A Fistful of Dollars Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: A Fistful of Dollars
Year: 1964
Director: Sergio Leone 
Country: Italy
Language: Italian

Clint Eastwood (Born May 31st 1930) is a name synonymous with American and Spaghetti Westerns. On the silver screen he comes across as a bold and powerful masculine figure, filling up his screen-time with memorable phrases and cold looks of steel. Though he had a few roles before 1964, none were quite as memorable as the moment he teamed up with Italian Director Sergio Leone for the pulsing The Man With No Name Trilogy, which were loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's films Yojimbo and Sanjuro.

An anonymous, but deadly man (Clint Eastwood) rides into a town torn by war between two factions, the Baxters and the Rojo's. Instead of fleeing or dying, as most other would do, the man schemes to play the two sides off each other, getting rich in the bargain.

Often imitated and parodied, but never duplicated A Fistful of Dollars is everything modern westerns wish to be but simply fail in comparison. It's interesting that the term "spaghetti western" was originally used as an insult by critics, who thought that making "wild west" pictures in locations as far as Italy was absolutely ludicrous, however the critics were wrong and Italy had the last laugh. Their style of portraying Colonial America was much more realistic compared to the romanticist way 1950's directors portrayed the old west.

Leone sculpts his main character from pure mystery. He is a unique character with no name; a cynical bounty hunter who comes and goes when he pleases. He is the ultimate anti-hero, and likely the inspiration for Han Solo in George Lucas' Star Wars. The dialogue flows naturally, it is full of dark humor and character development. Eastwood is so bad ass that he asks a group of grown men to apologize to a horse, and they agree. A Fistful of Dollars is full of passion, suspense and bloody violence all working together to great an intriguing flick.

In conclusion, A Fistful of Dollars changed cinema as we know it and created a new star by the name of Clint Eastwood. It made Westerns cool again and encouraged the flow of main characters who were neither good nor evil. This picture likely wouldn't have been made if not for the artistic revolution of the 60's. Praise it! 4.5/5