Fistful of Dollars (Special Edition] DVD

A Fistful of Dollars
By the time Sergio Leone made this film, Italians had already produced about 20 films ironically labelled "spaghetti westerns." Leone approached the genre with great love and humor. Although the plot was admittedly borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), Leone managed to create a work of his own that would serve as a model for many films to come. Clint Eastwood plays a cynical gunfighter who comes to a small border town and offers his services to two rivaling gangs. Neither gang is aware of his double play, and each thinks it is using him, but the stranger will outwit them both. The picture was the first installment in a cycle commonly known as the "Dollars" trilogy. Later, United Artists, who distributed it in the U.S., coined another term for it: the "Man With No Name" trilogy. While not as impressive as its follow-ups For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), A Fistful of Dollars contains all of Leone's eventual trademarks: taciturn characters, precise framing, extreme close-ups, and the haunting music of Ennio Morricone. Not released in the U.S. until 1967 due to copyright problems, the film was decisive in both Clint Eastwood's career and the recognition of the Italian western. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Cast Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name Marianne Koch as Marisol Gian Maria Volontè as Ramon Rojo Wolfgang Lukschy as John Baxter Mario Brega as Chico Carol Brown as Antonia Baxter Antonio Prieto as Benito Rojo Josef Egger as Piripero Benny Reeves as Rubio Pepe Calvo as Silvanito Margarita Lozano as Consuela Baxter

Crew Carlo Simi - Costume Designer Sergio Leone - Director Roberto Cinquini - Editor Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score) Massimo Dallamano - Cinematographer Giorgio Papi - Producer Arrigo Colombo - Producer Victor A. Catena - Screenwriter Duccio Tessari - Screenwriter Sergio Leone - Screenwriter G. Schock - Screenwriter

A Fistful of Dollars
The hugely influential A Fistful of Dollars launched the careers of star Clint Eastwood, director Sergio Leone, and composer Ennio Morricone. Essentially a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, the film was one of the first low-budget, Italian-made "spaghetti westerns" to reap a significant amount of money and develop a cult following in the U.S. marketplace. Though John Ford's 1956 film The Searchers marked the of end the traditional western, Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy ushered in a new, highly stylized version of the genre, revitalizing it in the late 1960s. Dollars and its companions, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, are raw portrayals of suffering and violence which blur the lines of good-versus-bad. Eastwood's cold, squinting, anti-hero is at the heart of the new amorality; it would be a role that would influence the rest of his career. For Leone, the trilogy would be a training ground for his masterpiece, the big-budgeted Once Upon a Time in the West. Morricone went on to become one of the most prolific, instantly recognizable composers in movie history. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Por, TR, SL, HR Sound Processing: Additional Features: - Commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling. - "A New Kind Of Hero" Documentary. - "Cinque Voci (Five Voices)" Documentary. - "The Network Prologue" Additional Scene. - "Not Ready for Primetime" Featurette. - "Restoration Italian Style" Featurette. - Location Comparisons. - Ten Radio Spots. - Collectors Gallery. - Double Bill Trailer. - Original Theatrica MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: DVD DVD Region Code: 2 Content Length: min