Some 30 years later I have finally gotten around to seeing it. I borrowed it on DVD and was immediately confronted with glorious Technicolor in a widescreen format. After watching several 70s films in faded Eastman color over the past few days it was a real pleasure to sit and watch a film with vibrant color. This is film done right.

A little research shows that this film has an interesting heritage. It is a western film shot in Italy but essentially based on Korosawa's Yojimbo which I have yet to see. I have however seen Korosawa's 'Seven Samurai' which is a fine film.

A Fistful of Dollars is different from conventional Hollywood westerns before its time, but it did offer something different (and cheap!) to audiences looking for something new. The film is characterised by minimal dialogue, acceptable lip synched dubbing and heaps of attitude.

Its all about style and being a bad A$$ hero and Clint fits the role neatly. Arguably some of the roots of the Dirty Harry films can be found here. There isn't a lot of great one-liners but the action and plot makes up for that. There is genuine suspense and lots of stylish gunslinger on the horizon shots.

In a way the spaghetti western is a laughable idea but stylish direction, pregnant pauses, great acting by Clint and a great plot make a classic film and this is a classic film of its genre. Arguably the Australian movie industry should take heed of what the Italians achieved here and think seriously about using Australia's acting talent and the red rock country fo Western Australia to produce some westerns of our own. It would be funny to see our Australian voices dubbed with American ones though

All in all a very very entertaining film. My verdict 90%

Long live Technicolor

cheers Peter

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