An Italian Spanish West German spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte and Klaus Kinski.
A pair of bounty hunters form a partnership to defeat a gang of bandits who rob a bank.
This was somewhat less than wonderful. The plot did not hold my attention. I thought most of it was filler that buried the real story. The characters were fine, but not exactly original. I've seen Clint Eastwood play that same role in that same costume too many times. The video was very Leone, featuring eye line matching on extreme close-ups and pull-back crane shots. The soundtrack was probably my favorite part. Ennio Morricone always does a great job in a predictable style. Overall, just another spaghetti western. I rate this adequate. It was decent, but nothing special.
An Italian West German Spanish spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonte.
A lone cowboy enters a town controlled by two rival gangs. By working for both of them, he plays them against one another to their ultimate destruction.
This is Yojimbo (1961) with cowboys instead of samurais. The greatest appreciation of this can be gained by watching both films. Same goes for Seven Samurai (1954) and The Magnificent Seven (1960). They are all so good and the mirror images across the world are so similar that I can't decide if I like cowboys or samurais. The plot was good enough for a famous director to steal and get sued for, so it's good enough for me. The characters were stereotypical and undeveloped, except the main character. He was undeveloped, but showed more depth and was less stereotypical than the others. There was mystery surrounding him and his motives for his actions. The visual style featured extreme close-ups and long crane shots, which is common for Leone. The soundtrack for this is very memorable, like most of the spaghetti western genre. Being written by Ennio Morricone obviously played a large role in this. Overall, we've got a quality western with lots to type about. I rate it good.
