What a lovely score by Ennio Morricone

This movie shows potential for both Eastwood and Leone, but is far from the height that either will reach in their carreer. The acting is pretty horrible other than Eastwood and Volonte (Ramon). Most of the supporting characters take you out of the movie as sson as they open their mouths. The score was ok, but incessantly annoying with the pan flute slide every two seconds throughout the entire movie. From a technical standpoint, the movie was not enjoyable. It looked like a B movie in almost every respect. The editing is atrocious as the audio dialogue and video are matching for a couple words in each sentence. The directing highlighted every horrible performance instead of understanding what your cast is capable of, and working with it. The movie may be the beginning of what some consider greatness, but it's riddled with amateur errors. I have nothing against old movies, this one was just done without much taste. To be fair, it's my first Leone movie, so maybe I just don't like spaghetti westerns. 1 / 2 directing & technical aspect 1 / 2 story 0 / 1 acting 0 / 1 pacing 1 / 1 dialogue 1 / 1 living up to its genre 0 / 1 originality 0 / 1 lasting ability to make you think 0.......misc enjoyment point (+/-) 4 out of 10

A supremely entertaining western from 1964! I will say the dubbing nature of 'A Fistful of Dollars' is a little distracting early on, but by the time the opening portion concluded I was incredibly interested in what was happening onscreen. The pacing is excellent, thanks to some very fine cinematography, great action sequences and a top notch score. Clint Westwood debuts as a leading movie star and is terrific throughout, portraying the wonderfully named J̶o̶e̶ "the Man with No Name". It's little surprise these are the films that truly made him. Away from Eastwood, I really enjoyed the trio that played the Rojo brothers - Gian Maria Volonté (aka Johnny Wels), Sieghardt Rupp and Antonio Prieto. They're just as important as the main man and play the roles superbly. Bring on the sequels!

Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood team up for the first time and the partnership quickly bears fruit in this classic, scene-shaping western. While the plot is lifted almost verbatim from Akira Kurosawa's epic Yojimbo, the real devil is in the details as Leone challenges dozens of overplayed western tropes and instantly changes the genre's personality from a preachy, predictable windbag to a dirty, selfish, no-nonsense killer. Eastwood is outstanding in his first outing as the Man With No Name, (curiously addressed as "Joe" in this chapter) bringing so much depth, certainty and silent substance to the role that it's tough to believe he hadn't been playing it for years. Although it's no comparison to the next two films in the trilogy, which really picks up when Lee Van Cleef enters the fray as Eastwood's dust-cloaked playmate, as warm-ups go it's second to none. At roughly half the length of its siblings, it's also much more digestible and straightforward. Whether that's a positive or a negative is entirely up to the viewer.

A Fistful of Dollars is a western built on style, confidence, and simplicity. The film relies on music, mood, and Eastwood's presence more than its story. Fortunately, those strengths are substantial. This is not the strongest film in the trilogy, but it's not far behind.