Product Description

Clint Eastwood's legendary "Man With No Name" makes his powerful debut in this thrilling, action-packed "new breed of western" (Motion Picture Herald) from the acclaimed director of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and For a Few Dollars More. Exploding with blistering shootouts, dynamic performances and atmospheric cinematography, it's an undisputed classic of the genre. A mysterious gunman (Eastwood) has just arrived in San Miguel, a grim, dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers are terrorizing the impoverished citizens. A master of the "quick-draw,"the stranger soon receives offers of employment from each gang. But his loyalty cannot be bought; he accepts both jobs...and sets in motion a plan to destroy both groups of criminals, pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns and deadly confrontations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13349 in DVD
• Brand: EASTWOOD,CLINT
• Released on: 1999-10-05
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself. --Edward Buscombe

Customer Reviews

A Fistful of Dollars - A true genre classic!
A Fistful of Dollars is truly one of the big classics in the western genre and one that began a newer, better style of western films. First in a string of Clint Eastwood's "spaghetti" westerns, it has a style and cinematic class all to itself. This is where Clint Eastwood began his style of western hero who doesn't say much, but gets his point across through his facial expressions and of course his actions, more specifically with his six shooter at his side.

The premise:

Clint Eastwood plays "the man with no name" other than the name given to him by one of the characters in the film, Joe. In what is now a classic style, he rides into town on a mule and witnesses the brutality of the town bullies. Without saying a word to them, they harass him and he calmly goes into one of the town bars, has some food and listens to what the bar owner has to tell him about the town's situation. He casually decides to stay and do something about the entire situation, walks out and takes out four of the bad guys. What follows from there is such an outstanding film that is fraught with a certain degree of humor as he deftly plays both sides against his middle and walks away with "A Fistful of Dollars."

If you're a fan of the western genre and haven't seen this classic, I highly suggest you pick this DVD up. Some might be put off by the age of this movie, that is simply not the case though as this movie is timeless. Despite the fact that it was made in Spain, with many European actors and in a foreign language, it's just pure fun!

The DVD:

Given today's almighty DVD's where there is every sort of special/extra feature that a fan can imagine, this one is your meat and potato's kind. It has the movie, a great theatrical trailer and a booklet. It is nice and simple, with not too much to get wrapped around other than the outstanding movie within. The booklet is an extremely interesting read, giving some facts for the movie I wasn't aware of. {ssintrepid}

THE SAMURAI AND THE GUN
Astonishing remake of Akira Kurosawa's YOJIMBO, FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, directed by italian director Sergio Leone, deserves to be in every movie lover's library. In Toshiro Mifune's role, Clint Eastwood gave a performance that established him as one of the greatest american star of the next forty years.

With an international cast of german, italian, spanish and american actors, FISTFUL OF DOLLARS could have been only an ordinary B-movie of the early 60's. On the contrary, this movie has become the symbol of the revival of a dying Hollywood genre - the western - and will be followed by dozens of imitations until the definitive burial of the genre by Clint Eastwood with the masterpiece UNFORGIVEN.

The villain, played by Gian-Maria Volontè, is so terrific that Sergio Leone will hire this wonderful italian actor to play the role of Indio, the bad guy of FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, with the result we all know.

I was a little bit anxious before playing the DVD ; the bad quality of the image of FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE was still on my mind. But, don't worry - be happy, the copy was in almost perfect state and the transfer well done. Subtitles and a trailer as bonus features.

A DVD for your library.

Best of the "man with no name" trilogy
I think people are missing the point of this film when they focus on the action sequence. The underlying theme of the entire movie is one of self sacrifice for what is right and just. It is wrong to conclude that main the character (clint eastwood) pits the two gangs against each other for the money. If that is the case, then why does he give it ALL away to Marisol, to whom he owes NO obligation or favors, at the risk of his own life? Fortunately for the viewers, Marisol does ask why. His answer is "..because...I used to know someone like you..and there was no one to help.." (probably referring to his own mother whom he was powerless to rescue from the raping bandits). That one line says EVERYTHING about his past, his motivation, and the theme of the movie. The director goes to great length to convince the viewer the "man with no name" has no morals. In fact, he seems downright evil and greedy, as he constantly says "I don't work for cheap" and seems to be ready for hire for any sordid duties asked of him for the right price. Only in the very brief and defining moment of the movie (when he rescues Marisol, her son, and her husband) we see him as he truly is. Unlike most westerns, the man does not waste words preaching righteousness, he lets his actions speak for themselves. It is the moral subtlety of this movie which makes it great.