barely on the good side of Dick van Dyke's cockney in "Mary Poppins"). Steiger's method acting conflicted with the director's requirements, but he got stuck with him (he wanted Eli Wallach but the studio thought Steiger more of a draw).What to make of this mess, which starts with a man urinating on ants (where is the SPCA--Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ants?) and it's a roller-coaster ride of quality. Leone is still capable of great shots, such as when rifles burst in through a window on either side of Steiger's head. However, as with all Leone's flicks, unpleasant images abound. Not just urination, but rape, presented almost as a human need, and unnecessary nudity. I can't give a spoiler about the ending because, frankly, I didn't make it all the way through. I slept through lots of it and I doubt I'll revisit it.Leone could be a great director, but he often confused bloat with impressiveness. His smoothest movie was undoubtedly the equally unpleasant but also imminently watchable "Once Upon a Time in America"--more than ten years after this curious bit of confusion.I haven't seen "The Colossus of Rhodes"; but apart from that, of the movies where Leone is listed as sole director, "A Fistful of Dollars", "For Few Dollars More", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Once Upon a Time in America" are all pretty good films. And, as I said before, the "Dollars" movies were groundbreaking, forever changing our expectations from westerns."Duck, You Sucker" (aka "A Fistful of Dynamite"), the director's sometimes wacky, sometimes serious tour of the Mexican Revolution, is Leone's notable failure. Well, everyone is entitled to one. It has some great Leone signature images, but the characters are thoroughly despicable, the acting even from the headline stars is variable at best, and the story (such as it is) is not compelling. It's only for people who have to see all Leone's movies . . . or, like me, thought we did.

I love this director as much as the next person, but this film is far from a masterpiece in my opinion. I was forced to sit through it with someone else, and was so irritated by the "Shu shu shung, shu shu shung" thing going on with the music throughout the entire film. What on Earth were they thinking? If they ditched that tune and put some simple guitar music in there, it might actually improve the tone of the entire film for the better. To be honest, because it's Leone and because of the rating here, I thought it would be great and I was severely disappointed.It was way too slow, way too long, too many close-ups, bad casting and the score, oh God, just no. If they took this film and cut it, and I mean, cut about 1 hour of unnecessary flashbacks and silly closeups, I might have a different opinion of it. It was just so dragged out. Far from a masterpiece and doesn't deserve it's 7.7 stars.

This film is a masterpiece it was also released as Fistful of Dynamite. Several versions of this film are floating around,some TV versions are butchered,thus it unfairly got some bad reviews.The best way to view it is BUY the UNCUT long version on DVD.If you are able to pick up the uncut version you are in for a real treat.Everything about it is sensational the cinematography,the soundtrack,the story, the acting,tremendous action scenes, it also makes great use of flashbacks and slow motion shots.This movie is just is as good as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good Bad and the Ugly. It was poorly released in two versions and as stated most TV versions are edited so much you can hardly figure out some parts of the movie.Because of the weak theatrical release and butchered TV versions many people have neverseen or heard of this movie,believe me if you like Sergio Leone you will love this movie.It is James Coburn's best film.Haunting soundtrack that you will never forget.I have seen this movie 7 times it is one of the best westerns ever made !!! Eli Wallach was suppose to get the Rod Steiger role but the studio wanted a bigger name.

"Duck, You Sucker" is a Leone movie and I freely admit that I was expecting something akin to the Dollars Trilogy (both of them came packaged in the Sergio Leone Anthology, so it's not too big a stretch). Which is nowhere near the case, and that suits me just fine. But it is bogged down by a solemn vibe, and even though revolvers are (mostly) traded in for explosions, you start to miss the larger-than-life presences of van Cleef, Eastwood and Wallach after awhile. I was on board with the revolutionary politics of the thing, but the pacing is all off.I do like Rod Steiger and James Coburn, both wielding iffy accents (although Steiger seems a bit more at home with his). And there were moments of great poignancy, particularly in the cave and the final scene. Between the pacing, the uneven tone and Morricone's score (very "Butch Cassidy"), it's not my favorite. But there's chemistry between the two leads.6/10