For a Few Dollars More

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source: For a Few Dollars More

Just for the record I happen to love all three films. For a Few Dollard More is an amazing film though perhaps not as influential as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. There is one improvement over that film though, and that is the writing of Clint Eastwood's character, more developed and more compelling. A Fistful of Dollars is also great because of everything that makes TGTBATU and FAFDM so good, but I do consider the other two more influential on the genre and also Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which used the film as its inspiration, to be the superior film. Back to A Few Dollars More, the stylised visuals are stunning to look at, the scenery is the very definition of epic and the cinematography sweeps. Ennio Morricone's score is both elegiac and operatic in tone and the story of greed and revenge that focuses mainly on the pursuit of bandit Indio draws you right in and never lets go. The dialogue is peppered with grit and dark humour, which is well-balanced with neither over-powering the other, while Leone's direction is superb. Clint Eastwood plays his more developed character with immense charisma, Lee Van Cleef is suitably vengeful and again Gian Maria Volonte snarls convincingly. Overall, a wonderful film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Without doubt among the best of the western genre, Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone's Man With No Name trilogy, the unofficial launch of the "spaggetti western" subgenre, rewrote the rules, using the intangibles of cinematography, Ennio Morricone's haunting scores, and settings to extract engaging storytelling despite the less-than-flawless dubbing of character voices and the cheesy sound effects (the overused gunshot sound is straight out of Warner Brothers cartoons). Combined with exciting shootouts, Leone's trilogy made movie history and remains compelling cinema. Arguably the best of the Leone trilogy is this second installment, a sequel to A Fistful of Dollars. Contrary to the nickname, Clint Eastwood's character does indeed have a name - identified as Joe in Fistful, here he is identified as Monco. And he also has an equally ruthless and skilled rival in Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef in his finest performance). Indeed, the theme of the film is the rivalry of the two bounty hunters turning to mutual respect and eventually to teamwork, shown in the climatic showdown with the villianous Indio, a brutal killer (perhaps a bit too brutal for the film's own good) with whom Mortimer has a score to settle, a score that becomes clear in the haunting chimes of the watches owned by both Mortimer and Indio. Pairing Eastwood and Van Cleef was a good idea even before shooting began, and pairing Joe Monco (The Man With No Name) with Douglas Mortimer proves it with the superb chemistry between the two bounty killers, a chemistry that elevates an engaging story to true masterwork.

Two bounty killers do well plying their trade in the west to great effect. When a large bounty is put on put on the head of the bandit El Indio both men find themselves out to collect. They strike a partnership to go after him and his gang together and split the bounty. However both men have different things in mind and try to double cross each other and adding bits to the plot that the other didn't expect. Meanwhile El Indio also has his own plans to outsmart the two and make off with more than his fair share of the money. For a Few Dollars More is a strange beast. The sequel to a Fistful of Dollars this is both better and not as good in equal measure. The plot is less fun that the original although it is full of little twists and turns which, while good, aren't as good as the original. Too much is going on and the plot is a little too twisty for my liking but it is still enjoyable. All the trappings of the spaghetti western are there and are good. Leone's direction is also good and he has the same style he had in the original, although not at the level he masterly commands in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. The use of music is excellent and haunting although the story doesn't always support it as well as it would in later Leone films (both the `once upon a time in….' films come to mind). E Indio's pocket watch is well used in several stand-offs but also sparks several of the usual flashback scenes. Eastwood is good but suffers from sharing the same running time with Van Cleef. The two are good together but not as good as they will be later and both men needed more time to establish themselves. Volonte is good as El Indio and is not allowed to be just a bad guy, but to have a past and pain that haunts him. Overall if you liked Fistful of Dollars then you'll enjoy this. It isn't as good as The Good, The Bad etc but it is a classic piece of spaghetti western – from the score, the direction right down to the customary showdown.

The Man with No Name is back and this time he's got company. On the trail of the diabolical El Indio, a most wanted fugitive, our hero crosses paths with Colonel Douglas Mortimer. Mortimer is also after El Indio. After some manly posturing in which The Man with No Name and Mortimer shoot each other's hats the two decide to team up to go after El Indio and his gang. El Indio is currently targeting the Bank of El Paso, supposedly an impenetrable institution in which there is a safe containing almost a million dollars. The pair of bounty hunters plan to infiltrate the gang before the robbery and, if all goes according to plan, take down El Indio with ease. Of course, when does anything ever go according to plan? There will inevitably be complications. And when there are complications in a Western that can only mean one thing. Shootouts. Lots and lots of shootouts. The movie has a simple but reasonably engaging story with a few interesting characters. But the movie really fails to spark to life. The pacing is laborious, there are way too many times in this movie where absolutely nothing of any importance is happening. And even the shootouts, where you would expect the movie to shine, get dragged out to the point interest starts to wane. Once again Clint Eastwood does a fine job playing the ever-stoic Man with No Name. Lee Van Cleef brings a little much-needed personality to the role of Mortimer. And Gian Maria Volonté certainly makes for a convincingly detestable villain as El Indio. But despite the credible performances of the three main players the movie still disappoints. The rest of the cast makes very little impact, El Indio's mostly faceless gang making little impression. There's not enough going on with the story to really grab you. A couple of bounty hunters go after a bad guy. Some people shoot at each other now and again. That's about it. The movie ultimately tries to introduce some different motivation for why some of the characters do the things they do. But by then it's too late, you're really just waiting for the movie to end by that point. With some tighter pacing, some sharper action, this could have been a movie which really worked. As it is it's a bit of a letdown. Certainly not The Man with No Name's greatest adventure.

Exceptional performances by three heavyweight actors, Gian Maria Volonte and Lee Van Cleef - both of whom, it's a shame, did not have all that many more opportunities to shine in quality films after this one - and Clint Eastwood, along with taut direction, editing, cinematography and gripping and unique music (by the great Ennio Morricone), make this movie a real standout. (The music's almost a major character in this film, in fact.) Stylistically iconic, this Sergio Leone opus has an endlessly fascinating and spellbinding story that surprises to the end. Plus, we really come to like the co-heroes, Van Cleef and Eastwood - we want to befriend them and emulate them. Volonte was priceless as a demonic villain - his facial expressions rich with narcissism and a strange kind of violence-fueled euphoria no one else has ever matched in film history, for my money. Though he clashed with director Leone and purportedly did not like the Western genre, Volonte's performance rises above the film's genre and could be favorably compared to the best portrayed villains of other more mainstream movies. Volonte brought a realism to his character and an intensity you don't see in many films. But so did Van Cleef, whose work in this film is incredible. You'd have thought other movie makers would have rushed to cast Van Cleef in important roles after this film, but no. Very strange. Though some might question the wanton violence in this film, the truth is that the real wild west was even more violent and the violence often much more capricious and random. Like all great artistic works, this film never grows old for me. I am always drawn to watch it again and again for it is of such a depth and complexity that it only reveals more of itself with each viewing.

Sergio Leone's second installment in his spaghetti-western trilogy with lead actor Clint Eastwood (following 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars" and in turn followed by 1966's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"). Bounty hunter Clint spars with gunslinger Lee Van Cleef amidst a great many dirt-town and saloon shoot-outs. Sweaty atmospherics, some exciting sequences (including a terrific finish), but Leone's pacing is unbelievably dogged. Although the films in this canon have a tricky kind of symbolism which underline the finished product with a bracing, immediate quality that can be quite gripping for an audience, they are not deep-thinkers, and after the first hour it becomes blurry with noisy violence. ** from ****

****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor My teacher once said that when you're starting your career it's great to imitate someone just as practice or to gain experience because if you can be as good as them you could be better! And that's exactly what happened to Sergio Leone. After the success of A Fistful of Dollars a sequel was underway and that gave Leone and Eastwood the opportunity to make this character into there own. Here Eastwood is a bounty hunter not a simple gunfighter like in the original. He teams up with another bounty hunter played by Lee Van Cleef who both are after Indio for two different reasons. In this film Leone emerges as an artist. When this film was released times were changing. The new and old generation were in a battle. The vietnam war had just begun and hippies were taking over the country. By pairing the characters of Eastwood and Van Cleef there was bound to be conflicts. "They usually end up shooting themselves in the back." From their partnership they understood and learned from each other. Meaning there is something new to be learned from each generation. RATING: 4 STARS

Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) and Monco (Clint Eastwood) are both bounty hunters. They're both after the bank robber El Indio (Gian Maria Volonté) for his bounty. They decide to join forces to bring El Indio and his gang of robbers down. Lee Van Cleef makes this a superior spaghetti western. He's not only as good as Clint. In many ways, he plays a superior character. His character has secrets. He has mysteries. Clint is playing a much more simpler character. For me, this is superior to 'A Fistful of Dollars' in the trilogy. The story is more iconic, cleaner. The characters have more depth.